JAMES LENG

Works Volume2013

01Air Ops

A Retroactive Platform for Energy Exchange

02Bridging As Urban Interface

Community Masterplan for Maracanã

03Intersection Tactics

Museum for An Industrial Designer in Tokyo

04Recreation in the City

Athletic Facility in Willet’s Point NYC

05Embedded Living

Urban Student Housing in Harvard Square

06Point Cloud

Kinetic Weather Interpreter

07Moon SEED

Lunar Cultural Center

—

08Hangzhou Raffles City

UNStudio

09The Moire Handbook: LA Broad Museum

Diller Scofidio + Renfro

10REEF: PS1 / MOMA Competition

IwamotoScott Architecture

01

AIR OPSA RETROACTIVE PLATFORM FOR ENERGY EXCHANGE

Masters Thesis with DistinctionAdvisor: Eric Höweler

Fall 2012

Just a few months ago, Hurricane Sandy tore a path of destruction through the North East. In some ways, it was an event that revealed the fragile nature of the city’s electrical and mechanical

infrastructures. It raises the question: how can we create a certain level of individual energy autonomy, while simultaneously increasing the robustness of our existing energy infrastructure? One possibility is to look at the potential of an infrastructure that operates

between the scale of the parcel and the scale of the city - a local, block scale system that can retroactively integrate with multiple existing buildings.

Air Ops is a proposal that speculates on the possibility of such an infrastructure, and the necessary framework required to realize such an ambitious endeavor. A careful investigation

into - and subsequent re-imagining of - the NYC zoning codes becomes the critical method that enables a systemic transformation of the intertwined value between zoning and energy-use in a

post-Hurricane Sandy Manhattan.

The most fundamental idea of the project hinges on the notion that zoning has been, and remains, one of the most potent elements in shaping the future course of the city, and in order

for architecture to tackle the problem of energy at the scale of the city, especially as a response to the increasing volatility of the climate, it must bring topics of sourcing and using energy into

active dialogue with zoning, real estate, and the public realm.

Zoning Illustrated

Hugh Ferriss famously rendered into life the first zoning code in his charcoal and pencil images, which has since become a visual guideline - or

even, the standard aesthetic of the maximum envelope that would shape much of the NYC

skyline for the coming century.

Inverting the Paradigm

This new urban typology essentially volumetrically inverts this paradigm: the top surface is maximized for sustainable energy

collection, and the setback is then cut from the underside of the volume to ensure access to

light and air for buildings below

A New Horizontal Paradigm within Manhattan’s Verticality

Although this new physical infrastructure may enter the imagination through a canon of previous works that similarly occupy the air, such as Yona Friedman’s Ville Spatiale,

the key difference here is that this system is less about an autonomous or mass proliferation of a specific order, rather that it is a selective, even opportunistic system

that seizes upon the coincident intersection of existing urban conditions.

Ultimately, the building itself is but one manifestation of the framework; one could consider it a template upon which all future iterations may be built upon.

01 AIR OPS

Re-Imagining Zoning

In order to make this framework a reality, a new set of zoning provisions needs to be created to provide proper organizational and volumetric constraints. A new merged parcel ownership model enables individual owners to contribute air-rights potential, structural support, circulation access, or floor area, in exchange for compensation

through a combination of renewable energy grants, tax credits, and on-site bonus FAR.

Function Overview Axonometric

The final building size and massing inevitably becomes a direct result of the combination of the new setback regulations and economic pressures. Functionally it serves two purposes: first, to provide partial energy autonomy as an additional layer

of redundancy in the grid. And secondly, it is an energy exchange platform that facilitates waste energy re-use between buildings.

01 AIR OPS

The Potential of Bryant Park

A group of parcels on the southern edge of Bryant Park was chosen as the ideal test scenario: the Midtown district was immediately compelling because of its general high density, and heterogeneity of both building heights and types. The presence of both the NYC Public Library and American Radiator Building tests the flexibility and adaptability

of the infrastructure against historic landmarks.

Plan of Central Midtown Air-Rights Potential FAR

+10 -20

Park Side ElevationPlatform floating among midtown buildings

Ground Floor PlanRepurposed lobbies provide access to platform

01 AIR OPS

1:500 Site ModelBird’s eye overview of Bryant Park

1:200 Building Model40th Street Front-side Elevation

Hovering Stealthily AboveView of platform’s modest presence from street level, and its

deferential visual set-back for the American Radiator Building

01 AIR OPS

Extending the Public Plane

Air Ops’ adjacency to Bryant Park uniquely enables the project to engage and respond to issues of image, frontage, and public space brought about by this new platform. The

rooftops of certain lower buildings are converted into publicly accessible terraces which results in a continuation of the public ground plane into the vertical axis, where

both the public and private benefit in this new joint ownership effort.

+47.0m - Public Terrace PlanElevated public roof terraces, nested among taller adjacent buildings

+65.3m - Public Floor PlanPublic viewing gallery & educational programs

01 AIR OPS

Section of Energy Exchange MechanismPlatform facilitates waste-heat reuse between buildings

+68.8m - Mechanical Systems PlanStorage units for the solar energy and rainwater,

Onsite heat and electricity co-generators,And computational load balancer

+78.0m - Commercial Floor PlanClass A commercial floor spaces available for lease.

Improves economic feasibility of platform

01 AIR OPS

Section of Primary Access CoreProvides public and staff access to platform

Core As Symbiotic SupportsExisting building cores are extended into platform, and retrofitted with the necessary MEP

systems to facilitate a bi-directional feedback system of energy exchange

01 AIR OPS

A Cascade of Public TerracesA series of public terraces extends Bryant Park’s public space

vertically, while the platform functions as a canopy above

Floating DatumThe view from the Empire State Building reveals the urban scale effects of such a horizontal

infrastructure among Manhattan’s skyscrapers

02

BRIDGING AS URBAN INTERFACECOMMUNITY MASTERPLAN FOR MARACANÃ

GSD Option StudioInstructor: Jorge Silvetti

Spring 2011

Rio de Janeiro is a city on the verge of a rapid and massive urban transformation, evidenced by its hosting of the World Cup in 2014, and the Olympics in 2016. Yet urbanistically, the city still remains a series of fragmented an ill connected islands, severed in a large part by a rail corridor that cuts across the city. The site of focus is the Maracana district, the home of the largest stadium in Brazil,

and also the site of a school, a large park, and the favela Mangeira.

The design seeks to strategically use the bridge typology to infrastructually re-stitch these neighborhoods. This metaphorical and physical bridge weaves back and forth, constantly shifting its relationship to the city, becoming a series of programmatic elements including – a metro and

train station, a library and career center, a community sports facility, and a sports museum.

At the center of the project is the bridge structure spanning across the train tracks. By positioning it diagonally, and making it as thin as possible, it enables the structure to act as a façade

communicating between the stadium and the favela. The thinness of the structure allows a great deal of transparency – allowing the activities of the individuals inside to become the façade, or the

image, of this new connectivity.

01A More Frequent Connectivity

The existing opportunities for crossing the site are more than 1.5 miles apart - between the Mangueira pedestrian overpass and Sao Cristovao metro station. More opportunities to cross over increases accessibility.

02Diagonally Contextual

A diagonal connection across the rail links the university and the park axially, while referencing the favella and stadium elevationally. The ‘facade’ of the diagonal refers to and reflects the larger urban context.

03Urban Interface

The abandoned military site to the north of the rail has potential to be re-programmed into the public realm, becoming a collective interface between the favella, park, and stadium.

04Bridge Anchorheads

Although the physical act of bridging is the primary source of connectivity, it is crucial for existing programmatic anchors along the rail’s edge to re-appropriated and integrated into the bridging intervention.

Rio’s Rail Corridor: an Artery and a Wound

Rio de Janeiro’s growth as a city relied on a series of rail corridors that extended from the city center. The railroad acts as main arteries, transporting people and supplies

outwards, and growth followed these lines. However like any heavy infrastructure that cuts across the city, neighborhoods on opposite sides of the railroad become cut off from each other, a condition exacerbated by the sparse frequency of connections

transversely across the rail corridor.

02 BRIDGING AS URBAN INTERFACE

Rail Corridor in the Maracanã DistrictExisting Site Sections

01Mangueira Pedestrian Overpass

02Maracanã Metro Station

03San Cristovao Train Station & Vehicular Overpass

Maracanã Masterplan & Site Sections

As a whole, this winding snake like form is over 1km long, but this megaform never reads as a monolithic structure - rather, its shape and function adapts as necessary.

The scheme manifests in a series of connected links that visually register as individual segments, differentiated in volume, orientation, and program.

02 BRIDGING AS URBAN INTERFACE

Building Section

A longitudinal section through the building reveals a level of transparency that enables unobstructed views from the hill of Mangueira to Maracana stadium.

Building Plans

The bottom-levels of the bridge structure functions as a train concourse and pedestrian passway across the rail corridor. The upper levels consist of a university extension library

and career center catering to favella Mangueira.

02 BRIDGING AS URBAN INTERFACE

Perceptual AnalysisVisual lines are drawn from varying distances and heights to

determine the amount of building that one can “see through”, as a quantitative metric for transparency.

The Ephemeral Thinness

The further one moves away from the building, the more of an ephemeral quality it takes on, until the building seems to be merely a two dimensional grid imposed on

the sky, animated by the activities of its own community.

Transverse SectionsA series transverse cuts in the bridge structure reveal a mixture of

functions and space sizes within the thin volume.

02 BRIDGING AS URBAN INTERFACE

Reflecting the SkyWhen viewed at an oblique angle, the transparency of the glazing

becomes mirror-like, reflecting the sky and cityscape of Rio

A Rhythmic Spatial SequenceThe regularly spaced structural bays opens up the freedom of

modular scaling up and down of spaces and activities

03

INTERSECTION TACTICSA MUSEUM FOR AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER IN TOKYO

GSD Option StudioInstructor: Neil Denari

Fall 2010

This project delves deeply into issues of form + graphic, contextualized through a small design museum in Tokyo tailored for Japanese industrial designer Sori Yanagi. The design explorations centered on the rigorous manipulations of ellipsoidal geometry through scale, orientation, and intersection, bounded by rigid site perimeter. Through these techniques, light and space were

modulated between soft and hard thresholds.

The museum’s monolithic, concrete exterior is contrasted by the unexpected under belly of an entry, and several façade openings that reveal the softness of the interior. Furthermore, the spatial and perceptual sequence becomes a binary experience of moving and inhabiting the interior and

exterior surface of ellipsoids that make up the floors and ceilings of interior spaces, reinforced through the shifting materiality from exposed concrete to a white surface finish.

The tension between strict and playfulness, in addition to material and geometric transformations, attempts to reflect and celebrate the sculptural qualities found in Sori Yanagi’s own work.

Forma-graphics

The central question of the studio was: how are form (3D) and the graphic (2D) engaged in a constant feedback loop? How can one give rise to the other, and vice versa? The traditional “japanese mon”, Sori Yanagi’s famous furniture pieces, and

the “wabi-sabi” sensibilities of the japanese aesthetic were among the precedents in initiating discourse and the design process.

Geometric Genealogy

This matrix describes all source geometries used in the construction of the project, organized by the function of the surface. The idealized form of the ellipsoids are obscure to the user as its true boundary extends far beyond the exterior building

envelop. The user instead must gain greater implicit understanding of the nature of the geometries as he proceeds through the spatial experience.

03 INTERSECTION TACTICS

Massing Overview

The formal expression of the built object is simultaneously restrained and quirky.

It sits on the site with an underbelly that eccentuates a sort of destabilizing

unfamiliarity. Each elevation is bare except for a lone, asymmetric aperture, which

creates and completes a distinct graphic identity for each face of the building.

Concrete MonolithAside from the articulation in the underbelly and lone aperture, each

facade is adorned only by the pattern of concrete panel formwork

03 INTERSECTION TACTICS

Ellipsoidal Surface Intersections

Study model exploring the generating ellipsoids required (represented in wireframe)

to create occupiable surfaces that represent floors, walls, etc.

Geometric Algorithms

An early geometric exploration focused on the mathematical properties of the ‘super-ellipse’, a specific geometry created through a single set of parametric functions that allows for a smooth modulation between several geometric states - one of which is that of a “squircle”, a geometry

between a square and circle.

Parametric Functions:x(u, v) = A * c(v, 2/t) * c(u, 2/r)y(u, v) = B * c(v, 2/t) * s(u, 2/r)

z(u, v) = C * s(v, 2/t)

Auxiliary Functions:c(w, m) = sgn(cos w) * |cos w|^m

s(w, m) = sgn(sin w) * |sin w|^m

-pi <= u < pi-pi/2 <= v <= pi/2

Soft vs. Hard Thresholds

Articulating the edge, or boundary of a space takes on two possbilities - the first is normative - apertures created through the direct intersection subtracting a smaller volume from a larger one. In this instance, the edge is clearly defined. The second type is an intersection that requires an “invisible” third geometry that interrupts one

surface while allowing the other to continue. The result creates a threshold that is has a soft transition between the occupiable and purely visual.

The main exhibition floor is a space that formally reflects the sensibilities of Sori Yanagi’s own designs. The juxtaposition and play between hard and soft edges

allows floor to flow into ceiling, interior to exterior.

03 INTERSECTION TACTICS

Transverse Section

The elevators, egress stairs, and MEP systems are all tucked into a thin vertical strip along the back edge of the site, so the rest of the footprint can be freed up for a pure

geometric & spatial experience.

Longitudinal Section

The spatial inversions in the experiential precession is clearly depicted in this section, as the visitor is constantly moving from a space on the “inside” of an ellipsoid to a space

on the outer shell of the same ellipsoid.

03 INTERSECTION TACTICS

1F Museum Store: A Raw Entrance

Visitors first enter into an unadorned space of exposed concrete - the museum store - before circumabulating into the second level lobby

2F Lobby: Into the Polish

Upon entering the lobby on the second floor, visitors are treated to a space of polished materiality, in contrast to the rawness of the ground floor. This

alternating material sequence repeats for the rest of the building.

03 INTERSECTION TACTICS

Inhabiting CurvesA sectional model reveals the subtle curvature of the generating geometries

Levitating off the GroundThe bowl-like manner the building meets the ground creates a disfamiliarizing architectural tension with the surrounding site.

Pealing Away the OpeningsPrimary surfaces are delaminated to create openings between levels

04

RECREATION IN THE CITYAN ATHLETIC FACILITY IN WILLET’S POINT NYC

GSD Core StudioInstructor: Felipe Correa

Spring 2010

The focus of this studio was dual-fold: first, to create an urban framework to revitalize the area of Willet’s Point, NYC - currently a derelict district of temporary auto-body

shops, and second, strategically position a public recreation facility within the site as the primary catalyst for further urban renewal.

The project is situated in a special zone in between La Guardia airport and JFKairport. The area is also the site of Citi Field, a baseball stadium. The primary mode of

transportation to and from the site is vehicular, therefore the road infrastructure becomes a critical element in redening the district.

Instead of weaving the special urban composition of the site back into the adjacent residential neighborhoods, the design augments the unique location by reconfiguring the site into a specialized development zone that serves the twin airports of New York. Within this framework, the recreation facility becomes a hub that provides culture and

leisure to locals and travelers alike.

Road Infrastructure Analysis

Initial analysis and breakdown of the roads types revealed that almost 40% of the roads (by length) were ramps and other transitional elements connecting the regional free-

ways to the local streets. Furthermore almost half of the roadways were elevated.

It was clear that the infrastructural maze was created through decades of additive processes without regard for optimization. The first site strategy is then necessarily the

minimizing and streamlining of the roadway infrastructure.

Cross Hybridization

The recreational programs were separated from the community and support programs. Conceptually, each set of program was divided into parallel strips,

which then becomes interwoven into the other programmatic set.

The resulting intersections and courtyard voids becomes a hybrid space between recreational and community space. The twin parallel grains creates a

spatial & processional sequence to which users can easily orient.

04 RECREATION IN THE CITY

Urban Icebergs

The community and athletic complex manifests itself as a series of discrete volumes on the surface, in order to promote further urban development at a smaller, more porous scale. However, to truly accommodate the size requirements of the programs, these

discrete volumes are connected in two levels of unified facilities below ground.

Floor Plans L1, B1, & B2

The overlaying of plans reveals complex sectional relationships between the various athletic activity spaces.

04 RECREATION IN THE CITY

Programmatic OverlapsIntersection of hotel, athletic facilities and the subterranean freeway

Athletic Facility EntryLobby and circulation corridor overlooking central courtyard

Joint Activity SpacesThe running track drammatically cantilevers over the swimming pool

Sectional Vantage PointsElevated view points visually join audience, athlete, and infrastructure

05

EMBEDDED LIVINGURBAN STUDENT HOUSING IN HARVARD SQUARE

GSD Core StudioInstructor: Nathaniel Belcher

Fall 2009

The notion of collective housing was at the center of the challenge of the 3rd core studio. The positioning of the site in the center of Harvard Square business district became a catalyst for a new type of student dormitory, one which renounces the

cloistered condition of a conventional ‘Harvard House’, and instead actively engages the city, and fosters social interaction across a variety of scales.

An exterior, urban atrium invites the public to circulate up across the void, where various public programs were embedded among the dormitory programs. The

public auditorium, gallery and tutoring center were all designed to enable students to give back to the city, through acting, making, and teaching. This void also becomes

the through-passage way for people accessing the rest of the Ratcliffe campus.

At the architectural scale, a series of smaller atriums form central voids for internal dorm clusters. Together, this system of voids become the primary organizational

generators across the multiple scales of public and private.

Extending the Street

The urban atrium is visually an extension of Church st. It invites the eye upwards into the building plaza, which serves as a gate way to

the Ratcliffe campus as well.

To Internal Roof Garden

Public Program Loop

Ratcliffe Campus Axis

Church St. (to Brattle St.)

Public Circulation Loop

The main atrium erodes through the massing to create a public circulation and program

loop that spirals along the atrium, ending in the public sky garden.

An Urban Scale Intervention

The project begins with an intervention at the urban scale, identifying the fragmentary nature of Harvard’s sub-campuses. The current Ratcliffe Yard campus

area lacks the cohesiveness of the Harvard Yard area.

Through a series of small scale interventions, a new sub-campus axis is created to give a new internal identity to the area. Anchoring the new axis is the location of the new dormitory, situated amidst Cambridge commercial life and at the center

of the entire Harvard community as a whole.

05 EMBEDDED LIVING

Nested ClustersAn early concept diagram of the organizational principle, with different scales of programs shared within and across clusters

Dormitory Unit TypesAn analysis of possible combinations of unit types - single, double,

quad suites - to form ideal dorm clusters for social interaction

Public Circulation SequenceVarious public programs - auditorium, gallery, tutorial center - spiral up

into the building along the main atrium, ending with the sky garden.

05 EMBEDDED LIVING

Unit Aggregation Strategy

Units were divided between single, double, and quads, arranged in a tetris manner that enables buildings to have public circulation only

every other oor, therefore optimizing effciency, and allowing each double height unit to access light from at least two directions.

Connective Balconies

Each unit has a balcony facing out, and collectively it results in a series of vertically connected balconies along the exterior facades, which

again encourages social interchange even within the scale of the unit.

The Double-Room UnitA two floor unit that has communal spaces on the bottom

level, bedrooms and shared bathroom on top.

5F PlanDormitory clusters & sky garden

05 EMBEDDED LIVING

Dorm Cluster AtriumEach of the five dorm clusters are organized around an interior atrium

Dining Hall Overlooking PlazaCommunal programs are always oriented to the central atrium

Transverse SectionCutting through units, interior cluster atria, and sky garden

Longitudinal SectionDepicting the relationship between the urban atrium and dorm units

06

POINT CLOUDKINETIC WEATHER INTERPRETER

GSD Independent ProjectInstructors: Panagiotis Michalatos, Jesse Shapins, James Burns

Spring 2012

Point Cloud is an attempt to reimagine our daily interaction with weather data. In today’s data driven world, the nuances of weather’s continuously shifting states are largely

oversimplified as the information is transmitted into our daily experience. Our various home and mobile devices most likely distill a forecast into static representations,

such as numeric values or simple infographics of sun, clouds, or rain. There is a deep discrepancy between the flatness of the visualizations we are accustomed to, and the

rich mixture of tactility and perceptibility of our immediate physical experience.

As a critical response to these issues, Point Cloud emerges as a sculptural form defined by a thin wire mesh, driven asynchronously by servos controlled via Arduino. As

whiteness of the hanging structure begins to disappear into the background, the viewer is treated to a constantly morphing swarm of black points dancing through midair.

Despite the fact that the only type of mechanical actuation is linear, the resulting motion is like that of a third degree digital surface; the effects each push and pull ripple out along the elastic tension of the wire threads, and in combination with the syncopated rhythm of

the servos, create movement that is complex, unexpected, and hopefully wondrous.

A Layering of Discrete Components

The various components of Point Cloud are functionally autonomous and clearly defined: 4 cables descend into a central control core, from which a lightweight steel space frame cantilevers and supports the 8

servos. Each servo powers a cam mechanism that activates 3 to 4 pis-tons that push and pull on various parts of the wire mesh - composed

of over 300 feet of wire thread, and 966 intersection joints.

Schematic DrawingsPlan, side, and front elevations of Point Cloud sculpture

06 POINT CLOUD

The Heart of the Cloud

The core module of Point Cloud consists of an Arduino UNO board and wifi module powered by a 9V battery.

Initial instruction sets are transferred via the USB port on the Arduino, then data is

streamed through wifi.

Furthermore, the core includes a circuit board that connects the Arduino board

and external 7V power with each of the eight individual servo modules.

Core, Structure and ShellBreakdown of component parts that make up the sculpture

06 POINT CLOUD

Creating An Emergent Effect

The combined actuation of 8 servo modules creates the undulating effect

of point cloud. There are three types of configurations, with two end modules

that have 4-pistons, and the remaining with 3-pistons.

For each module, as the servo rotates, it takes turns extending one piston

while retracting others. The result is that various parts of the external mesh

would be displaced outwards while other parts are pull inwards.

Servo ModuleBreakdown of one of eight individual servo modules

07

MOON SEEDLUNAR CULTURAL CENTER

Sucker Punch Competition 1st Place PrizeWinter 2011

Moon Seed is a speculative proposal that attempts to situate a Lunar Crater Cultural Center along a continuous timeline of human space development. This Lunar

development is not the beginning, nor the final goal of humanity’s presence on the moon; it is merely a point-in-time of a perpetual, phased-project to expand human

presence extra-terrestrially.

The challenge of creating a cultural center on the moon is that it cannot exist independently, but rather it must co-exist with other programs already in place that can initiate and sustain inhabitation. Given the increase of privatized space ventures at the beginning of the 21st century, the proposed Lunar settlement would likely be

a cooperation between government, scientific, and commercial enterprises. This proposal envisions that a permanent settlement on the moon is a byproduct of a joint venture between three agendas: resource extraction, scientific research and

exploration, and lastly, inhabitation and the associated leisure and recreation. There also exists a larger, collective dream to transform the moon’s surface into an Earth-like

environment, with a breathable atmosphere capable of sustaining life.

A Generative, Phased Infrastructure

The proposal imagines the deployment of a large scale pod [MOON SEED] into the center of the crater site, a sort of infrastructural seed that contains everything that is needed to

propogate a permanent lunar settlement. To achieve that end, SEED creates self sustaining energy with an integrated nuclear fusion reactor that runs on helium-3, an element more

plentiful on the moon. The mining of raw lunar materials, along with the slow canibalization of SEED’s internal megastructure and shell, provide the required material resources for the

production and further build up of the programmatic space – initially within the existing envelop of the shell, and eventually to independent lunar settlements along the perimeter

of the crater. The final task of the SEED reactor is to gradually terraform the moon with its surplus energy generation. Over the course of 100 years, the deployment of hundreds

of SEEDs will eventually create shallow lakes in the craters, and a thin but breathable atmosphere across the surface of the moon.

Culture, Evolved

As the lunar settlement grows outward and the terra-forming reaches a critical momentum, SEED gradu-ally evolves from a critical piece of infrastructure to a monument and relic of its former function. SEED’s final form is also a process of the slow erosion of its initial closed shell, through the self-consumption of its own structure and shell over time. It is through these transformations in both form and function that an object of culture begins to manifest. Rather than predetermining a particular cultural program within the project, the notion of culture becomes a temporal phenomenon, a resultant of all that has come to pass.

08

HANGZHOU RAFFLES CITYMIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT

UNStudio 2008 - 2009

Raffles City Hangzhou is a mixed-use development in the Jianggan district of Hangzhou City. The site is located in the centre of the Qianjiang New Town area,

and its close proximity to the Civic center, the cultural and commercial axes of thecity, and direction connections to public transit generates a unique potential for it to become a multimodal hub for businessmen, visitors, and residents alike. RCH aims

to become an “all-in-one” destination for work, live, leisure and entertainment.

Three primary optimizations form the strategic design framework of the project: the views and visual relations to the surrounding, the economic model through

internal program distribution and accessibility strategy, and finally an integrated experiential and spatial sequence within the architecture.

The key to our urban design approach is to both capitalize on the site’s strategicplacement, and to analyze the development with a mixed use concept. Operating

also as a high rise development, the project commands panoramic views to the cultural district from the lower levels to the QianTang river from the upper levels. Urbanistically, its prime location also enjoys a high degree of visibility from therest of the city, creating the potential to become a landmark and icon of the city.

Plinth Central Circulation Atrium3D Prints articulating the vertical circulation and atrium roof

Project Massing3D Printed model shows the smooth surface continuation

between plinth and towers

08 UNSTUDIO RAFFLES CITY

Plinth Circulation StrategyThe transverse axis has a vertically spiraling array of escalators, while

the longitudinal axis has a linearly cascading set of escalators

UNStudio2009.02.06PLINTH SECTION

Internal Voids

L1

L2

L3

L4retail retail

event space

event space

L5

L6

L7

L8

L9

L2

L2

L2

L3

L3

L5

L5

L5

Transformation of the internal voids L2-L5

L4

L4

L4

L4

L4

UNStudio2009.02.06PLINTH SECTION

Internal Voids

L1

L2

L3

L4

event space

L5

L6

L7

L8

L9

Programmatic BreakdownThe plinth contains retail and commercial space, while the towers are hybrid

combinations between office, hotel, serviced apartments, and luxury apartments

Project Surface TypesIdentifies different surface treatments within the overall scheme

08 UNSTUDIO RAFFLES CITY

Ground Floor & Landscape StrategyThe landscape strategy creates four unique experiential and

functional identities along each edge of the site

Plinth PlansRetail and cinema floors, and plinth roof transitioning into tower floors

08 UNSTUDIO RAFFLES CITY

Overview SectionsSections cutting through Tower 1 & through commercial plinth

Tower PlansAs the tower moves up, the program transform from office to serviced apart-

ments, then finally luxury Strata apartments

08 UNSTUDIO RAFFLES CITY

Variable Shading PerformanceElevational shading percentages based on varying panel

width and rotation

Shading Panel Component BreakdownA wide variability of panels results from its continuous

adaptation along a complex surface.

Facade Panel-Type Zoning Analysis

Facade shading panel parameters varied widely across the complex skin, therefore large striations along the envelop were defined as thresholds for the gradient transformation of the shading modules. This method

minimizes the number of unique modules populating the facade.

Individual Panel Parameter Variation

Variables such as width, depth, rotation, and tilt were calculated computationally with custom scripts and the results were linked to

an excel database for analysis and fine tuning.

08 UNSTUDIO RAFFLES CITY

Schematic Facade SectionsSpatial & programmatic difference between urban facade &

landscape facade zones

Facade Sections on Apartment LevelsRelationship between facade and apartment interior zones

Facade Panels Close-upDetail view of the panel aesthetic from the exterior and interior

Landscape Facade vs. Urban FacadeThe horizontal terraces of the landscape facade contrasts

with the vertical striations of the urban facade.

09

THE MOIRE HANDBOOKLA BROAD MUSEUM

Diller Scofidio + Renfro Summer 2012

The moiré pattern is an optical effect created through the interference of two patterns. For the Broad Museum elevator, a specific text moiré pattern is created

through the superimposition of a layer of horizontal stripes and a layer of compressed, inverted text. The horizontal stripes are positioned on the exterior face of the glass walls of the elevator, the text on the interior of the elevator shaft;

when the elevator ascends descends, the relative movement between the two layers creates an animated text effect.

Since the text only becomes “legible” once the stripes are superimposed, an artist can strategically encode messages or text-based graphics and patterns that reveal themselves only when the stripes in the elevator cab temporarily pass through that

specific position in the shaft.

The objective of this booklet is to familiarize the reader with the mechanics of this effect, and make recommendations based on several variable constraints, including:

scale, spacing, movement speed, viewing angles, contrast, color & lighting.

Relative Scales & Ratios

The relative ratio between the stripes and the letters is critical in ensuring the proper legibility of the moiré effect. The scale ratio between all elements are strictly fixed, both

the vertical spacing between stripes and between letters, as well as the relative scale between the stripe and letters.

12”

Perceptual Effect

A perceptual set of text - what you see as a full letter or word - is comprised of 6 stripes and 7 rows of text. Each gap between the stripes reveals a different 1/7th of text behind.

Collectively they recombine and display, in reverse order, the intended letter.

09 DS+R MOIRE

Physical vs. Perceptual Movement

There is a large discrepancy between the rate of physical movement of the letters (or the speed of the elevator), and the perceived scrolling of the constructed

effect. For each unit of physical movement, the perceived letters move 7.35 units. This has to do with the nature of the construction of the perceived letters.

The ‘resolution’, or sizing, of the stripes directly reflect how fast the perceived letters move - each minimum unit of perceived movement can only be a little as the width of a stripe. The ramifications of this effect is that the rate of physical

movement is severely limited, since legibility is lost once the perceived scrolling of letters becomes too rapid.

Context of Implementation

The Moiré pattern is designed to be applied to the Broad Museum elevator. The cylindrical elevator cabin is fitted with 8-feet tall glass walls, and it travels 44-feet from the bottom of the ‘vault’, emerging into the ‘veil’ - the main gallery space. The stripes of the moiré pat-tern would be applied to the outer surface of the glass cabin walls, while the text pattern

would be applied along the length of the shaft wall itself.

10

REEFPS1 / MOMA COMPETITION ENTRY

IwamotoScott ArchitectsSpring 2007

REEF seeks to create an environment for the MoMA/PS1 Urban Beach that is experientially aquatic. The proposal conceptually uses the underwater landscape

of the reef to create an atmosphere of light, shadow, shade, and movement. The primary elements of the reef: sea floor, reef rocks, and coral / anemones - are

translated into three corollary architectural elements - gravel sea bed, reef mounds, and anemone clouds.

The proposal creates a column-free space to allow the anemone clouds to float over the courtyard. To achieve this structurally, they are suspended on lenticular cable trusses that span from the existing concrete walls. The cable placement is dependent both on where the walls are the strongest laterally, and to form an

overall figure that wraps together with the strip of sea bed below. The reef mounds are situated on the sea bed relative to the clouds so that they create a range of

atmospheric conditions for the user: shaded, sunny, misty, dry, and rainy.

01 RAIN DECK

[A] SHADE CANOPY [B] RAIN CANOPY

02 LOG DECK 03 MIST DECK 04 BAR MOUND 05 SUN MOUND 06 SHADE MOUND

[C] MIST CANOPY [D] WIND CANOPY

01

02

02

C

D

B

A

06

04

03

01. Tension Cables Span Existing Walls

02. Projected Lines form Structural Ribs

03. Mound & Canopy Outlines

04. Microclimate Pockets on Site

05. Climate Current Flow Pattern

06. Final Pattern for Geometry

07. Mound Surface Pattern

08. Canopy Surface Pattern

09. Final Composite Plan

Organizational Principles

Like water, the flow of the site and program generates the pattern of structure and surface for the anemone clouds and reef mounds. The patterns align, and are registered through their respective constructional systems. The anemone clouds are made of 1200 uniquely

shaped fabric mesh modules hung from light wooden spacers attached to the bottom chord of the cable trusses. Together, they form a porous tensile diaphragm where the

individual fabric modules are designed to move with the wind.

A Canopy of Variable Function

During the day, the canopy acts as a shading device from the summer sun. In the evenings it activates with undulating lights in conjunction with the Warm Up music events.

10 IWAMOTOSCOTT REEF

Prototyping the Canopy

A scaled model tested the overall pattern of the module aggregation,

while a 1:1 sectionsl prototype of the canopy tested the durability and

flexibility of the module material, and construction connection details.

Construction Components & Materials

The canopy would be composed of cable trusses: 1” diamter EMT threaded with 3/16” cable, swaged at ends, with modules made of sewn fabric mesh strung on 3/8” plywood spacers.

The modules would be ganged in sets offsite and hung on cables on site. The seabed mounds would be plywood, CNC routed into stepped deck surfaces, and the supporting structure

would be laminated CNC routed plywood ribs w/ light metal gauge bridging

SOFTWARE

JAMES LENGjames.leng@gmail.com

+1.510.566.4017

EDUCATION

Harvard Graduate School of Design Masters of Architecture I AP | 2009.9 - 2013.6

University of California, BerkeleyBachelors of Arts in Architecture | 2003.9 - 2007.5

AUTOCAD

RHINOCEROES, VRAY, MAXWELL

GRASSHOPPER, RHINOSCRIPT, ARDUINO

ADOBE SUITE

LANGUAGES

ENGLISH

MANDARIN CHINESE [PROFICIENT]

FRENCH [LIMITED]

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Diller Sco�dio + RenfroNYC, New York | Summer Internship | 2012.5 - 2012.8

Projects: LA Broad Museum, Columbia Medical School, Brown University Creative Arts Center

References: Ben Gilmartin bgilmartin@dsrny.com, Gerard Sullivan gsullivan@dsrny.com

Renzo Piano Building WorkshopParis, France | Half-year GSD Fellowship | 2011.9 - 2012.2

Projects: Beirut Mixed Use Development

References: Nayla Mecattaf nmecattaf@rpbw.com, Antoine Chaaya nmecattaf@rpbw.com

UNStudioAmsterdam, Netherlands | Junior Architect | 2008.5 - 2009.7

Projects: Hangzhou Raf�es City Development

References: Astrid Piber a.piber@unstudio.com, Markus Van Aalderen m.vanaalderen@unstudio.com

Höweler + YoonBoston, Massachusetts | Student Designer | 2011.5 - 2011.8

Projects: GSD Platform 4 Publication, BSA Space

References: Eric Howeler ehoweler@hyarchitecture.com

Of�ce for Metropolitan ArchitectureRotterdam, Netherlands | Trainee | 2007.9 - 2008.4

Projects: LA Defense Signal Tower & Urban Research

References: Clement Blanchet cblanchet@oma.com

IwamotoScottSan Francisco, California | Undergraduate Assistant | 2007.1 - 2007.5

Projects: PS1 / Moma Competition

References: Lisa Iwamoto lisa@iwamotoscott.com

Korth Sunseri Hagey ArchitectsSan Francisco, California | Summer Internship | 2006.6 - 2006.9

Projects: Hillview Stanford Research Center

References: Jim Sunseri jsunseri@ksha.com

EDAW / AECOMShanghai, China | Summer + Winter Internship | 2005.6 - 2005.12

Projects: MingHang Sports City Competition

References: Sean Chiao sean.chiao@aecom.com, Brian Jan brian.jan@aecom.com