Team Fūjin Arch 101

Fall 2013 Final Portfolio

By Corina Lo

SITE ANALYSIS

FIRST SITE - Has shade from the trees. - The ground is mostly leveled, but

has a little slope. - The view is more interesting than

the first site. - Still pretty far from the soccer field

noise. - Has the potential to have framed

views. - Easily accessible. - There could be a pathway formed

by the two trees. - There is a feeling of freedom and

shelter from the trees. - Sun can be shown during noon.

Time 11:40 am

SECOND SITE - It is the only site that can be seen

at the very top of Marston Ave. - It gets the most sunlight, but if the

weather is too hot, trees won’t be able to shade the area as much.

- It has the most open space and isn’t obscured as much. People won’t be curious to see the unseen.

- Curve edge could be used as part of design.

- Trees don’t obscure it from bird’s point of view.

- It is one of the leveled sites. - Has potential to become an

entrance or an exit. - Views aren’t as interesting on this

site. - Farthest away from the field noise. - Easily accessibly.

Time 11:40 am

South West North East Time 11:50 am

THIRD SITE - Has an interesting views and

sights. The views can be framed by the trees or by the design.

- You can hear the noise from the field more.

- There is a slope. It can make the design interesting, but it is difficult to work with.

- The area consists of more tress, which provides plenty of shade.

- More enclosed than other sites because of the trees and it’s location.

- The wind will move up the hill during the day and return down during the night.

- Not as easy to access.

Time 11:40 am

CLOUD COVERAGE

October- December: mostly clear in the beginning of the month and gradually gets cloudy up to December.

Graphs from weatherspark.com

DAILY SUNRISE AND SUNSET

Graph from weatherspark.com

DEW POINT

Graph from weatherspark.com

WIND

Graphs from weatherspark.com

HUMIDITY

Graph from weatherspark.com

PRECIPITATION

Graphs from weatherspark.com

Sun Direction on the Day of Jury One Hour Time Intervals from 12pm-3pm

Individual Iterations My first two small iterations were just for

experimentation. I was trying out sectioning, so I wasn’t really focused on the design. I was concentrating on how it would actually fit together.

Strengths: The sectioning was successful.

Weaknesses: Design was not though through. They both practically look symmetric.

Discoveries: It is hard to section the triangles because it doesn’t have any right angle sides.

Challenges: I had a hard time with slotting all the pieces together because of the paper’s thickness. I had to cut so the paper could slip in.

Insights for the Future: Always keep design in mind.

Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Individual Iterations Cont. Iteration 3 Iteration 4

Iteration 5

Individual Iterations Cont.

Iteration 6 Iteration 8

Iteration 7 Iteration 9

Individual Iterations Cont. Iteration 3 and 4

Pro: Interesting design.

Con: Needed to develop the places for one person, accidental encounters, and a view.

Iteration 5

Pro: This design has all three requirements.

Con: The design isn’t fully developed yet.

Iteration 6 and 7

Pro: -Design taken from iteration 3 and 4; made both possible for people to journey through by

creating an opening at each of the circles.

-Developed a seating area and shading.

Con: Both of my structures were fixed on a horizontal and vertical axis.

Iteration 8 and 9

Pro: -Interesting design.

-The structures both have all the three requirements.

Con: Both of the iterations are practically the same but the pathway getting into the private place is

different.

Individual Iterations in a team Kenza Corina

Chigako Xiu Ting

After we completed our individual iterations, we all got into groups. We chose a site and we built our individual group iterations based on the location. It was really amazing how we all had the same idea of using curvilinear lines. I thought that we were going to be able to get along fine and come up with a final design quickly. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped.

Iterations of the Group

Xiu Ting’s drawing of what our structure would look like.

My experimentation of the tessellation of triangles.

The group’s first iteration of the structure.

Xiu Ting and Chigako’s iteration of the main

structure frame.

Prototype 1

Once we figured out what material we were going to use, we tried to make the prototype triangles with the PVC pipes. We strung a thick strong wire to connect them all together and then Chigako used fabric to cover the surface. We realized that it took a lot of time to make just one of them and the cost of creating 70 of them would be too much. Not to mention that 70 of those triangles would be too heavy and it wouldn’t create the curve that we wanted, so we thought of another way to create the surface of our frame.

Prototypes 1 and 2

Our teacher, Jerry Lum suggested that one of the possibilities we could do would be to use kites for a surface. It was a great idea. It was also cheaper and lighter than our first prototype.

This tear-shaped kite was actually an accident. I was trying to make a circle out of the bamboo, but then as I was curving it, I saw the tear shape. I thought it would be perfect for our design. It also looked like leaves, so it would fit in with our site since there were trees. Aside from the look, I was able to test it in the wind and it rotated and spun. Since it was a unique design and it worked, we went with my design.

Construction process During construction, we work so hard. Our group was super behind

because we spent the first weeks of the construction process fighting about the design. We only had two weeks left, so we worked on all the weekends and almost the whole Thanksgiving break. We decided to use PVC pipes for our project’s main structure because of its flexibility and its ability to form the curves in our design. We first started with the base of our structure and we worked our way around and attached all the PVC parts to make the half dome. To connect the PVC, we used couplings and to stabilize it, we drilled into to the PVC and the coupling and tightened it with nuts and bolts. In order to prevent the structure from moving when the wind is blowing we grounded it with rope to the two trees. Simultaneously, we all started to mass produce the kites. We started getting the measurements of each of the kites in its specific section of the structure. After, we got the bamboo and made the frames. Then, we wrapped the fabric around and reinforced the kite with more bamboo. Once we finished, we attached the kites onto the frame with fishing line and swivels. Then we tied all the intersections of the PVC with rope and made sure that everything was secure. The final thing we did was create the meditation seating area. We used a circle-shaped wood platform and supported it with a wooden square to create some distance from the ground. We put some hooks in the circle and we strung ropes through them and tensioned it by the intersections of the black rope.

Narrative Our group wanted our structure to be beautiful and

appealing to the eye. Around the structure on the north side, and from above, people can see leaf-shaped kites. From far away, it seem like the kites are in mid air, but as people get closer, they see that it is being held by a clear fishing line. As people wander through the enormous entrance, we want them to walk into a beautiful canopy of flittering kites. They can feel the power of the wind and the kites provide us with the visual. If the wind is strong, then the kites will flitter furiously and the whole atmosphere changes as the inhabitants speculate the amazing conditions. If the wind is a soft breeze, the kites will float gently and people will feel calm and tranquil. The center piece of the structure can act as a meditation site where a single person can just look at the kites and be relaxed. It also gives a feeling of being close to nature because it is close to the ground. As they exit the small opening, they come across two paths. They can go either way and they might bump into someone as they depart. When they duck their heads and come back up, they can see the beautiful scenery of the residential area.

Conclusion/Reflection I really loved working on this project. It was so much fun and it really pays off at the

end to look at the finished product. Working in a team gave me so much insight on how teamwork and collaboration are essential for success. In the beginning our team struggled. We had too many ideas about what the design was going to look like. There was so much discussion going on that we didn’t focus on what needed to be done to progress. There was so much time wasted into arguing that we used up half of our building period. Somehow we were able to catch up and we really came alive as a group in the end.

I am not thrilled about the final design, but it was the best we could do. I exterior was the part that shone the most, but the inside was a little of a disappointment to me. Of course, we couldn’t really do what we initially wanted because of the time lost. If we could go back and redo the inside, we would have gone with my idea and attach the rope from the bottom of a tree trunk and extend it over to the other side of the structure so there would be a private place. I am pretty happy with how things turned out considering all that our team has been through with the time limit.

In the beginning, I was worried about my teammates. I was scared that some of them would drag us down. The thing is that, you can’t avoid it when it comes. If one person is a weak point in the team, the whole team may go down, but I learned that it doesn’t matter who you work with. The important thing is that everyone can communicate well and resolve problems as quickly and efficiently as possible. I shouldn’t have been worried about my teammates, I should have worried about how we would get back on track and get on schedule. There were so many opportunities for me to stand up and take charge, but I didn’t

Conclusion/Reflection do it. I regret that because I think we would have had more time if I had just voiced out.

Even when our group was being judged, I kept quiet the whole time. I always have stage-fright. I actually can speak up when I want to. I’ve had a lot of practice in front of crowds as well, but this time, it got the best of me. I really have to work on my people skills and work on not getting scared of being judged or nervous when I speak. My goal for next semester is to get over my fear of public speaking and to stand up for myself. I’ve have the best first semester ever and I am so glad to have taken this class and finish up with this amazing experience.