PAM DESIGN LECTURE SERIES 06
– SAMUEL WONG
"MAKING IN CHINA"
Design
lecture series 06 hosted by PAM with Sameul Wong, local architect who graduated
from UTM, with fresh graduate certificate in 2006, he was looking for local
firm to join and start off his architecture carrier, but unfortunately the
country was facing a huge recession period, he was not satisfied with the job
scope in Malaysia back then. He worked in Malaysia, Singapore and china. After having
a good experiencing in architecture field in RT+Q
ARCHITECTS, Singapore. Self confidence and hope made him to step in
to china- shanghai expo. Where he found his job carrier. He became a part of core design team for
CAPITAL LAND’S RAFFLES CITY, AEDAS ARCHITECTS, SHANGHAI. His talk on “ making
in china” was all about his design challenges, contribution and successful completion of this projects
where he considered this 7 years in
china was a good life –time experience in his carrier.
Sameul Wong, involves designing a master plan
for cities in china. His projects was based in Hangzhou. It is a mix
development of 3 phase tower building. Retail, office, apartment. He joined the
firm during the schematic development of the building. The ideas/ concept for
this Raffles city, was from the statue of david from the use of ‘ Urban
Contrapossto’. It was not a regular term we use in day to day life. What it
meant was the study of body based on the statue. The output of the building or
in other words the form of the building depends on the twist originating from
most likely a cuboid. Most interestingly the vertical curves and void inside
the building. It is one of the exemplary design done in chronology of china’s
architecture in Hangzhou city.
The project team along with sameul wong
described the complex as “A lively Neighborhood and transit hub” that accommodates
all kinds of activities in a dense and considered arrangement of space. Along the
talk by sameul, he explained more onto the iconic look, twist on how the malls
were designed and had a good sustainable approach to the building. Energy demands are enhanced by use of natural
ventilation while urban sustainability is addressed by allowing the building to
have constant activity throughout 24/7. This development in Hangzhou informed
by the firm on concept called superliving, which involves mixing different
program in efficient structure that enhance urban experience for residents and
visitors
This iconic building has got magnificent
sections drawings in terms of space and voids designed by the team to allow the
user to have good movement and as well ventilation and. The diagonal voids
going upward with central atrium connecting all parts of the mall. ‘The best
place is level 3 where people get to see the tall outstanding tower from the podium
level’ because the voids are diagonally uprooting from level 3. It is one of
thoughtful approach from the design team to have voids since the building is
bigger in space.
Apart from the interior of the building, he is
also a part of retail program design team. The challenges he faced designing
the façade for the retail at podium level was on the materials. The materials were 3d tiling attach to the
building at podium level. At street level, the podium building is covered in a
skin of scale like 3d Aluminum tiles that displays pixelated reflection of the
surrounding and movement of passer by. A layer of vertical solar-shading fins
applied to the glazed curtain wall of the tower emphasize the twisting forms. The
plinth house retail units arrange along a central spine, with huge atrium at
the centre providing the main visual and navigational focal point.
3D aluminum tiles
The design of the project reference the
movement of the river in its fluid surface, which start out calmly at the base
and then sweep dramatically across the exterior of the two towers. This dynamic
aesthetic seeks to unite diverse program contained within the complex. Designing
a entrance compounds with reflective surface on top. Making it more welcoming
to people and communal space. This interesting design shows the movement and
community of the people walking along the building premises.
Construction of the building, it took roughly
4 years back in 2008 and ready for construction in 2012. There were many challenges
during construction process in terms of structural element, on site workability.
The structure was successfully constructed in mid 2017. Main aspects of
structural problem were column placement, unlike other structural this building
does not have regular column placement but the column were designed to bend
according to the flow of the proposed designed for the center atrium with
diagonal voids. It took them lots of effort and trial/error to make sure the
column goes according to proposed design. But many times it failed to give the output but facing
all challenges they made it to get the desired output finally.
When it times to finish up his talk, he said that
the use of ‘Rhino’ software were important in terms of presentation and model
making in china. Firms in china use rhino software for 3d modelling which helps
them to speed up their design process. So, he forced himself to learn the
software. He urged all in the talk that use the opportunity wisely if you have
get a chance to work in different culture, country so, that we can learn in
different atmosphere and surrounding and gain knowledge along the journey.
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Reference