Type: MA Design Thesis
Year: Summer 2022
Supervisor: Eike Schling
Office: The University of Hong Kong, Department of Architecture
In final semester of the Master Programm students create their individual research by design, investigating place, climate, material and structure to create new architectural solutions.
Rewilding Station by Gan Guojun
Even in highly developed cities, there are still many unexpected species that inhabit them. I believe architecture have the power to create new human-wildlife relationships and change the antagonistic situation between the two. This thesis explores how architecture can challenge the relationship between humans and other species then make further positive contributions to the welfare of the latter. Architecture can help supporting endangered species by creating the ecosystem they need (topographic, water, other important species for them, etc.) to stabalize the biodiversity.
Temporary Permanence by Joyce Tze Yuet Hui
Sustainable construction system for informal settlements in Hong Kong
This thesis looks at incremental design with evidence and research-based method. Analysing the situation of informal settlements in Hong Kong, it aims to work between a blank slate rebuild and a low-tech DIY layperson strategy. Given that the nature of informal settlements in Hong Kong are temporary, the thesis takes this opportunity to provide quantifiable improvements in terms of thermal comfort, structural stability, and the community. It intend to demonstrate how the temporary can act as a vehicle for change, but not only a stopgap until something permanent can take place.
Down to Earth by Liu Wei
Multi-Story Rammed-Earth Housing in Hong Kong
Architecture should be understood as a living object in harmony with natural life cycles. Ideally, the building breaks down into its original material constituents or disassembled into components without any residues or contamination, then a new construction can be built with these in a sustainable way.
Considering the condition of our times, the thesis aims to explore an alternative construction system where the building components can be fully recycled, and challenges to take the processes of constructing, operating, dismantling, and reconstructing as guidelines for designing.
Moss Tower by Yu Sum Kristy Lo
The coexistence of moss and human within a pencil tower
Hong Kong is hailed as a city that embeds technology as a part of its sustainable development, constantly finding ways and solutions to improve the quality of life while overcoming the problems with pollution. This thesis will focus on designing a moss façade and spaces in a pencil tower base in Hong Kong’s environmental aspect. I have chosen moss as the main character for the green façade, adapting them to the design to benefit the tower interiorly and exteriorly. In my opinion, moss is a very underrated species of plant, when you see moss on architecturem it tends to remind you of abandoness or decaying of an architecture. However, they not only have many benefits for the environment and us, but from this thesis, you will also learn how they can become a possible way to enhance the sustainability of architecture. In this thesis, I am going to design a pencil tower that consist of spaces to enhance the growth of moss. I will be looking at three main aspects, including harvesting electricity from them, taking advantage of the fine leaves in moss to purify the air for the surroundings, and their tight root system for thermal comfort.
Designing a typology of pencil tower that will benefit moss growth to enhance and improve the quality of the building and the environment.
Smocking the Folds by Zhang Zilin
Integrating smocking technique into concrete forming architectural design.
Concrete is the most widely used construction material all over the world as it can create any geometry that the formwork gives it. However, the unique fluidity of concrete is rarely achieved in real construction because of high cost of curved formwork. Smocking is an ancient sewing technique to tailor a fabric into a certain form. Along with the help of computer-aided-design tools, architects now can predict, describe, analyze, and construct more complex and efficient shapes of fabric, and the fabric-forming concrete, challenging those conventional formworks that previously restricted structural and architectural forms. Therefore, this thesis will take advantage of the plastic property of concrete, through exploring fabric formed concrete with experiments of sewing technique to achieve a creative fabric-forming concrete which is cost-effective, high structural performative and expressive.
Eike Schling 