Nickson Chan

NICKSON CHAN
UCLA Class of 2021
Master of Architecture

Design Process: Elevation
Elevational
continuity
?
?
Dodecahedron
Flattening
Stacking
Design Process: Plan
Randomizing
Tightening
As a starting point for the massing
strategy, dodecahedron serves as the
basic geometry with an underlying
design intention to challenge the
common rectilinear convention of
many prefabricated architecture.
ARCH&UD 401.4 Advanced Topics Studio | Fall 2020 | Mid-term Review
Courtyard
+ =
Design Process: Massing
Honeycomb
Optimised
December 16, 2020 | Nick Chan
Stacks of dodecahedron are then
tightened with the addition of derived
forms for an optimised hexagonal
grid, on which gaps in between units
allow for circulation and encounters.
Design Process: Massing
ARCH&UD 401.4 Advanced Topics Studio | Fall 2020 | Mid-term Review
December 16, 2020 | Nick Chan
Balcony
Balcony
Cube Spatial Opportunities Polyhedron
Balcony
Balcony
In a 2-bedroom unit, balcony naturally
becomes an outdoor space framing
the urban view while a spiral stair
occupies space that would otherwise
be unoccupiable.
Cube Spatial Opportunities Polyhedron
Academic Work Sample
By: NICKSON CHAN
ARCH&UD 401.4 Advanced Topics Studio | Fall 2020 | Mid-term Review
2-Bedroom Studio Loft Studio
2-Bedroom Studio Loft Studio
Rectilinear quality of conventional
prefab housing is being challenged
by introducing new geometries
and leveraging them as spatial
opportunities that foster a cohesive
housing December 16, 2020 | Nick community Chan in LA.
Instructor: KAYEON LEE
Site: 686 SOUTH ST. ANDREWS PLACE, LOS ANGELES, CA
UCLA AUD401 FALL 2020
ARCH&UD 401.4 Advanced Topics Studio | Fall 2020 | Mid-term Review
Conceptual Diagrams
December 16, 2020 | Nick Chan
PREFAB CO-HOUSE

0 5 10 20
0 5 10 20
2-BR
OFFICE
STUDIO
2-BR
COMMUNAL
AREA
2-BR
LAUNDRY
LOFT
STUDIO
Co-Housing Hallway
Three types of apartment units,
including lofts, 1-bedroom units, and
2 bedroom units, and various shared
space are designed to maximize
the variety of interior space usage,
incorporating balconies and stairways
in the form of dodecahedron and other
derived polyhedrons.
Plan

Steel Connectors
Mass Timber
Cable Connectors
Glazing
Steel Frame
Balconies as a Secondary Cable System
Assembly of the steel-framed structure
enables repetition of components,
with cast-connex as a node for joining
multiple beams at repeating angles.
Surface infills are timber and glazing
panels. They are reused in all modules
thanks to the commonly shared
dimensions.
Exploded Prefab Components

Each year two millions of people
set out on their pilgrimage through
Jalisco, along the 117 kilometres of
Ruta del Peregrino. The route leads
them from the city of Ameca, to the
town of Talpa de Allende with the
shrine of the Holy Virgin of Talpa.
A site of the sacred space is selected
at Espinazo del Diablo, where the
Swiss architects HHF designed a spiral
lookout point in 2008. At that point
of the route, pilgrims would already
have completed the most challenging
phase of their journey, requiring a
place that would fulfill their physical
and spiritual needs.
From pre-design research on spiritual
practices and sacred geometries, a
symbolic overlap of two circles of the
same size is found to be an inspiration
to the project and highly relevant to
the existing circular lookout as well as
the topography involving a downward
slope from the main trail.
Site Images (Credits: HHF Architects / Iwan Baan)
& Conceptual Sketches
Academic Work Sample
By: NICKSON CHAN
Instructor: BEN REFUERZO
Site: ESPINAZO DEL DIABLO, JALISCO, MEXICO
UCLA AUD401 WINTER 2020
SACRED JOURNEY
Existing Projects along the Pilgrimage Route

Solar Study of the Oculus
Lookout Point above the Oculus
As an addition to the existing
viewpoint structure, the project retains
and reinforces the initial purpose
of looking out by introducing water
as a foreground of the broader
view, creating a dramatic effect as
compared to the typical landscape
along the route.
Water flows along brushed metal
sheet structure, on which acoustics and
lighting effects are produced around
the oculus. Greyish concrete wall
surfaces of the underground chamber
would be partially painted with
reflections from the brushed metals,
giving life to the mysterious space.
Under the Oculus

Site Axonometric
Light and Shadow Studies
When being inside any of the three
solitary space, one would feel calm to
reflect on their journey so far, without
distractions that would be present at
the route. Special attention is given
to designing the light and shadows
projected on the interior walls, as
indication of the passing of time.
Perspective Section & Plan of Solitary Space

Right above the artificial concrete
mound, the oculus opens to the sky,
intending to be provocative through
light and acoustics, while providing
opportunities for pilgrims to interact
with the nature in a different way.
Orienting towards the central
water feature, the chambers are for
contemplation. One would step on
the staggered concrete seating and
approach the symbolic mound.
Between the two chambers is an
enclosed gallery space displaying
artifacts and artworks dedicated to
the journey.
Floor Plan
Exterior View
Perspective Section

i
i i
32’-6”
15’-0”
1 Broad Art Center
Backdrop
2
3
Sculpture Garden
Theatre Arts
Nickson Chan
4
Arts Library
5
Architecture
6
Music
7
Royce Hall
An innovation hub is the backstage of the School of Arts. Based on that, this project
explores the notion of duality being behind and in front of the curtain, between a
structurally sculpted mass and its articulated facade reading, as well as the
differentiation of inside and outside.
1
3
8
9
Fowler Museum
Dance
The two inclined cores not only serve for circulation but also as a basis for
suspension of linear floor plates in between them, which at the same time enables
a facade that looks like it is falling upon the site and draws relation to the Richard
Serra sculpture. Under the facade is an outdoor space for performance in the
shading of the building itself, leveraging the facade as a backdrop of the site.
Addressing the building’s adjacency to the Broad Center building, there are bridge
connections on the top two floors, which can only be seen from behind the building.
2
4
For the interior, floor plates shift from level to level, to create a spatial experience of
indoor terraces and vertical transparency. Addressing the different needs of natural
light in studio versus in gallery, metal panels on the East facade are cladded mainly
on the first two levels, while more glazing is used towards the top, visually
composing a triangular rhythm.
9
8
7
5
Section led by Narineh Mirzaeian
Comprehensive Design Studio
A&UD 415 Winter 2020
6
0 5 10 20
Site Diagram
Ground Plan
The School of Arts and Architecture
(SOAA) Innovation Hub is a campus
building of which its major purpose is to
facilitate and make available a variety
of flexible and reconfigurable spaces
for interdisciplinary collaboration and
entrepreneurship. It fosters a lively think
tank and also performs as a nexus for
gatherings, special events, and various
media functions.
Academic Work Sample
By: NICKSON CHAN
Instructor: NARIINEH MIRZAEIAN
Site: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, CA
UCLA AUD415 WINTER 2020
STEEL CURTAIN
With elevated porosity as a common
theme and a deliberate pedagogical
constraint, organizational components
must be brought together in novel
ways. Sustainable design approaches
need to be fully integrated into the
steel-frame building. Its envelope
and form are put into play with the
broader context, including an existing
Richard Serra sculpture on site and a
redesigned landscape.

An innovation hub here is considered
the backstage of SOAA. Based on
that, this project explores the notion of
duality being behind and in front of the
curtain, between a structurally sculpted
mass and its articulated facade
reading, as well as the differentiation
of inside and outside.
The quality of it being a hub is
exemplified beyond the interior by
activating the immediate ground plane
and enhancing connectivity among
scattering department. The adjacency
to the Broad Center is addressed with
bridge connections which can only be
seen from behind the building.
South Elevation
East Elevation

Level 4 Plan

For the interior, the perpendicular
pair of cores not only serve for vertical
circulations, but structurally and
organizationally, they are also the
basis for suspension of linear floor
plates in between them. Floor plates
shift from level to level to create a
spatial experience of indoor terraces
and vertical transparency.
South Section
Building Chunk

This studio addresses urban issues
ranging from climate, to infrastructure,
to civic context, to district plan, and
to programming, through topics and
binaries of edge, figure, ground, mass,
landform, forces, flows and functions.
Site Plan
Imaginary waterfront landscape of
the Channel Islands Harbor peninsula
is reconfigured for a ferry terminal
and a waste management plant.
Large-scale reformulation and smallscale
design development prioritizes
distinct form over formless ideas of
landscape urbanism.
In light of a remote instruction mode
during Spring 2020 amid a pandemic,
deliverables of this project is screencentric,
primarily in a video format.
Virtual Exhibition Plan
Narrative of the video is developed
around a fictional exhibition at
the Oxnard Waste Plant, and a
timely architectural response to the
changing environment in terms of
landform and sea level.
Link to Video:
https://youtu.be/LZGFr5GFiUk
Rendered Chunk
Academic Work Sample
By: NICKSON CHAN (in collaboration with NORA YANG)
Instructor: GEORGINA HULJICH
Site: CHANNEL ISLANDS HARBOR, OXNARD, CA
UCLA AUD414 SPRING 2020
Video Screenshots
TERRAIN TERMINAL

Departure and arrival are organized
underground to liberate the ground
level as a leisure space for the public.
Existing waste plant operates on
the upper level, in isolation from the
terminal programs. Trucks carrying
the marine waste would unload on
that level, and afterwards, return to
the sea platform via the bridge for a
continuous loop.
Floor Plans
Rendered Sections

Starting with research on traditional
joinery, the Kawai Tsugite joint, a
Japanese three-way joint that can
be put together in three directions
(i.e. x, y, z axes), is modified and
replicated to produce a larger system.
Major fabrication techniques including
wood-milling and 3D printing are some
of the focuses of this exercise.
Original Joints
Academic Work Sample
By: NICKSON CHAN (in collaboration with MAHA BENHACHMI, PHILLIP BROWN, YUFAN WANG)
Instructor: JULIA KOERNER
UCLA AUD220 FALL 2018
JOINERY RE-INVENTION
Original Joints
CNC-milled Joints

The re-invention was achieved through
a decomposition process, while the
resulting three fragments can be
joined together in a ring-like system,
re-creating the part-and-whole
relationship. Various configurations are
made possible for architectural and
non-architectural applications, from
furnitures, interior design, to buildings
and structural systems.
3D-Printed Joints
Re-invented Joints
Reinvented Joints
3D-Printed Joints

As part of a design collection project
initiated by the textile brand Kvadrat,
the studio were reminded by the
Razzle Dazzle motif the monolithic
icebergs grinding across one another
as they float through the ocean.
Concept Imagery
Color Extraction
Fabric Matching
Professional Work Sample
By: NICKSON CHAN (in collaboration with colleagues at LIM + LU)
Firm: LIM + LU
Firm Leadership: ELAINE LU, VINCENT LIM
JUN 2019 - AUG 2019
BERG
Conceptual Study

Inspired by the visual connection, the
Berg lounge was designed, whose stark
is softened through the use of textiles.
Its sculptural composition reflect the
contradictions inherent within the
formation of icebergs: monuments
shaped by nature whose myriad forms
nevertheless appear to have been
chiselled out by hand.
Study Models
Juxtaposition between metal’s
coldness and fabric’s warmth creates a
dialogue. The fabric is highlighted and
appears to be floating in space as the
reflective metal base disappears into
its surroundings, echoing the imminent
threat of climate change and the
disappearing of glaciers.
Mock-Up
Detail Shot
Prototype
Detail Shot

Contact at
nicksonchan@g.ucla.edu
+1-310-2930728