Lester Lim | CV & Architecture Portfolio IV

PORTFOLIO
LESTER LIM
2018-2021
SELECTED WORKS

LESTER
LIM
ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE
SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN
BIOGRAPHY
Hello! I’m a 26 year-old Architecture designer from Singapore. My interest in architecture was
sparked from my love for sketching and creating spaces that will help improve the lives of
others or craft an experience. I have an interest in humanistic and social design, and believe
that modern developments should still retain character, whilst driven by eco-sustainability,
ethical values and implementing new materials and technologies to provide a better quality
of life for people. My interest in art, music and films drive my appreciation for different
cultures and alternative approaches to design, influencing the way I think about architecture.

CV
CURRICULUM VITAE
LESTER LIM
EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION AND AWARDS
Apt blk 438A Sengkang West Ave
#04-339
Singapore 791438
+65 81825754
lester_lim@mymail.sutd.edu.sg
@leslimstudio (instagram)
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
MASTERS IN ARCHITECTURE
Ong&Ong
| Feb 2022 - Present
Architecture and Sustainable Design
Project Typologies:
Transit (MRT Stations), Research and Academia (Co-teaching),
Publications and Graphic Design
Job Scope & Responsibilities:
Worked in a tight-knit team to produced winnning tender
submissions for MRT station projects, including design,
construction and authority submissions.
Also proposed, planned and co-taught Core and Option
studios under the Architecture and Sustainable Design course
in SUTD, before moving into producing publication works to
consolidate the design work and insights from the studio.
Learned valuable coordination and managing experience
working with various partners for both academia and industry
projects.
JUNIOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
WY-TO Architects | May 2019 - Aug 2019
Project List:
Le Faubourg Citoyen (Mixed-use Residential)
NParks Seedbank (gallery interiors/exhibtion)
ilight 2019 proposal (Installation)
Responsibilities:
Worked closely with the managing director to produce design
proposals and development, on top of producing construction
drawings and graphics. Gained valuable managing experience
through meetings with clients, contractors and
manufacturers both in France and Singapore, as well as
overseeing the fabrication and installation of gallery features.
ARCHITECTURAL INTERN
Spark Architects | Sep 2020 - April 2021
Project Typologies:
Commercial/Mixed-Use, Hospitality, Retail, Adaptive Reuse,
Masterplanning
Responsibilities:
Worked with an international team, covering research,
conceptual and schematic designs as well as model-making
for projects of multiple typologies. This included mixed-use,
hospitality, commercial, adaptive re-use and sports complex
projects across Asia.
Singapore University of Technology and
Design | 2020 - Dec 2021
Scholarships and Awards:
Asia Young Designer Award - Silver 2022
Master of Architecture Thesis Award - Social Innovation 2021
Board of Architects award - Top in Masters 2022
INDE. Awards - Shortlist 2022
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
Architecture and Sustainable Design
Singapore University of Technology and
Design | May 2017 - Aug 2020
Scholarships and Awards:
SUTD Honours List 2019/2020
ASD Core Design Certificate of Merit 2020
Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Scholarship 2020
BCA International Building Design Competition 2020 (merit)
TAK Study Award 2019
ACADEMIA AND EXTERNAL PROJECTS
Designer & Graduate Helper
Asst Prof. Jackson Tan, MCCY | Youth-Topia |
Nov 2020 - April 2021
Designed and Co-coordinated the fabrication of the “Stomping
Ground” installation held at the Scape Youth Park. Liaised with
graffiti artists to collaborate with us on the installation, as part
of the project’s vision.
Graduate Helper
Asst Prof. Peter Ortner | HDB ‘future of living’
virtual exhibit | Sep 2020
Coordinating 3D models across studios and creating masterplan
renderings for the virutal exhibit
Teaching Assistant
Core Studio III & Digital Design Fab
Jan 2020 - April 2021
Preparation of teaching materials, conducting lectures
and giving design consultation for student studio
Design Team
Prof. Michael Buidig | MapleTree |
February 2020 - May 2020
Designing a bench with recycled wood and carbon fibre for
MapleTree Holdings
SOFTWARE SKILLS
INTERESTS
Rhino
Grasshopper
Sketchup
Autocad
Revit
Enscape
Twinmotion
Lumion
Vray
QGIS
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Indesign
Adobe Premier Pro
Experiential Design Graphic Design
Automobile Design Music
Rock Climbing
Films
Film Photography
Sketching
LANGUAGE SKILLS
ENGLISH
MANDARIN

CONTENTS

ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS
PACKARD ESTATES
GOSEONG FILM STRIP
COMMUNE-NICATE
STOMPING GROUND
GRAPHIC PROJECTS
AAI PUBLICATION

1
PACKARD ESTATES
REIMAGINING THE AMERICAN DREAM OF SUBURBIA IN
DETROIT
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Advisor: Peter Ortner
Summer-Fall 2021
Masters in Architecture Thesis Project
28 weeks

The advent of autonomous electric vehicles in the near
future will make the nature of mobile vehicles increasingly
nebulous: what will be the difference between your living
room and your car? This thesis posits that there will in fact
be no difference – with the production and inhabitation of
vehicles and homes mixed and no longer distinguished. This
future implies a drastic change to our car-obsessed urban
environment promising not only a more freely mobile future,
but also one which permits us to redefine the sustainability of
car culture and the suburban lifestyle.
This project thus questions if the new form of mobility explained
earlier on can stitch spaces back together? It is mainly inspired
by the idea of Woonerfs in the Netherlands, which translate
to Living streets, where suburban neighbourhoods are far
denser and sustainable, with common front yards and shared
spaces for humans and vehicles to inhabit. This is crucial
due to the fact that in typical metropolitan developments,
vast amounts of building area are set aside for parking
requirements, creating large, banal spaces that often feel
dangerous and uninhabitable.
The resulting form is a terracing groundscraper structure that
seeks to take back the streets for the people in this industrial
wasteland, along with attempting to establish a vertical
suburban form instead of resorting to skyscrapers, which are
often criticized at alienating people from street life and the
city.
It also challenges the boundary between cities and suburbs,
by re-introducing this suburban concept into Detroit’s
wider metropoliton area. This strategy draws the suburban
population back into the city, as a counter thesis to the
suburban sprawl growth model the American typically adopts
for housing.
The houses and amenities will be built over the Packard
automotive plant, which will be preserved and serve the

TECHNOLOGY OF
THE FUTURE
The automobile of the past will be obsolete, And is being
replaced with new, clean autonomous vehicles providing
safer travel alternatives. Detroit, known as the motorcity for
its historical role in automotive production, is now one of the
frontliners for Autonomous vehicle development as well.
This drastically changes the way we live and move, forcing
us to rethink how humans and architecture can interface and
evolve with this new technology. There are existing architectural
projects exploring the new conditions that can be afforded,
from autonomous living, to drive up spaces, travelling spaces,
and economical usage. These advancements all gives us
grounds to rethink the way we build our cities and spaces.
Trip Planning
Self-driving vehicles plan their
route by accessing maps, traffic
data, road and weather conditions,
toll information, and more.
They continuously refresh all that
data throughout the trip, in real
time, via an internet connection.
Co-Driver
In the trunk of the vehicle lies the
brains of the operation: the
computer that processes all this
data through algorithms and
converts it into driving decisions
(when to stop, back up, accelerate,
slow down, change lanes,
and more). It is a very powerful
computer, akin to a mobile,
multi-server data centre.
Panoramic Vision
A mini dome mounted on the car
houses a LIDAR unit to help the
vehicle “see.” Using laser beams
rather than radar waves, LIDAR
generates dynamic, three-dime
sional imagery for as far as 60
metres in every direction. The
mini-dome also contains video
cameras that recognize traffic
lights, signage, pedestrians, and
cyclists.
AI-Eyes
A system called “computer vision”
processes the combined data
from the LIDAR, radar, and
camera systems to identify street
users; classify them as pedestrians,
vehicles, or cyclists;
anticipate their movements;
incorporate road rules; and make
driving decisions.
FOR PROBLEMS
FROM THE PAST
When it comes to living in America, we think of the suburbs,
which is fraught with urban and sustainability issues. It has
come to represent the endless, problematic growth and
sprawl model of development in American cities, as well as
political and social issues.
It is built on the concept of mass produced homes, like how
cars were produced, in sprawling pieces of land zoned purely
for residential usage, built upon a vicious cycle of automobile
depency, caused by the post-war industry and baby boom.
The urban and social characteristics of the suburbs has been
long entrenched in the American way of life, represented
here by Levittown, one of the pioneering suburban model
of development created by William Levitt in the late 50s. It
features sprawling, single family homes made affordable
via cheap mass production and attractive mortgage loans,
driving masses of Americans to purchase these homes. It was
the American dream to have your own piece of property and
yard, along with a car in these car-centric developments.
These suburbs are often characterised by big box stores, with
even larger parking lots to accommodate the cars .
The wider metroplitan area is riddled with vacant property as
most of Detroit’s population have fled to the wider suburbs.
Public transit in the city is only available in the downtown
area, with the wider parts relying heavily on cars to get
around. For a sprawling, hollow city like Detroit suffering
from limited resources, Density is destiny for the sake of the
efficient allocation of resources and safety.
Feeling Feet
Existing vehicle GPS systems are
typically accurate within one or
two metres; a self-driving car
requires greater precision than
that. Its position estimators, moun
ed on wheels, can count tire
revolutions and sense lateral
movements. This data is layered
atop detailed digital maps that
include road grades, speed
bumps, and curb-cut locations to
determine the car’s exact position.
Diagrams by Author
Information source: Sidewalk Labs MIDP Vol. 2: Mobility
Lessons learned and shared
All this data is cumulative, just like
years of driving experience. As
the car encounters and navigates
new or unusual situations, it learns
from them for the next time — and
shares this learning with every car
in its fleet.
Eyes on the ground
Front-and ear-mounted radar
units determine the exact distances
between the vehicle and other
moving objects. Additio al cameras
and LIDAR sensors can also be
mounted low on the vehicle.
TOP RIGHT
Composite Urban Artifact
drawing, representing
the American Dream
of Suburbia- depicting
scene of Levittown,
stereotypical depictions
of 1950s suburban life
and common big-box
stores
BOTTOM RIGHT
Composite Urban Artifact
drawing, depicting the
infamous Packard Plant
in Detroit, with its history
of automobile history
on the left and possible
future of manufacturing
autonomous
homes in the future

The American Dream of Suburbia: Mass Production, Urban Sprawl
& Oversized car-centric developments
Manufacturing Identity: Can we transform what was a factory for
cars into one for the production and inhabitation of mobile homes?

DENSITY IS DESTINY
The wider metroplitan area is riddled with vacant property as
most of Detroit’s population have fled to the wider suburbs.
Public transit in the city is only available in the downtown
area, with the wider parts relying heavily on cars to get
around. For a sprawling, hollow city like Detroit suffering
from limited resources, Density is destiny for the sake of the
efficient allocation of resources and safety.
360 sqkm land area
Fallen to 40% of population
Automobile
Industry Boom
Higher use and demand for automobiles
More jobs and higher salary
Purchase of
cars & houses
in the suburbs
More infrastructure to support
Construction of
highways
& suburbs
50 years ago
5000 Officers
<3 mile crime
scene radius
Today
3000 Officers
>7.5 mile crime
scene radius
Difficult to implement municipal service:
Detroit’s Urban Growth Model: Vicious cycle of sprawl
and automobile dependency
Fire Department, trash collection, road
maintenance, street lighting etc
SITE SELECTION
The Packard Automotive plant was chosen as the project’s
intervention site due to it’s iconic reputation for being the
epitome of post-industrial decay and abandonment in a
rust-belt city like Detroit. It sits in between two residential
neighbourhoods that have vast amounts of vacant homes
and many more slated for demolition, due to reasons like
economic downturn, the lack of access to amenities, safety,
suburban flight etc. These highly-layered issues stem mostly
from the poor urban structure of Detroit which was built to
serve the 20th-century automobile-boom economy.
Image Source: https://www.autoblog.com/photos/packard-automotive-plant-auction/#slide-1550109

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DESIGNING FOR
OPTIMISED MOBILITY
Woonerf: Living Streets
Streets and highways today reflect a century of investment in
auto-oriented infrastructure that has failed to provide reliable
or safe urban mobility
To understand some common practices and guidelines that
have been set out for Autonomous Urbanism, a literature
review was conducted on Sidewalk Lab’s MIDP and
NACTO’s Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, and relevant
research isights have been charted out in this chapter.
The main principles for deployment and design for autonomous
and electric vehicles include designing for safety, data-driven
decision making and using technology as a tool.
Flush curbs
with vehicle speeds at bicycle
pace, pedestrians, cyclists and
vehicles interact semalessly by
using separated but flush lanes
Reinforcing Safety
Movable street furniture
can be used to reinforce
safe site zones in a mixed
curbless environment
Low-Speed access
Self-Driving Vehicles should
travel at cycling speeds to
ensure accessibility and
comfort for pedestrians
Mobility infrastructure
To support mobility,
infrastructures like bike
sharing, charging facilities
should be in place.
Green Infrastructure
Trees, bioswales, and planters
reduce stormwater runoff, while
roviding shade and evaporative
cooling for the neighbourhood
Pedestrian Priority
Pedestrians rule the streets,
and self-driving vehicles could
be routed there by real-time
navigation systems. Only Local
traffic and deliveries permitted,
limited at 10mph.
Play Streets
Residential streets are primarily
for residents to enjoy, and street
amenities like heated pavement
and movable furniture can
help activate these informal
frontyards into shops, gathering
spaces, fairs etc.
LEFT
Axonometric Diagrams
on how dynamic shared
streets could be crafted
for Autonomous vehicles,
created by Author.
Referenced from
Sidewalk Labs MIDP
Vol.2: Mobility
RIGHT
Concept and
Axonometric Diagrams
explaining the design of
Woonerfs, created by
Author.
Referenced from
Hennepstraat, a Woonerf
in Utrecht, Netherlands

BUILDING BETTER
NEIGHBOURHOODS
Woonerf: Living Streets
The main inspiration behind this proposal was to combine the
idea of mobility-centric design and ‘Woonerfs’.
The living street, or ‘Woonerf’ model, originated as a
movement in Delft, The Netherlands, in the late 1960s in
response to the dominance of vehicles affecting the city’s
historic cityscape. This typology, pioneered by Joost Vahl, a
Dutch engineer, was approved by the Dutch government in
1976 as a new residential street style 1 .
The fundamental goal of living streets is to create streets
that are shared communal spaces that can be utilized for a
number of purposes, not just as a vehicle thoroughfare, but
also as a residential garden that can be used by walkers,
cyclists, and automobiles 2 .
Hierarchy of
Realms
Efficient Use
of Space
Living Streets
Create Active
Streets
Increase
Socialization
Increase Level
of Safety
The Woonerf’s successful integration of vehicles and people
spaces to create a street that is accessible by all serves as
a great real-world precedent to understanding the dynamics
of building safer, and better car-mixed spaces for an
autonomous, clean energy future.
Speed Limit: 10 km/h
Low speed limit ensures comfort
of all users in the street
Flush Curbs
A singular paved surface
establishes a common shared
street between alll users, with
only change in tiling patterns
to demarcate certain parking
zones
Outdoor Street Furniture +
Play Spaces
Residents are free to put out
street furniture and features
to create their own extended
“living room”, creating a “living
Street” for their neighbours and
themselves
On-street Parking Arrangement
as Traffic Calming Tool
Irregular arrangement of parked
vehicles forces drivers to drive
more cautiously through the
streets
Narrow, Meandering Streets
Narrow, meandering streets will
force drivers to exercise more
caution when driving through
these streets, and deter most
drivers from passing through it
unnecessarily
On-Street Bicycle Parking
In the Netherlands, road
priority is given to pedestrians
and cyclists. Thus, space and
infrastructure for cyclists is
provided on the streets.
Landscaping
Planters, trees, shrubbery
are placed around the street
to calm traffic, as well as to
provide shade and a greener
environment for a livable street
1 Bruce Appleyard and Lindsay Cox; At Home in the Zone;
Planning; volume 72, number 9; 2006; p. 31.
2 Thomas, N., & Mihaly, W. (2014, August 27). Woonerf.
Streets without Cars. https://streetswithoutcars.wordpress.com/tag/
woonerf/

The main neighbourhood street model for Packard Estates was inpired
by the concept of safe shared streets from both Sidewalk labs
and the Woonerf model.
The housing structure consists of a mix of vertically-stacked, 5 over
1 typology synced with the neo-suburban type. They are connected
in a loop via the repeated hypercores, which hold both the housing
and residential lifts, with recreational programs tucked underneath
for easy access on both sides. Ample public space will be provided,
and the repurposed plant will be used for commercial purposes
like the big box stores that characterises suburbs, as well as for
manufacturing the house units and extensions.
This idea draws on the Packard plant’s historic industrial identity
and a manufacturing plant for automobiles, projecting it into the
future as an infrastructure for manufacturing autonomous homes
and vehicles. These themes of industrial production is eomthing both
the American suburbs and automobiles share. They are both massproduced,
sold in a catalogue and the modified by owners.
This project takes a modern approach to this theme, by allowing
residents to design/modify their homes and mobile rooms via
an app and place a build order for it, which will then be sent to
the manufacturing branch of the plant, where both the homes
and mobile pods are manufactured for seamless integration. The
completed pieces and pods will be sent upwards via a funicular
straight from the factory, to be piece together on their allocated 7
by 8m lot.
This forms new prototypologies that imagines how vehicles and
homes can be seamlessly integrated and configured, with flexible
modifiable options like roof and window types

FLEXIBLE SOCIAL
SPACES
Apart from acting as a shared front yard for the homes, these
long horizontal passageways, become social spaces like
sidewalks or streets, rather than just circulation infrastructure.
The insistent repetition of program calls for relief—for “spaces
for doing nothing,” or rather, “spaces where anything can
happen.” These spaces are essential for the social dynamic
of buildings.
FULLY CUSTOMISABLE UNITS
Design/
Modify
Purchase

LIVING PROTOTYPOLOGIES
Single-Level
COMES WITH 7 DIFFERENT
ROOF OPTIONS!
SINGLE STORY UNITS
SINGLE BEDROOM
MOBILE LIVING ROOM
MOBILE LIVING ROOM
8000
8000
5350
CUSTOMISABLE WINDOWS
7000
6086
TRAILER
SINGLE STORY UNITS
SINGLE STORY UNITS
8000
8000
8792
MOBILE LIVING ROOM
MOBILE LIVING MOBILE ROOM LIVING FOOD ROOM TRUCK OWNER MOBILE LIVING ROOM
FOOD TRUCK OWNER
4000
4000
4000
ENTIRELY MOBILE FRONT
FACADE
8000
8000
8000
8000
8000
8000
8000
8000
5350
5350
5350
5350
MOBILE LIVING ROOM
7000
6086
7000
6086
6086
7000
6086
7000
TRAILER
Double-Level
TRAILER
DOUBLE STOREYUNITS
DOUBLE STOREYUNITS
8000
8000
8792
8000
FLEXI LIVING
8000
8792
GRANDPARENTS
GRANDPARENTS
VISITING RELATIVES FLEXI LIVING
VISITING FROM FLORIDA VISITING RELATIVES
HOME OFFICE/BUSINESS VISITING FROM FLORIDA
4000
4000
4000
4000
4000
4000
8000 8000
LEVEL 2
7000
8000
8000
7000
8000 8000
LEVEL 2
8000
7000
8000
7000
8000
8000
8000
8000
7000
7000
8000
8000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
DOUBLE STOREYUNITS
LEVEL 1
DOUBLE STOREYUNITS
LEVEL 1
FLEXI LIVING
VISITING RELATIVES
GRANDPARENTS
GRANDPARENTS
FLEXI LIVING VISITING FROM FLORIDA VISITING RELATIVES HOME OFFICE/BUSINESS VISITING FROM FLORIDA
HOME OFFICE/BUSINESS
8000 8000
LEVEL 2
7000
8000
8000
7000
8000 8000
LEVEL 2
8000
8000
7000
7000
8000
8000
8000
8000
7000
7000
8000
8000
7000
8000
8000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
7000
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1

COMMUNAL LIVING
The community courtyard is designed as
a central public space that will act as a
market hall for the residents in the district,
creating a more integrated social food
place instead of the vast, banal fast food
chain littered around the city. It features reconfigurable
mobile food store pods that
can be adapted to hold seating areas on
the mezzanine level or green roofs.
The courtyard will also feature mobile
greenhouses that hang off of the vertical
superstructure. This was inspired by the
increasingly popular agrihood movement
in Detroit where Detroiters transform vacant
lands into farms to produce fresh foods for
the city, as well as the typical suburban
imagery of tending to your personal
garden/lawn. The provision of these
mobile greenhouses inspire more residents
to participate in the agricultural movement
and grow fresh produce for the community
too, as well as aid in the distribution of the
produce, empowering the residents of
Detroit that are trying combat the lack of
fresh food supply in the city.
TOP LEFT
View from the upperdeck
of mobile food store
pods in the community
courtyard
BOTTOM LEFT
View from along the
street, facing the hanging
mobile greenhouse pods

SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY
Energy will be mainly derived via solar
and hydro sources, captured by the pv
canopies on the lower levels and tracking
pv panels on the core roof. This helps to
capture solar and hydroelectric power,
as well as water supply, which wil be
stored in batteries and water tanks, before
being distributed via the integrated super
structure to the homes and programs.
Reimagining the Packard plant as a place
for both production and living transforms
its identity from an abandoned industrial
site, to an inhabitable infrastructure for the
city, whilst tackling some of the many issues
which plagues the city. This is a counterthesis
to the American sprawl model of
growth, in hopes of giving back the land
to the environment instead of constantly
taking more.
RIGHT
Schematic diagram
of the energy
ecosystem prposed
for Packard Estates,
that harnesses natural
energy and resources

2
GOSEONG FILM STRIP
REDEFINING TOURISM AND CROSS-BORDER RELATIONS
Tourism New Deal
Location: Gangwon Province, South Korea
Instructor: Calvin Chua
Partner: Lucas Ngiam
Summer 2021
Option Studio III
14 weeks

The purpose of this studio was to rethink and redefine the
future of tourism industry as a sustainable practice. One
that moves away from a consumption model towards a
contribution model, where tourism sustains and strengthens
existing social, political and environmental conditions.
In partnership with the Gangwon Development Initiative,
exhibiting at the Venice Biennale 2021 Korean Pavilion, we
will envision the future of post-pandemic tourism through
the context of Gangwon, a divided province on the Korean
peninsula for the past 70 years. Despite its division, Gangwon
province has also been the site of experimentation for
diplomatic reproachment since the late 1990s. Tourism was
used as the tool for this experimentation, where dedicated
resorts were built for South Korean tourists to visit Northern
Gangwon province. However, the experiment has been
stalled due to wider geopolitical tensions.
As noted by several analysts, one reason for these failures
can be attributed to the focus on centrally planned largescale
tourism zones and infrastructure projects that are
acutely exposed to the pressures of domestic politics and
international geopolitics. A new model of development is
sorely needed, one that relies on smaller scale, decentralised
urban interventions that enables exchanges and dialogues
between visitors.
Therefore, the central interest of this studio is to design new
forms of tourism architecture. Can tourism be the stimulus
for post-pandemic economy recovery and a diplomatic
restart for a troubled region? How do we design smallerscale
tourism infrastructure for dialogues and exchanges for
peacebuilding?
This proposal is inspired by the prevalence of television and
film in the culture of both North and South Koreas, using this
as a medium to flirt with the boundaries and transparency
between the two sides. Ultimately, Goseong Film strip is a
project that reimagines the border between North and South
Korea.

SITE CONTEXT
The shaping of the project started out by an initial study of the
various tourist attractions within the DMZ, and those that lay
near the border. These attraction hold mainly 5 main types
of programs - observatory, park, museum, village or Military
installation.
Gangwon Province alone has at least 12 of these peace
attractions. Understandably, their intended purpose could
be limited due to the present geopolitical climate. Thus, this
project aims to start a conversation of what more these peace
parks could bring.
Most of these peace attractions promote reunification and
hopes for peace among both Koreas, but never seem to
really facilitate conversation between the people from both
sides. Rather, they all act as standalone islands, repeating
the same message of hope to those who visit them while
portraying North Korea as a form of entertainment through
their lens.

Existing Site condition - Goseong DMZ museum as a standalone “island” of attraction
Study of Goseong’s Urban Fabric
As we studied Goseong’s development, the most striking thing
that we noticed was the indiviuality of th peace attractions.
While travelling towards the 3 peace attractions, there is a
sense of organic urban growth in a nearby town along the
road networks.
In contrast, the controlled placements of each of these
attractions evokes a strong presence of isolation as one visits
them.

LEFT
Composite Urban Artifact
drawing, representing
the existing site conditions
and attractions, as well as
the Donghae-Bukbu rail
line that connects North
Korea (Kosung Station)
to South Korea (Jejin
Station)

DMZ Museum
Unification Observatory Tower
Korean War Exhibition Hall
Unification Observatory Deck
Study of existing everyday elements - stairs, ramps etc, as compared to the monuments to which they support
Study of non-monumental everyday spaces in South Korea, which evolved from “Pimatgols”, which were side streets used by the commoners to avoid bowing to the
noble-class back in the feudal era.

So far, these peace attractions so far have just been marketing the
idea of reunification – and not used as spaces to bring both countries
together. This project explores the possibility of moving past this passive
approach through these peace attractions, and question: what if it was
more active, by bringing some disorder, a little life, into these peace
parks in the name of peace.
Goseong Film strip is envisioned as a production studio for film and
TV shows - with both the South and the North Koreans becoming
the cast and crew of the media, working and participating together
through inter-Korean projects. What is common between the media of
both Koreas, are its everyday streetscape – the backdrop to the various
scenes in their own creative content. Furthermoresuch a proposal has the
potential to appease both sides: by providing more locations for filming
to SK’s burgeoning film industry, and possibly for the NK government
to satisfy the public’s desire for South Korean content.
When looking at where the dmz museum is located, visitors are forced
to only experience what is found within the museum and around its
periphery. The experience itself, by nature, will lean heavily towards a
South Korean identity. But we find that one can remove himself out of
that narrative, in generic places such as commercial spaces, Or among
public spaces and public infrastructure.
Thus we envision that while filming within Goseong film strip, it will not
emphasize much of the peace attractions themselves, but the public
spaces and elements.
We want to transform these symbols of hierarchy, into filming spaces
where the appreciation/understanding of these peace park facilities
are no longer understood as landmarks, but in their most distilled
elements as stairs, ramps etc

The immediate benefit of Goseong Film strip applies to the
inter-Korean production cast and crew, providing at least
1000 jobs and the required facilities for their production
to take place. In addition, there is the knock-on effect of
bringing more tourists into the site as they become fans of the
programs. As a result, both North and South Korea will enjoy
the increased revenue that is brought in by these recreational
tourists, Koreans and International. These peace attractions
and the area that they occupy become much more active and
vibrant through Goseong Film Strip.

In order to facilitate the different layers of tourism, various
programs are needed to support this new ecosystem such
as accommodations, commercial and recreational spaces,
offices for post productions
So, the difference between a traditional studio set and
Goseong Film strip is how the various production facilities,
amenities and accommodation are placed next to one
another.
These transitions between programs, or realities, are made
possible with the ring of infrastructure that supports the exterior
façades and holds the internal programs. the infrastructure
now becomes the threshold between the internal and external
activities.

Masterplan
Each “island” of attractions will serve as a
base for the “film strip” developments, catering
to different outdoor set themes for different
filming needs. For this project, we focused on
developing the DMZ museum cluster.

INTERCHANGEABLE
INTERNALS
Sound Stages
The primary Program of a film production
studio, Goseong Film Strip features several
sound stages of various sies at each of its three
locations. Tehse sound stages can be adapted
based on the eneds of the production crew,
ranging from the creation of smaller interior
sets, to a combination of green screens and
practical sets. APart fromt eh circulation,the
structural gridframe infrastructure provides
additional spaces for supporting programs
such as equipment storage, costume wardrobe
and changing rooms.
Recreational Facilities
Introduction of recreational spaces and green
spaces are meant to amplify the contrasting
and juxtaposing realities within the film strips.
With the traditional filmsets being intensely
urban by nature, natural spaces that are
hidden by the external facades create a surreal
contradiction when inhabitants enter into these
spaces.
Functionally, recreational facilities of various
scales are programmed within some of the lots
to provide infromal spaces for both production
crew members and tourists to enjoy.
Accommodations
There are situations whereby the cast and crew
members are required to stay on site within the
film strips in order to stay close to the schedules.
A range o faccommodations are thus placed
within the strips to provide a temporary place
for rest and privacy. Common spaces within,
such as the lobby and commissary, help
facilitate inter-korean interactions, as well as
the ring of strucural gridframe infrastructure that
supports the external facade.
Some of the accommodations can also be
used by various tourists that would come and
visit the set - although priority will be given to
production crew in the event there is a surge inn
filming projects.

GOSEONG FILM STRIP
SECTION PERSPECTIVE

INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR INTERACTION
The recreation of the pitmagol and its associated vibrant life is
done through the combination of the production facilities and
recreational programs with the various façade.
Through this vibrancy and shared experience, conversation
between Koreans can happen without any association to
either the south or north – just Korean.
Expanding from the fabricated reality of the street, the façade
ring that wraps around the various facilities can support the
activities that are happening along the pitmagols such as
space to deploy film equipment at various vantage points,
and also support the activities that are happening internally,
becoming circulation spaces and areas that facilitate chance
encounters.
There is this Juxtaposition of the fabricated reality of the
street and the actual reality of the internal facilities. The main
element of our project is this 2-4m wide inhabitable structural
gridframe, that on one hand allows the exterior set facades to
be cladded, and on the other hand, serve as an in-between
space for sets and facilities.
Thus, the most important aspect of the building is not what’s
inside or outside. But rather what’s in between – the space
that will be used by all.
Through this project we hope it starts a conversation among
those who visit, to be active in the decision for reunification
.

On the micro level, the infrastructure for the Outdoor sets forms
this in-between space that enables conversation through
informal, passive every-day interactions between both
sides- something as simple as the act of borrowing a lighter,
or sharing a smoke together.
As the inhabitants from the both sides pass each other through
the daily use of this threshold, it breeds a familiarity with one
another, even if it’s unspoken.
We envision the film strip to spur active conversation and
interaction among the inhabitants - north or south. Their
thoughts of each other shouldn’t be led by a certain narrative,
but rather be done actively by the individual.

3
COMMUNE-NICATE
HOUSING AS A REHABILITATIVE MACHINE
Location: Polder Island off Singapore’s East Coast
Instructor: Christine Yogiarman
Collaborators: Benedict Tan (Planning and Concept phase)
Spring 2020
Core Studio III
4 weeks on Masterplan, 8 weeks on Housing Proposal

In coordination with HDB’s 60th anniversary SUTD’s Core III
Architecture studio is exploring the future of housing, asking
how we will live in the next hundred years.
The studio builds a vision of the future of housing based on an
understanding of the past, with one key historical fact driving
our investigation: Singapore has been and will be a highdensity
nation. The vision we create will be a next step in a
bigger history of over-coming the difficulties of high-density
urbanism to create thriving, vibrant, livable homes.
This studio also recognises the importance of urban context and
neighborhood to the success of housing. A master-planning
exercise has allowed us to imagine the neighborhood of the
future, in the East of Singapore. Our site is on a proposed
artificial polder island to the south of East Coast Park, within a
larger masterplan developed by the ONG&ONG Architect in
Residence Team led by Andrew Lee. Each studio is allocated
a sub-precinct, with its own masterplan and studio projects.
Our studio’s masterplan is set on largely unfettered land
with nature trails, allowing natural habitats to thrive. Main
circulation would be on an elevated pedestrian network.
Housing Narrative:
By 2070, the continuation of meritocracy continues to be the
fuel for a intensively competitve society. Coupled with the
conformist nature of asian society, there are expectations
that society places on every individual. Overwhelmed
by these social expectations, they might reclude back to
their homes as a protective mechanism against society.
This project aims to be a rehabilitative tool that passively
assimilates the individual back into society through food
production. Food is a basic neccessity that one needs to
survive and is also a common social acitivty. It is in a way
something that brings people together. The architecture
hopes that through these activities, confidence towards
social activity is formed by becoming a valued member of
society through interdependence of resources.

VARYING DEGREES
OF SOCIAL
INTERACTION
The rehabilitative process is incremental, and it is understood
that this occurs at different paces for different indivduals. Thus,
different scales of urban farming- from individual to estatelevel
collective will require varying levels of social interaction,
directly corresponding to the stages of rehabilitation. These
urban farming areas would go from private-unit garden
yards to shared public spaces, according to the scale of
farming and interaction.
STAGE I: Gardening alone.
STAGE II: Shared garden with next-door neighbour and
progresses to opening adjoining kitchens to have enhanced
connections.
STAGE III: Connecting across cluster of 4-6 units for a larger
community.
STAGE IV: Moving out into the 3D Public space, joining the
productive urban agricultural process as a block
STAGE V: Distribution and sharing of these produce with the
wider sub-precinct + giving back even further by facilitating
the rehabilitation process for others.

Private Gardening
Paired Gardens and Kitchens within unit
Shared garden cluster

1
Flood Tank empties nutrient rich
water into growing beds
2
Irrigation pipes snakes across
units to maximise water usage
3
Soil filters the impurities and the
clean water is channeled into
the aquaculture farm
5
Nutrient-rich water is pumped
back into flood tank
4
Fish produces waste that are
full of nutrients for crops

5
4
3
2
1
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ABOVE
Ground Floor Plan
TOP LEFT
Axonometric
LEFT
Sustainable water irrigation and aquaponics
system

LOWER LEVEL
UPPER LEVEL
LIVING UNITS
The floorplan shown above is a typical cluster of 4 units,
with a mix of 3 different apartment typologies for greater
integration amongst neighbours of different socio-economic
background. The loft units feature bedrooms on the upper
levels for privacy since the yard on the lower level would
be shared between the 4 units in the event that they are
rehabilitated.
PLAY ON PROPORTIONS
ABOVE
Unit Cluster Plans
TOP LEFT
Unit section perspective
The balcony planting area is relatively large as compared to
the interior area, because we want to encourage residents
to spend more time outside to facilitate in the rehabilitation
process.
The kitchens were designed to smaller so as to encourage
the residents to open their kitchens up to one another and
share their resources, thereby increasing social interaction
and possibly fostering greater bond between neighbours.
BOTTOM LEFT
Unit Section Perspective

TYPICAL LEVEL PLAN
level efficiency: 83%
overall: 78%
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STAGE IV to V - COMMUNE:
The space primarily involves double level green bridge
that connects the shared garden yards to form a larger
community garden that serves both productive and leisure
purposes on each level. It will puncture the blocks, creating
a vertical relationship between share spaces. These bridges
connect with the split space in the blocks to create loops,
which will drive the productive cycle of rehabilitative
farming within the community.
Harvesting
Sorting + Packaging/
Cooking + Eating
Harvesting
Sorting + Packaging/
Cooking + Eating
Trading/ bartering of produce
Trading/ bartering of produce
This production line will ultimately exit at the ground level,
to the pavillion where the produce will be shared with the
community via farmer’s markets and farm-to-table eateries.
The end result represents the end of the rehabilitation
process of the residents, where they finally touch-base with
the wider-precinct.
Composting:
Mealworm sorting +
Chitin Processing
Recreational spaces
Farmer’s market @ Multi-Purpose Pavillion
PRODUCTION LOOP EXAMPLE
Composting:
Mealworm sorting +
Chitin Processing
Recreational spaces

SECTION PERSPECTIVE
Number of Units: 240
Levels: 11-12

4
STOMPING GROUND
REDEFINING PUBLIC SPACE
Location: SCAPE Youth Park
Instructor: Jackson Tan and Alex Sun
Organisations: NYC, MCCY
Partner: Grace Sim
Summer 2020
Option Studio II
14 weeks

The project’s vision is to create the “streets” for the youths,
instead of keeping them off. Through discovering and
understanding the site’s character and culture in the past,
Stomping Ground seeks to revive the cultural essence of
Singapore’s urban art scene and the other subcultures that
revolve around it.
The term “stomping ground” refers to a place that is a
favourite/habitual haunt for a group of people, which is
what we envision for our project for the creatives who are
involved in the urban scene. This will in turn create a thriving
creative environment that will naturally attract the public to
come and discover this space, learning and understanding
about these alternative art forms that are often misunderstood
as taboo culture.
Coincidentally, Stompin’ Ground is the name of a pioneer
hardcore band in Singapore from the 90s, who are also
closely tied to the underground scene in Singapore.
“Stomping Ground” was done as part of Studio Youth-Topia,
one of the Sustainable Design Option Studio 2 from SUTD/
ASD Pillar, done in collaboration with the National youth
Council (NYC) and Ministry of Culture , Community and
Youth (MCCY) as part of the extension scheme to revitalise
Singapore’s Orchard Road, called the Somerset Belt
It seeks to explore multi-dimensional issues of sustainable
design through a variety of lenses and at diverse temporal
and spatial scales. Issues of resource efficiency, resilience,
material and typological innovation, micro-climatic and site
affordances, life-cycles and metabolism, and many other
critical issues will serve as the projective context in which
students will develop critical design solutions for small,
medium and large scale architectures and urban interventions.
In Youth-Topia, students were tasked to speculate the
possibilities of placemaking at Somerset Youth Park; with the

EXPERIENCING THE
SITE
Sensory
The sensorial experience – sights and sounds which
accompany the site, are varied; from brightly lit malls and
live music, to the humble streetlamps and buzz of traffic,
each contributing to the textures that give the Somerset area
its character.
Gathering of Millenials
The SCAPE is the centre heart of the millennials’ gathering
space which youth activities conducted throughout the years.
The events include dance performances, music events,
e-sports activities/training camp, which are popular among
the millennials. Beside it, Cineleisure cater activities mostly for
youth as well.
Attractors
313@somerset, 111@somerset act as the various crowd
attractor with commercial and retails. Majority of the crowd
includes adults (21 and above), both Singaporeans and
tourists, while a handful of them are youth( 21 and above).
The design intention is to divert the secured crowd at those
malls to the Youth-park.
Potential
The site can be the gateway between commercial district
and Youth-oriented district. With surrounding Youth oriented
programmes and crowd attracting nodes, it is vital to introduce
unique system that embodied youth culture and divert crowd
to the site to rejuvenate the neglected area
2020 SUTD ASD Option Studio 2/3: Youth-Topia_Stage 02 Site Analysis
2020 SUTD ASD Option Studio 2/3: Youth-Topia_Stage 02 Site Analysis
SCAPE LEVEL 4 +9.8m
SCAPE LEVEL 3 +5.8m
SCAPE LEVEL 4 +9.8m
SCAPE LEVEL 3 +5.8m
DATUM +0m
DATUM +0m
1:500
0M 5M 10M 25M
1:500
0M 5M 10M 25M

2020 SUTD ASD Option Studio 2/3: Youth-Topia_Stage 02 Site Analysis
GENIUS LOCI
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513
This is a mapping of the features that stand out in the site,
thereby forming the character of the place. They also appeal
to certain senses more than the other, creating a multi-sensorial
experience around the site.
GENIUS LOCI
GENIUS LOCI
This is a mapping of the experiential journey from common circulations
routes to the site. It is by no means an absolute representation of what
ABOVE LEFT one might see through the journey. The path was referenced from the
Sound Mapping study on and main Street access Vitalityand linkages of the site.
ABOVE RIGHT
Sensorial mapping of the Somerset
Belt
1:500
25M
LEFT
Activity and Visual permeability
studies
RIGHT
Collage of visual journeys to the site
This is a mapping of the experiential journey from common circulations
routes to the site. It is by no means an absolute representation of what
one might see through the journey. The path was referenced from the
study on main access and linkages of the site.

THE GRAFFITI
STORY
Dissolving Culture
The origins of graffiti started in the 1990s
and quickly gained popularity and attention
among many youths in the past. Graffiti was
amongst other popular youth gathering
activities like dancing, skateboarding,
eating, jamming, and painting. Sometimes,
weekly gigs and events are initiated by
the youths themselves. The Youth Park was
a popular spot for holding these activities
throughout the years, including a significant
milestone when youths were allowed to
paint on the Red Box building.
It was unfortunate that there were several
graffiti-related incidents which sparked
political tensions around the topic of
vandalism. The dissolving graffiti culture is
evident in recent years as more youths today
had turned to digital cultures and social
media for expression. There are potential
benefits in reviving this art culture, even
integrated with augmented reality, to allow
youths to come together.
Layered History
Layers of graffiti on the walls of the
Scape Youth Park
MASTERPLAN
Graffiti Belt
Within the site, there is a graffiti trail guiding
them to a wide range of graffiti types. This
trail has a strong potential to be further
extended and developed to cultivate a
strong youth scene in the Somerset region
as it is strategically located between Scape
and Somerset Skate Park which are popular
spots for youth events, gatherings, and
activities.
The project hopes to adopt a bottom-up
approach culture with the youths as the
starting point, providing them with a space
to boldly be creative, and meet like-minded
people. Complementing subcultures such as
food, music, and sports would be integrated
seamlessly to create a more diverse
experience. The combination of profitgenerating
and free public programs creates
a self-sustaining system, complementing one
another, economically and socially.

SITE RESPONSE +
GRAFFITI TRIAL
These programs come together, strategically allocated at
different regions mirroring and responding to its immediate
surrounding contexts. The site thus absorbs programmatic
energies externally and extends them towards itself, offering
itself as a centralization space bridging multiple themes and
forming interactions within and beyond the site.
Stomping Ground aims to bring out a holistic and all-rounded
experience of the graffiti culture, similar to a graffiti hub, and
offers different ways for people to express creativity and
share their stories. It breaks down graffiti art into various
types such as stencils, blockbusters, stickers, and murals.
Each of these graffiti types could interest people differently.
Interesting riffs off traditonal graffiti include Up-cycling Paint
Art, which involves painting over old unwanted material, and
the Augmented Reality graffti experience, where the public
can view their graffiti projected onto the surface of the Red
Bus via an AR application on their phones

ARCHITECTURAL
SPLINES
NETTES
ENERGY WAVES
A series of splines arrayed across the site with varying heights
and spatial qualities was designed architecturally which
visually portray a hint of changes in energy and intensities
at the site. Each of these splines was uniquely designed to
cater to specific programs and then placed adjacent to one
another, spanning across the site displaying a landscape
of overlapping layers similar to the imagery of waves in an
energy field.

M6 Nut and Bolt with rubber gasket
3mm thk Perspex Water-Proofing Layer sealed with sillicone
Lock-in Joint with spring-loaded pins
5mm thk Perforated Aluminium Panels with
shift-lock tabs
LED Strips with Diffuser Case
50mm Hollow Square ALuminium frame with
60mm x 8 mm openings
Modular Shelving Unit
18mm thk perforated Marine-Grade Plywood
Artificial Turf
18mm thk Marine-Grade Plywood
Square Long Neck Floor Flange for 50mm Square Tubing
CONSTRUCTION
1:20 CONSTRUCTION DETAIL
Standard, modular structural modular
elements were used in the module
construction for easy procurement. The
ergonomically sized components feature
lock-in joints, making it convenient to
assemble the modules by hand, without the
need for high manpower and machinery.

Writer’s Alley Bar where many youths, be it skaters, dancers or graffiti artists would hang out weekly and find out about local gigs/
events.
Jamming Studio & Stage jamming studio by day, stage by night, the flexible space is fronted by a ‘flooding ground’ of landscaped
steps, where crowds can sit and watch the show.
Mural Alley an homage to the OG graffiti wall where many local artists honed their craft, ground planes fold up like waves,
forming new, taller surfaces for the artists to paint on.

Graffiti Ledges and AR Canvas graffiti ledges double up as standing tables for visitors to the Redbus café, which also serves as a
surface for visitors to project graffiti into it via AR.
Open Lawn & Bouldering Zone a public garden next to open workshop modules which give the public a peek into the graffiti
process, with bouldering walls on its outer surface.
Sustainable Art Display a space for community powered activations like “trash to art” programs, where discarded waste can be
reused as a canvas for graffiti works, and displayed.

PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE
After the term, the project was chosen to have a physical prototype of it built for the public to test it
out at the Scape Youth Park. We collaborated with local graffiti artist SlacSatu, founder of Blackbook
studio and ZNC crew to paint the installations, as part of the proposal’s concept.

GRAPHIC PROJECTS

AAI PUBLICATION

5
AAI PUBLICATION
A NARRATIVE FOR THE AI FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE
Instructor: Immanuel Koh
Partner: Thet Naung Oo
Summer 2020
Artifical Intelligence in Architectural Design
4 weeks

This project was based on pre-reading on “An Evolutionary
Architecure” by John Frazer, which explores on themes of
Artificial intelligence for the future of Architectural Design.
It talks about machine learning, datasets and automated
machines/computers to perform laborious tasks for Architects
and designers.
Similarly, in our “publication”, we crafted a narrative where
the future of AI-infused architectural design is so wellintegrated
in our everyday lives that it does not manifest itself
as one big computer, but cleverly concealed in our everyday
appliances. This makes the brings us back to a more natural
process of design, where we can sketch/build models and
the computer scans and churns out the relevant 3d models
and drawings for us. By performing the laborious tasks for
us, it clears up the designer’s mind to focus on cognitive
processes, rather than laborious, repetitive ones.
At the end of the publication is a satirical graphic series
depicting the usage of these machines and the humourous
output it can result in, where we end up in an age with
computers so advanced that even a cat can become a highly
lauded architect.
Each scene in the graphic montage was inspired by shots
from different films, like Her(2013) and In the Mood For
Love(2000).

NARRATIVE CRAFTING
In John Frazer’s Evolutionary Architecture, he theorizes an
architectural machine that can help the architects to develop
the concepts and ideas of architects into finished architectural
products with the mundane processes such as drafting and
modelling being wholly automated.
In his book, he also suggest that the role of architects will be
changed in the way he works with the rise of new architceture
machine. However, he did not give details how it will be.
We decided to take on this thought exercise while looking
through the lens of design, interface and also critique.
We offer glimpses into the future roles of architect by imagining
the architecture offices and how they will transform with the
rise in prevalent usage of AI technology in the near future.
This will be presented as a series of speculated AI integrated
products, imagining how they fit into the future architecture
office and their implications on architecture domain.
The technology of the future is one that is muted and embedded
into everyday products, sophistication in design has evolved
beyond sleek devices that stands out from the surrounding.
Instead seemingly normal appliances will be made ‘smart’ by
integrating IOT technology and cloud based AI capabilities.
With the embedded technology, the products are capable of
doing much more than what it seems.
Her (2013), by Spike Jonze
In The Mood For Love (2000), by Wong Kar Wai
ABOVE
Inspiration from film scenes
RIGHT
Storyboarding
LEFT
“Product Catalogue”

Before
After

FIN