Chuen Wu_Portfolio_2024

CHU EN WU PORTFOLIO

CHUEN WU

1(424)-366-7485

Based Los Angeles & New York City cw.chuenwu@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuenwu/

EDUCATION

SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture)

Master of Architecture (MArch. 1) Sept 2021-Sept 2024, Los Angeles US

Università Iuav di Venezia (IUAV)

Exchange Program

Feb 2020-June 2020, Venice, Italy

Shenzhen University

Bachelor of Engineering Urban Design 2016-2021, Shenzhen, China

WORK EXPERIENCE

Patrick TIGHE Architecture/Design Intern

May 2023 - Aug 2023, Los Angeles

• Designed billboard sign for a mix-used residential project

• Prepared 3 physical models and formatted slides for client meetings

• Delivered building photography for 3 projects, 2 of which won AIA LA Design Awards and Interior Magazine Honor Awards respectively

• Post-processed project photography in the award submission process

• Created content for future office social media purposes

• Archived and photographed all office works and models

MADA s.p.a.m / Design Intern

Nov 2020 - Jan 2021, Shanghai

• Developed facade iterations of a commercial complex project and modeled for render tests

• Supervised presentation of the physical model, presented options to clients, and tracked the project timeline

• Joined meetings with facade panel manufacturers and structure consultants to develop facade detail

UV Architecture LLC / Design Intern

Mar 2020 - Jun 2020, Shenzhen

• Developed conceptual design of Dongguan outdoor retail district competition, specifically in schematic modeling and massing tests

• Backed site research and produced urban context analytical drawing sets

• Managed the final layout of bidding proposal documents and portfolio

BENYUAN Design Research Center / Design Intern

Jul 2018 - Sep 2018, Shenzhen

• Designed a conceptual community workout installation

• Researched community-based user profiles using GIS and interviews

• Revised AutoCAD drawings of ongoing projects based on feedback and red-line

SKILLS

3D Modeling

Rhino, Revit, C4D, Grasshopper

Rendering

Enscape, C4D, Unreal Engine, V-Ray, Keyshot,

Drawing

AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Suits

Animation

C4D, Unreal Engine, Premiere, AE

Languages

English, Cantonese, Mandarin

HONORS

Graduate Thesis Scholarship of SCI-Arc / Summer 2024

Continuing Student Scholarship of SCI-Arc/ 2021-2024

China Scholarship Council Fund / Exchange Program2020

OTHER ACTIVITIES

SCI-Arc Teaching Assistant

2023 Fall, Los Angeles, CA

Undergrad Tectonic Course

Instructor: David Freeland

Exhibition

2019, Shenzhen China

Urbanism\Architecture Bi-City

Biennale of Shenzhen and Hong Kong

Construction Competition

2017, Shanghai China

Construction Festival Building Competition by Tongji University

PUZZLE EVENTS

MIX-USED COMMERCIAL

SHOWBOX

MUSEUM

OBLIQUE CENTROID

VERTICAL CAMPUS

PROCHE ROOM

COMMUNITY CENTER

LITTLE TOKYO TOWNSHIP

MIX-USED RESIDENTIAL

STAIR PROTOTYPE

SHOP MODEL MAKING

WORK PROJECT

MIX-USED COMMERCIAL

Puzzle Events

Collaboration with Tristan de Anda

The sequence of assembly is rooted in multiple disciplines in architecture. The project takes assembly sequence as a core logic and implements it in form, circulation, program, etc., in a mixed-use commercial building.

The site is located in Keelung, Taiwan, and is surrounded by mountains and a compacted residential neighborhood. As an urban threshold, the project aims to channel the city’s nature and urban fabric by continuing trail circulation from the historical temple to the public platform of the building.

The nature of puzzle interlocking and sequence introduces a 3-dimensional relationship and connection to the program and spatial experience.

With a series of explorations on AI-generated images, a 3D puzzle is constructed and edited, indicating architectural elements. Voids, material, gaps, and indentations in the puzzle indicate spatial relationships when represented in different scales. The puzzle is the start of a spatial sequence. The hierarchy of puzzle pieces indicates the program distribution in the project.

Given the site condition, the puzzle undergoes a series of deformations. As an urban threshold, the building is accessible on different levels. The first-floor street circulation is undisturbed, allowing more accessible access to the public. Two circulations lead the public from the hillside trail to the building, allowing public access to the lecture hall and exhibition space.

MUSEUM

SHOWBOX

Collaboration with Tara Afsari

MASS MoCA stands out as a museum with a twist. Its factory typology building and vast exhibition space allow for unconventional showcases such as site-specific pieces, large-scale installations, and artist studios. It allows the audience more points of view of the art than the exhibition. Showing the timeline of art allows the audience full participation in art production.

The static part of the museum, as a gallery, is cut out by other processes of art curated in the moving assets. It takes a non-hierarchy approach to the site, which is accessible from both sides of the streets and two sides from the MASS MoCA campus. It accesses all sides of the sites in the same manner. At the same time, the moving assets activate the site in all directions.

As a traditional gallery, the box is cut out by other art processes curated in these moving assets. Therefore, art will move through the gallery from one program to another while the audience stays relatively static.

The square box takes a non-hierarchical approach to the site, which is accessible from both sides of the streets and from two sides of the MASS MoCA campus.

Therefore, the box accesses all sides of the sites in the same manner, and the moving assets activate the site in all directions.

The plug-in assets shift the building away from the rest of the campus as a ‘large unified factory space.’

They offer both the curators and visitors new kinds of experiences and more intimate and interactive participation in the story of artwork.

VERTICAL CAMPUS

OBLIQUE CENTROID

University is an extension of urban public space. In this project, the urban grid, public accessibility, and the ability to contain creative production are woven into the project. The project integrates with urban texture by introducing the urban grid into the ground floor. The rotation and oblique fraction drawn from the first R ripples through the form and circulation of the project. The massing integrates with the urban grid with a central axis that cuts through the building and the slanted roof typography, inviting the public to venture into the center.

All public programs are at the center of the building as a datum of the campus. Wrapping around the public program, other school programs are arranged vertically. They are the primary departments of the university. A split core and bridging system, which includes external stairs and connection, is adopted to resolve the egress requirement. A separate circulation is introduced for public programs to enhance public accessibility. Public programs in the center include a fabrication shop, library, and gym for students, with a lecture hall and galleries serving the city in general. Students and city residents have separate circulation and entrances in the building, securing the privacy of the vertical university and public access simultaneously. Urban residents can take an escalator to the lecture platform and proceed to the third platform, which leads to the gallery.

1 Physical Model Photo

2 Physical Model Photo

3 Facade Detail

The facade of the building is inspired by the brick pattern of Mexican architecture. As a cohesive pattern, the facade flexibly takes on different materials as punctures. For programs that require full closure from lighting, terracotta panels are installed. For programs that require natural lighting and price, a mixture of terracotta and glass panels are implemented, and glass panels are applied for programs that require maximum lighting.

COMMUNITY CENTER

POCHÉ ROOM

The project examines the potential of poché as an existing architectural element. Poché, as a volume in the building, takes on a backstage or lesser public program. The building is designated for the ‘boy and girl ‘ association as a community center. Poché acts as furniture and hides a program from the children in the building. A stadium, offices, and a teenage center are incorporated into the building.

Poché is activated as furniture. As poché takes up important space in each room, they are incorporated into how children and faculty use the building. Reading corners, storage, and windows are all possible uses for the poché.

The rotation of the block brings an intertwining grid into the layout of the building, also indicating the layout of the facade and texture. The parameter of the poché is given by how the grid is overlapping. There is a hierarchy of how the poché functions, from solid to one holding service. The stadium acts as a centroid to hold the programs, with other functions hugging the stadium

MIX-USED RESIDENTIAL

LITTLE TOKYO TOWNSHIP

Collaboration with Athene Ho

India Chand

Joharatulmajd Raaiq

Tara Afsari

This project is developed on Revit. It is located in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and responds to the emerging commercial need and housing shortage in downtown Los Angeles. The building is designed under the premise of sustainability, so a mass timber system is the structure of the building. The facade also utilizes wood panels as a fast and sustainable option.

SHOP MODEL MAKING

STAIR PROTOTYPE

Collaboration with Christian Filip Xiao Jin

The project originated from a materiality structure standpoint, in which the material properties of metal and wood are optimized. The malleability of steel metal allows flexibility for stairs when it is loaded. Therefore, steel metal bars are the main structure for the stairs. In terms of wood, its self-load and less tendency to deform provide stability to the steps and structure to prevent shear deformation.

TIGHE ARCHITECTURE

2023 SUMMER INTERNSHIP

During my internship in the summer of 2023, I participated in the design of 7979 Sunset, a mixed-use project. Additionally, I assisted in billboard design and physical model-making for a client meeting.

I also helped in the submission of several award-winning projects. Specifically, I photographed Pacific Landing, Larrabee, and Barranca for award submissions.

Furthermore, I was involved in the office work archive process. It entailed photographing and documenting office projects and models.