This document provides a portfolio of design projects completed by Sonia Jin during her studies. It includes summaries and diagrams of 6 projects: Casa Bianchi, a recreation of Mario Botta's house in Italy; S House, studying details of Yuusuke Karasawa's house; Timeline, a park design along the Arbutus Corridor; Container Village, a shipping container housing development; Underworld, 3D printed creatures for a topography project; and Azure Booth, a cardboard structure designed and built for a magazine exhibition. Other projects briefly outlined include PrePare, strategies for preserving heritage houses from sea level rise, and Rebirth, an urban cemetery where ashes nourish plants that are later integrated into

1. s o n i a j i n
p o r t f o l i o

2. 2
casa bianchi underworld
timeline pre pare
s house azure booth
1 5
2 6
3 7
container village rebirth4 8

3. 4
design projects
6 projects completed during studio and design courses at UBC
A recreation of celebrated architect Mario Botta’s
Casa Bianchi in Italy. I was inspired after visitng
Riva San Vitale in a studies abroad in Switzer-
land earlier in the summer. This project was
completed during a course in Autodesk Revit.
CASA BIANCHI
June - July 2015

4. 6
Drawn by:
Scale: 1 : 100
ianchiSonia JinFloor Plan 6 ‐ A107
bridge
studio
atrium
terrace
stairs
Drawn by:
Scale: 1 : 100
anchiSonia JinFloor Plan 5 ‐ A106
UP
209618035605
9505
laundry
room
arcade
storage roomfurnace
DN
kitchen
sitting room
terrace
Drawn by:
Scale: 1 : 100
Casa BianchiSonia JinFloor Plan 2 ‐ A103
N
terrace
master bedroom
washroom
Drawn by:
Scale: 1 : 100
ianchiSonia JinFloor Plan 4 ‐ A105
washroom
children's study
children's
bedroom
Drawn by:
Scale: 1 : 100
Casa BianchiSonia JinFloor Plan 3 ‐ A104
N
Level 1
0
Level 2
4000
Level 3
8000
Level 4
12000
Level 5
16000
Level 6
20000
T.O. Footing
-1200
Level 7
21500
Level 8
24000
level 2level 1 level 3
level 5level 4 roof
A A’
section A - A’

5. 8

6. 10
TIMELINE
November - December 2014
During my fist studio course, I was tasked
to design a park along the Arbutus Corri-
dor in Vancouver. My design aims to refer-
ence the rich history of the site. The con-
crete path which runs through the centre
of the site derives its form from the histor-
ical Fairview Beltline, a streetcar network
which contributed to the initial develop-
ment of the area The path is lined with a
series of gardens, each of which reflects
a different historical event, beginning with
the primordial rainforest and culiminating
in the present day play ground.

7. 12
Additionally, my design intervention included
the creation of a temporary park on the same
site, a childrens’ play area. Following the
linear form of the concrete beltline, the ribbon
climbing wall twists and turns. The walls
themselves, which have no fixed height, are
pitted with holes. The concept behind this de-
sign intervention can be related back to the
Timeline park. While the Timeline represents
the site’s history through the use of gardens,
the temporary park does the reverse. If the
linear form represents time, then the holes
represent the gaps in our knowledge. What
we know about the history of any site is mere-
ly a glimpse into a much larger picture.
section A - A’
A A’
section B - B’
section A - A’
B’B
A
A’

8. 14
For the detail study of Yuusuke Karasawa’s S House
in Oomiya, Saitama, Japan, I wanted to explore the
details of both the floors, stairs and the sloping walls,
as well as their intersection point. What materials
were used? Why do the walls and floors appear to
be the same thickness? How does the house sup-
port itself using only sloped angles? I took a focused
approach, modeling a small section where the floors,
walls and stairs intersect, at a 1:10 scale. The left im-
age shows the layers of material which compose the
floor. The right shows a cut section of the wall, where
the electrical wires are hidden.
S HOUSE
March 2016
section A - A’
level 1 plan
A A’

9. 16
CONTAINER
VILLAGE
March 2016
After visiting the site, I became intrigued by
the number of underutilized pocket spaces,
sprinkled along Front Street. I was curious to
see if these run-down nooks and cranies could
be programed and used to reinvorgate the
otherwise dilapitated street. The enormous,
deserted parking lot behind the Army and
Navy Store caught my attention. The bridge
which once ferried people and merchandize
from the parkade had been abandoned. Cob-
webs lined the loading bays. The lot was all
but deserted. My design intervention was
inspired by a found object on site, the shipping
container. The city of New Westminster has
very industrial historical ties, and the evidence
can be observed even today. The shipping
container can be seen riding the rails a couple
of times a day, halting traffic and movement
monetarily. In the distance it can be seen
aboard boats, again as a means of transport-
ing goods. The enormous, deserted parking
lot behind the Army and Navy Store caught my
attention. The bridge which once ferried peo-
ple and merchandize from the parkade had
been abandoned. Cobwebs lined the loading
bays. The lot was all but deserted. My design
intervention was inspired by a found object on
site, the shipping container. The city of New
Westminster has very industrial historical ties,
and the evidence can be observed even today.
The shipping container can be seen riding the
rails a couple of times a day, halting traffic and
movement monetarily. In the distance it can
be seen aboard boats, again as a means of
transporting goods.

10. 18

11. 20
2 400
6 000
12 000
2 400
3 000 mm
2 400
context plans and sections

12. 22
2400mm
2 715 mm 2 287 mm 2 330 mm 4 168 mm
2400mm915mm
2 715 mm 2 287 mm 2 330 mm 4 168 mm
2400mm
6 000 mm 3 000 mm
4800mm
9 000 mm
6 000 mm 3 000 mm
2400mm
liveunit plans and sections work

13. 24
Additionally I experimented with concrete
casting to design a seating solution.
Using corrugated ridgeboard, I cast a
series of benches, shaped as interlock-
ing, irregular gears. These gears can be
replicated indefinitely as different scales,
while the ridgedboard can be inserted to
create planters.

14. 26
3d prints
a collection of projects, designed using Rhinocerous 5, and printed using a Tinkerine 3d printer.
In collaboration with my team members Uyen Tran,
Chantal Tam, Jason Farra, Jenny Lee and Haerim
Shin, I designed an underworld topography, which
was realised using a CNC machine. The underworld
topography was populated using 3d printed crea-
tures. I have included photographs of two, which I
designed, as well as a rendering (right).
UNDERWORLD
April 2015

15. 28
With my partner Jenny Lee, I designed a
strategy to preserve the heritage houses
located in the coastal park. A floatation de-
vice, anchored on each corner with posts,
permits the Parson’s House to adapt to the
tides, as well as the gradual rise of sea lev-
el. Meanwhile,we designed a set of bird-
watching towers, which could aslo adapt to
the changing circumstances of the park.
PRE PARE
November - December 2015 2015 low tide
2065 low tide
2115 low tide
2015 high tide
2065 high tide
2115 high tide

16. 30
competitions
2 project
After winning the competition to design a booth for
Azure magazine at the IDS West 2015 exhibition,
in collaboration with my partner, Winnie Chen, we
spent several months researching, designing, and
finally constructing. Our design includes an 8 ft. x
20 ft. bookshelf, accompanied by storage compart-
ments built into the shelf and a desk. Both were
constructed using cardboard, cut with the aid of
a CNC machine. Our project could not have been
realised without the help of Nick Scott, Mari Fujita,
Phil Chang, Kimi Shen, Melissa Jin, Wenting Yang’
Retaw Liu and Hollie Hodge.
AZURE BOOTH
June - September 2015

17. 32
96”
48”
18” 18” 12”
60”
20”
40”
40”
60”
14”
20”
120”
20”
Our primary material, recycled cardboard was selected to
satisfy both financial constraints, including a $1 000 bud-
get, as well as environmental concerns. At the end of the
IDS West exhibition, we were able to recycle nearly the
entire booth. We utilised two different types of cardboard:
single-fluted cardboard, and double-fluted cardboard. For
the bookshelf, which was required to be 8 feet, we used
the larger single-fluted sheets. Meanwhile, for the shorter
furniture, including the desk, the shelves and the storage
bins, we used thicker, sturdier, double-fluted sheets.A
CNC machine, provided by UBC’s School or Architecture
and Landscape Architecture, facilitated the cuts.
assembly process

18. 34

19. 36

20. 38
REBIRTH
September 2016
We propose to house the ashes of the deceased
in biodegradable urns. The urns will then be trans-
ferred to pots, intended for small Japanese plants.
The ashes, combined with additional nutrients
required to balance the pH of the soil, will nurture
the young plants and facilitate growth. Initially the
plants will be housed in a vertical cemetery, where
the friends and relatives will be able to visit. Upon
reaching maturity, the plants will be moved from
the cemetery, returning the dead to the city. The
result will be a beautiful network of greenspace
dispersed throughout the city. And a way for our
loved ones to remain a part of our lives, watching
over, and protecting us.
death
cremation
ashes combined with nutrient
rich mix, in biodegradable urn
young plant is nurtured on the
early levels of the cemetery
nearly mature plant becomes
part of the rooftop garden
mature plant returns to the
city, become part of a green
network
biodegradable urn inserted
into a plant pot
a seed planted in pot

21. 40

22. 42
thank you.