Chau Tran

Cradle is an proposed school set in 2046 - a speculative future where self-sustained plant-based food is becoming the norm. The school aims to teach young children the process and value of raising your own food, from farm to table. Cradle advocates for the circular economy - the cradle to cradle approach to “waste”.

Cradle featured mushroom mycelium as its facade, a zero-waste kitchen, a fish pond, and multiple aquaponics gardens. The activities are mostly gamified, assisted by 3D projection and New Age Simulation. The ultimate goal of Cradle is to plant and nurture “the cradle seed” in the young minds, and thus foster a more hopeful future for humanity.

In collaboration with Nathan Chorr, Lynn Truong, Melissa Fang, Aurelia Kwee, Mingrui Wang.
Oversaw macro designs and visualisations.

alter • [native] is a shared house that can accommodate up to 8 inhabitants, targeting people who are looking for a home but cannot afford a house and are interested in alternatives.

alter • [native] is a renovation project: transforming the existing old-style Melbourne bungalow into an adaptive space that is more suitable for the sharing economy. The primary strategy is having a fixed service (kitchen and bathrooms) core, while other areas are manipulated with a sliding doors/storage wall system to mediate between public and privacy.

Well, Stairs is a stairwell party designed as part of Club Heterotopia - a radical heterotopia that uses queer/subversive night clubs as disruptors of normative spaces. The vertical party occupies 7 levels of the stairwell inside the illusory atmosphere at Downtown Athletics Club.

Designed following the theory “light as architecture” from Aaron Betsky’s “Queer Space” and the idea of thresholds from Matthew Cottril’s “Queering Architecture”.

The entrance and exit is partially concealed - relating to the idea of thresholds and privacy. The stairs and landings are not to walk on, but dance on with makeshift stages, platforms, and spotlights. The hanging “cage” dangling in between level 3 and 4 is a 2-level dance floor/DJ Booth/Rave - the heart of the party.