EoYS21_MArch_78

CHARLOTTE YU GSAPP PORTFOLIO M.ARCH 2021

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

4 DECIDUOUS DESCENT

A MASS TIMBER LIVING LAB IN NEWBURGH

12 REFAB FACTORY A FACTORY FOR THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY OF TEXTILES

FLOW

23 RIDING THE WAVE, TURNING THE TIDE A CLIMATE SCHOOL ON GOVERNORS ISLAND 31 STORIGAMI:

A LIBRARY IN THE LOWER EAST SIDE

37 BLIND MAN RIDING A BLIND HORSE 41 SUPERCHARGED BARGE GARAGE (EXTRA-LARGE) 46 TRACING ENTROPY 48 GATHERER’S POINT 53 GREENPOINT THEATER

IN SITU

56 ULTRAREAL CABIN

58 RIGS TO REEDS 60 WESTBETH REDEVELOPMENT FOR SENIORS 63 THE NEST:

AN AFFORDABLE MIXED-USE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN THE BRONX

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

FLOW

3

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

deciduous descent Studio: Partner: Instructor: Duration:

ADV IV Studio, GSAPP Spenser Krut Lindsey Wikstrom Three months (January-May 2020) The Timber Living Lab selectively harvests trees from forest owners in Newburgh, and uses the crop to produce hardwood CLT for the purpose of refurbishing idle properties. Panel primary cuts are sold to developers and construction companies at market rate, while the offcuts serve the Newburgh Landbank and emerging non-for-profit markets.

Right: A machine ramp runs parallel to a walkway, looking across to an auditorium and down to the central courtyard and storage area. More than a route for workers, the walkway allows forest owners and students to understand the manufacturing potential and processes of hardwood forests through descent.

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

4

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Timber harvesting systems and technology were invented to not only maximize yields, but also lessen the burden on workers and promote healthier forests. Balloon harvesting in particular has a literal light touch on the environment, and is suited towards the selective, flexible harvesting that we envision for the town of Newburgh.

Farm Tractor

Skyline

Wheeled Skidder

Crawler Tractor

BALLOON LOGGING Carrying Capacity

Horses

Training Ease

High-Speed Tracked Skidder

Production Potential

Cost Efficiency

Safety

CTL Harvester

High-Lead

Road Development Savings

Soil Protection

Forwarder

Helicopter

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

Stream Protection

Fuel Savings

5

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Our proposal for the flow of timber touches upon multiple stakeholders.

Balloon harvesting moves across the landscape through the powerline corridor and its adjacent forests, incentivizing forest owners to partner with the Lab for New York State tax credits.

The Living Lab is located in a valley and bridges two hills, inviting visitors to traverse the landscape and enjoy views of the Hudson River.

The facade seen by those approaching is built with the hardwood CLT product behind semi-transparent polycarbonate.

Timber Dropoff

Landing

Trail Network

Trail Network

Our coastal Timber Living Lab processes the harvested timber into hardwood CLT.

Trail Network Central Courtyard

The CLT products refurbish idle properties catalogued and managed by the Newburgh Land Bank.

Trail Network Prototyping Yard

Dropoff

Loading

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

6

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Left: The CLT panels used to generate the facade saves on materials and allows more light in or greater views out.

Right: Typical detail of polycarbonate enclosure against CLT structure

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

7

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu Landing Debarking

Headsaw Lecture Hall

Resaw Study Spaces Break Room

Drying Kiln Central Courtyard Consultation Room Traversable Roof Plenum Break Room Aligning Roll Rack

Tool Room Glue Curing CLT Press Testing of CLT configuration

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

The overall hierarchy of the building has factory and manufacturing spaces flowing down with learning spaces floating above and within. There are two points for vertical circulation consisting of staircases and large platform elevators that can carry people and wood materials between factory and educational spaces.

Loading Dock

Plenum

8

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

CNC

CLT Press

Glue Curing Storage

Aligning roll Rack

Kiln Drying

Storage

Edger/Trimmer

Resaw

Headsaw

Precut

Debarking

Felled logs

A gravity-based manufacturing process requires less energy and less handling of the raw material.

Logs arrive at the landing, cascade down the hillside through a series of processes that transform them into dimensional lumber; run through drying, storage, and then cascade down the hill again in their transformation into CLT panels.

Aside from the cascading machine processes, an underfloor plenum connects the bark and woodchips, which power the drying kiln ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

9

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

The central courtyard has three entrances- for the manufacturing process, the learning spaces, and the self-build areas. A concerned citizen interested in learning about hardwood CLT potentials for Newburgh, someone who wants to collaborate with the landbank to refurbish idle property with CLT, and a worker at the living lab, will have three different paths for experiencing the building with plenty of crossovers and visual connection.

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Timber Flow

10

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

From the auditorium, one can monitor and examine many timber processes at once. The machines themselves incorporate a scanning system that detects the quirks of hardwood and determines how it might be best used, which decreases both waste and human exposure to danger.

ADV IV STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

11

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

refab factory: a factory for the circular economy of textiles Studio: Partner: Instructor: Duration:

ADV VI Studio, GSAPP Janice Chen Mimi Hoang Three months (January-April 2021) The conventional garment manufacturing industry operates under a linear “Take, Make, Waste” approach, yet it doesn’t need to be this way. REFAB FACTORY in Bush Terminal adopts a circular “Take, Make, Reuse” attitude. The factory gathers preand post-consumer waste, creates jobs through mending, artisanal upcycling, natural dyeing, and material-tracking, and gives the garments a second life as respun fabric for local designers, recycled insulation for adjacent warehouses, and so on.

Right: The factory’s cores play a vital role in the organization of space. Vertical circulation, natural and synthetic fabric storage, and moving platforms for plastic bales, all occur in this section.

Here, a T Shirt is sorted by content into the synthetic fabric core.

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

12

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

60 IS /KG V 0L

98 MILLION TONNES OF OIL GLOBALLY EACH YEAR

C

OS

E

10 0

SYNTHETIC TEXTILES

L /KG ACRYLIC

NYLON 3%

POLYESTER 58%

ACRYLIC 3%

CLO THI

NG

END

S UP

IN LA N DF

ILL

DYE REMOVAL SPINNERET MELTING

NEW FIBERS

WET SPINNING

GRANULATION

DISSOLUTION

SHREDDING

CLEANING

73 %

CY 12 CLED % CL INTO OT HIN N E W G G GARMENT S ETS R ECYCLED

MERCU

80

IGINAL FIBER OR

TS EN RM

CLOTH ING AN

RECYCLED GA R

AN

COMBING AND SHAVING

INDUSTRIA LC LE

S DU BBED IT “LAVENDAR LAKE”

CARDING

BALING

CAL

NEW FIBERS

200.59

RECYCLE DG A

N IO

TED TH AT LO

C IS STRONGER BRI TH FA

WATER PO LLU T

ANILINE PO ISO

BLACK LU NG

G IN N

SHREDDING

DYE REMOVAL NEW FIBERS

DYEHOUSE

WET SPINNING

18 ,0

00

DISSOLUTION

L/LG

WATER IS USE DP ER

2 00

COTTON PACKING

COTTON GIN ANILINE DISTILLATION

TRADITIONAL DYEING

F FABRIC R KG O R PE ATE FW SO ER LIT

ASE SE DI

CANA LW AS SO PO LLU

RE

IS

, GOWANUS

G

50

IN

H

BY T

E1 8 80S

TH CLO

NATURAL TEXTILES

TON COT

1%

2.5 LITERS OF WATER PER KG OF FABRIC

DYEING WITH TRADITIONAL MEAN S US ES A RO UN D

KG

W RA

RAYON 6%

MOSTLY DURING THE WATER COOLING PHASE

COTTON 29%

N

80 L/KG LINEN L/KG HEMP

INSULA TIO N

LO

HARD OBJECT REMOVAL

6

NY L/KG 50

AIRDYEING

AUTOMATED NIR SORTING (5X FASTER)

MANUAL SORTING

RESEARCH: DYEING, RECYCLING

TS EN M

RES PU N

Material sourcing for the garment industry is extractive and wasteful, with 18,000 L water used to produce every KG of raw cotton. Traditional dyeing also uses 50 L of water per KG of fabric, polluting vital waterways.

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

Only 12% of clothing is recycled, and most are downcycled. Natural and synthetic fabrics use different recycling technologies, and certain fabrics such as elastane are unable to be recycled.

13

Hg

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

RESEARCH: THE MENDELSOHN HAT FACTORY

BLADDER CANCER

MERCURY POISONING

80

200.59

Hg

ASTHMA CARROTING COMBING AND SHAVING

SIZING AND BLOCKING CUTTING

BLOWING

DYEING AND DRYING TRIMMING AND FINISHING

106°F 70°F

An analytical section/plan of the Mendelsohn Hat Factory, built in Germany in1921, reveals the contemporary hat-making operations and the health hazards that accompany such operations, mitigated but not fully prevented by the then-innovative building.

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

14

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu 10,000 lbs of commercial textile waste per week

100,000 lbs of residential textile waste per week

500 bales of plastic bottles/ week

The conventional garment manufacturing industry operates under a linear “Take, Make, Waste” approach, yet it doesn’t need to be this way. REFAB FACTORY in Bush Terminal adopts a circular “Take, Make, Reuse” attitude. The factory gathers pre-and post-consumer waste, creates jobs through mending, artisanal upcycling, natural dyeing, and material-tracking, and gives the garments a second life as respun fabric for local designers, recycled insulation for adjacent warehouses, and so on.

23,000 yards of natural fabric and 94,000 yards of synthetic fabric per week, enough to produce 4 million T-shirts per week

Recycled insulation for 1 warehouse block per month

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

15

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Helix Twistable

Stackable

Expandable

Bundle-able

Tensile

Protobuilding explorations on the expandable, twistable, tensile, helix, stackable, bundle-able qualities of the garment chute ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

Exploring the spatial qualities of stacked cylinders - in both floors and walls 16

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Barges from SIMS Municipal Recycling

Municipal bus service bringing employees and visitors

Loading dock for electric trucks transporting commercial textile waste ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

17

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Crafting cluster

Fabrication Cluster

Synthetic Cluster

Natural Cluster

Plastic Cluster

REFAB can be organized into five clusters, which support the same set of spatial logic.The mass timber filigree exists both on the facade and in the interior. It conveys textiles through its thickened surface and on the interior, and the structural facade’s material expression speaks to renewal. Interior volumes increase in size in the higher stories, finding their expression in the facade. Floorplates cross over each other, allowing for visual connections between production and relief spaces. The same level might host a progression of spaces from small to large, both in area and in height. The diversity in floor plate size is partially attributable to REFAB’s many atria, which are all double height except for the cores, which connect from bottom to top.

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

18

CHARLOTTE YU

Fifth Floor Plan

czy2102@columbia.edu

Conventionally, many textile processes happen in dark and tight spaces. At REFAB, with floorplates crossing over each other, workers have constant visual communication with the processes upstairs and downstairs.

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

19

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Third Floor Plan ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

20

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

21

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

ADV VI STUDIO, GSAPP Textile Flow

22

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

riding the wave, turning the tide:

a climate school on governors island Studio: Instructor: Duration:

ADV V Studio, GSAPP Laurie Hawkinson Three months (September-December 2020) The climate school on Governors Island is a common ground for scholars, policymakers, activists, and the public in existing institutions around the region to learn from each other about issues of sea level rise and water-related distresses due to climate change. I focused in particular on the campus’s relationship with water and ecology, relationship with existing materials on site, and in its potential to foster deeper partnerships among climate-concerned tenants from various disciplines.

Right: As water transportation becomes more prevalent, the climate school on Governors Island becomes a visible icon of the city and welcomes climate practitioners and students from all walks of life.

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

23

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

PRIOR EXPLORATION: COLD DESERT FIELD STATIONS The studio started with the design of twin field stations in Badain Jaran and Tengger Deserts, two deserts in the Gobi Desert that are rapidly converging.

Broadly, the sites consist of two types of dunes: Barchan dunes and Transverse dunes. The field stations are strategically assembled to create the two types of dunes and use the weight of the dunes as a self-strengthening mechanism.

Barchan field station (Badain Jaran Desert)

Pile construction holds onto gravel substrate

Transverse field station (Tengger Desert)

Deadman foundation receives the weight of sand and holds the field station in place

24

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

the climate school on governors island

The climate school on Governors Island exists at the nexus of neighboring climate institutions

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

Above: A notable feature of the waters around Governors Island is the tides change their course four times instead of once every day.

Right: Early explorations into the stepped geometry of the climate school 25

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

LABORATORIES

COMPUTERS

WATER FILTRATION LANDSCAPE STUDY SPACES 5,000 SQFT

DAYCARE OFFICES 5,000 SQFT

5,000 SQFT

LABS/COMPUTERS 35,000 SQFT

TIDE POOL

HIGH MARSH

WATER FILTRATION

WORKSHOPS 5,000 SQFT

CAFE

10,000 SQFT

LIBRARY

30,000 SQFT

BRACKISH WATER FILTRATION INTERTIDAL MARSH

AMPHITHEATER 10,000 SQFT

PUBLIC

DFE

RESEARCHERS

INFO CENTER

INFO DESK

10,000 SQFT

HIGH TIDE

LIBRARY

HIGH MARSH OFFICES STUDY LIMA PIER

BRACKISH WATER FILTRATION BUTTERMILK CHANNEL

DAYCARE

TIDAL POOL

AUDITORIUM 60,000

INTERTIDAL MARSH

FLOATING WORKSHOP

CAFE

FLOATING WORKSHOP

LOW TIDE

AUDITORIUM

As one exits the ferry at Lima pier, they may head straight to the research building that they are affiliated with, but the layout of the site also encourages meandering and happening on other activities. Whereas research programs are located above the design flood elevation to protect sensitive equipment and ensure operation in a storm event, the public programs straddle the DFE, high tide, and low tide levels, creating a constant experiential relationship to the water. In addition, the buildings and their pathways encircle water ecologies of functional, recreational, and research uses.

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

100’

26

czy2102@columbia.edu

152,556

AY

108,969

FEE

T/D

Y W ,4 AT 67 E R REU SE CU

E K A T N I ER T/DAY T A W IC FEE H S I K C UB A R C B 0 0 8 , 6 8,23

BIC

F E E T / D AY

ER T A Y W DA E T/ E L AB CUBIC FE T PO 07  N ,5 NO 459

CU

BIC

H 20 WA TE

S E R ,2 F L 37 A T 7,7 O T

SURPLUS R E T A W E L B T/DAY E E A F C T I UB C O P 1  1 1 , N 8 0 O 2 N

65,381 108,969

RE G 353

RS

URP

LU S

CHARLOTTE YU

S BLACK WATER REU Y 151 CUBIC FEET/DA

17,500

E

12,407 8,862

5,317

54

8,862

179 24,500 10,500

17,500

8,421 10,102

6,015 6,061 6,015

14,143 6,061

10,102 474

339 203

65

71

339

65

65

140,965

100,689

60,414

LE L O

C Y R E T ET/DA 618 A W IC FE N I B RA 0 CU 8 1,1

N

TIO

C

100,689

Typology Area (sqft) Water source Water type Brackish 35,764 Brackish water Input water Fresh water Output filtration 65 Tide pool 21,200 Brackish water Static High 38,244 Brackish water Static Marsh Intertidal 30,520 Brackish water Static marsh 90,356 Black water Input Grey water Input Irrigation/flush Output appropriate grey water Buttermilk channel Buildings 114,876 Water Needs Fresh water Grey water Grey water Black water Rain water

Needs Needs Output Output Input

Water quantity (cubic feet per day) 8,236,800 7,989,696 21,200 76,488 91,560 151,486 353,467 459,507

504,953 252,476 252,476 353,467 151,486 1,180

Surplus water to circulate to other parts of the island Total surplus of fresh water 7,737,220 Total surplus of grey water 208,211 100’

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

27

ROOFTOP VEGETATION

BACKFILL

RESEARCH BLDGS

FLOATING WORKSHOPS

GLAZING, ROOF

MASS TIMBER

FOUNDATIONS

FOUNDATIONS

PIPEWORK

OFFSITE ASSEMBLY

czy2102@columbia.edu

PILES, FLOATS

CHARLOTTE YU

GLAZING, ROOF

TOPSOIL

HIGH MARSH

INFILL

INTERTIDAL MARSH

LANDSCAPE REGRADING

EXCAVATION

The material bank from demolition on site feeds a significant amount of new construction, but other material such as glazing, foundations, and mass timber do need to come from outside the island.

Revegetation introduces an element of seasonality to the material phasing process.

PLANKS

VEGETATION

MASS TIMBER FLOORS AND WALLS

BOARDWALK

STRUCTURAL COLUMNS

STRUCTURAL WALLS

PUBLIC BLDGS

BUILDING DEMOLITION PAVING + FOUNDATION DEMOLITION

MATERIAL REDISTRIBUTION FALL

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

WINTER

SPRING

SUMMER

FALL

WINTER

SPRING

28

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Sections through the Climate School’s two building typologies: Left: Research buildings are sunken below vegetated hilltops Right: Public-facing buildings have rooftop with solar panels and rain collection, supported by undulating Glulam beams

10’

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

10’

29

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

ADV V STUDIO, GSAPP Tidal Flow

30

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

storigami Studio: Instructor: TA: Duration:

CORE II Studio, GSAPP José Aragüez Chenyan Zhou Three months (February-May 2019) Storigami is a library in NYC that brings the Lower East Side’s diverse population together through storytelling. Unlike traditional libraries, Storigami allows visitors to tell their own stories to the library and to each other.

Spatially, a cutting and folding operation creates angled voids and structural walls throughout the building, Similar to margins in a book, pauses in a narrative, voids allows expansion and compression in the library. The facade includes a post-tensioned glass panel system for climate control and a metal mesh layer to diffuse glare and soften the building into its surroundings.

Right: Triangular walls transfer force along perpendicular paths from roof to basement. A mesh facade softens the building into its surroundings.

CORE II STUDIO, GSAPP Story Flow

31

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

COLLECTING STORIES, ANY STORIES

EARLY EXPLORATIONS: CUTTING AND FOLDING

I was interested in storytelling as an effective way for bringing a diverse population together. For two hours on a Sunday afternoon, I asked strangers passing through Sara D. Roosevelt Park to tell me any story they wished.

Participants were surprisingly open, showing me their childhood photos with Jay-Z, telling me about a Tinder date gone terribly wrong, even rapping or emailing me a story. People didn’t just enjoy storytelling, they enjoyed storytelling in different media.

“I got no family no nobody here, it’s stressful and lonely and stuff, nobody to talk to.

It’s not good for me to stay one place cuz one day someone gon come down on me.“ - Charlie Queen, homeless man. Enjoys Sara D. Roosevelt Park for its peace and quiet Pepsi: “What grade are you in?”

Hadrian: “One hundred and fifty-two.”

Pepsi: “He’s in second grade- and (to Hadrian) please don’t ruin the story!”

- Hadrian, with his mother Pepsi and sister Ytterbium. Pepsi is going to a national chess tournament in Tennessee in May and enjoys playing basketball.

“Oh um I can tell you a great story, I graduated high school on time when I wasn’t supposed to- everybody said I wouldn’t graduate on time.“ - Marcus, currently in college studying childhood education Me: “What kind of books do you like to read?”

Yasmin: “Chapter books. And American girl novels!”

- Yasmin, a shy fourth-grader visiting from Boston with her family. She likes art and basketball, and her school library.

The spatial concept follows a cutting and folding operation.

The two operations create void spaces, which directly correspond to the wall profile of the levels beneath. Similar to margins in a book, pauses in a narrative, voids allows expansion and compression in a space.

CORE II STUDIO, GSAPP Story Flow

32

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

The upper stories have more void space by virtue of a 4-story atrium. The more void space on a level, the more intimate the environment becomes.

CORE II STUDIO, GSAPP Story Flow

The facade includes a post-tensioned glass panel system for climate control and a metal mesh layer to diffuse the glare and soften the building into its surroundings.

33

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

20’

Diagonal Section: The continuous central void is used for circulation- two elevator banks and a series of stairs. From the urban scale, the pedestrian descends first into the basement level before experiencing other levels. The cavity also creates a surprise upon encountering the building close up.

Each story is programmed for a different method of storytelling.

Right: Second and fifth floor detail sections

5’ CORE II STUDIO, GSAPP Story Flow

34

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Second level plan - storytelling through the spoken word Some elements adhere to the spatial logic, others are free. The program included presenting and receiving stories, as well as allowing users to create new ones.

LEVELII2STUDIO, GSAPP Story Flow CORE

Fifth level plan - storytelling through the written word The diversity of the visiting population is celebrated through performing, recording oral histories, producing cartoons and drawing, filming short productions, and writing.

LEVEL 5 LEVEL 5

35

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Level 5: Storytelling through the written word CORE II STUDIO, GSAPP Story Flow

36

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

blind riding blind

on Tang architecture are affected by the political climate. Lastly, the Society’s scientific approach was ignored by the new communist leadership and Chinese architectural research at large has yet to adapt to changing attitudes towards architecture in the late 20th century.

man

PURPOSE

a horse

Course: Instructor: Teaching Fellow: Duration:

Questions in Architectural History II Felicity D. Scott Samuel Stewart-Halevy Three months (January-May 2019) QAHII treats the history of architectural modernity throughout the twentieth century as a contested, geographically and culturally uncertain category, for which periodization is both necessary and contingent. My paper responded by analyzing the influence of Chinese pioneer architects Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin under the backdrop of political reformist thinking, the Sino-Japanese war, and Communist China.

Image 1: Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng, on a trip in Shanxi in 1934

INTRODUCTION Lin Huiyin (林徽因, 1904-1955) and Liang Sicheng (梁思成, 1901-1972) have a wide-ranging influence in modern China as architects, planners, educators, preservationists, and in Lin’s case, poet and socialite. This paper focuses on the renaissance couple’s quest to understand Chinese architectural history in the context of political reformist thinking, the Sino-Japanese war, and Communist China.1 In the capacity of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture (中国营造学社, hereafter known as the Society), Lin, Liang, and their colleagues visited over 200 counties in 15 provinces and examined over 2,000 traditional structures.2 This paper chooses Foguang Temple (佛光寺, Temple of Buddha’s Light) in the Wutai Mountain region of Shanxi as a key example, notable as the first Tang dynasty wooden construction discovered.

Both Lin and Liang were born into families of well-respected modern Chinese scholars, the intellectual outlook of which shaped their understanding of history’s importance in formulating a new national status. Lin’s father Lin Changmin (林长民, 1876-1925), one-time head of the Chinese Republic’s Progressive Party and a vice-chairman to the League of Nations, brought his children up under the “Ti-yong” (体用) ideal. This self-strengthening movement in the late 19th century sought to invigorate Chinese culture and society by reconciling Confucian thought (体) with modern Western innovation in practice (用). As a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Lin defined her vision for a balance of old and new design, declaring that her architecture would feature “Chinese Spirit in Modern Strength.”3 Liang’s father Liang Qichao (梁启超，1873-1929) was largely inspired

by Western concepts of “historical knowledge” and strongly advocated to bring China into the modern world through constructing national history into a conceptual context of global geographical space.4 He was instrumental in organizing debates on democracy as well as the Hundred Days’ Reform in an attempt to bring down the Qing government. Liang Qichao was a strict father who took his children’s education seriously. During Liang Sicheng’s architectural studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Liang Sr. sent him a copy of Yingzaofashi (营造法式, written in 1103 by Li Jie 李诫), a breakthrough in the study of ancient Chinese architecture.5 The Song Dynasty manual was obscure and archaic, but it laid out a hierarchy of construction methods and sparked Liang’s lifelong interest in understanding and conveying historical Chinese architectural standards. After graduation, Liang immersed himself in research of Chinese architecture in both Chinese and English, through Harvard’s library resources. His research findings would be helpful in the future, but he was disappointed to find Chinese scholarship on architecture lacking, while Western scholars such as Ernst Boerschmann and Osvald Siren did not understand the grammar of Chinese architecture.6

Wartime preservation looked very different in China and in the West. The Chinese and Japanese worked on a scattered database of historic buildings at best, whereas the Allied and Axis powers in the West developed lists and strategies to target or avoid notable sites.

Chinese intellectuals were often intentionally barred from the war effort too, whereas American art and architectural historians actively contributed to military objectives.

Lucia Allais’s book Designs of Destruction offers comprehensive information on European-centric wartime preservation.

2 Zhu Tao, “To Search High and Low: Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, and China’s Architectural Historiography, 1932–1946,” Realism, no. 3 (2013).

3 Harold Kalman, “’Chinese Spirit in Modern Strength’: Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, and Early Modernist Architecture in China,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch 58 (2018).

4 Li Shiqiao, “Writing a Modern Chinese Architectural History: Liang Sicheng and Liang Qichao,” Journal of Architectural Education 56, no. 1 (2002).

5 A copy of the Yingzaofashi was discovered by Zhu Qiqian (朱启钤, 1872-1964) in 1919 and reprinted in 1925. In 1930, Zhu, then a retired government official, founded the Society for Research on Chinese Architecture (中国营造学社), which Liang would join in 1931 and Lin would follow.

6 Wilma Fairbank. Liang and Lin: Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. P30.

1

Chinese architects often credit Liang with introducing a more scientific approach to the study of Chinese architectural history, developing its genealogy, and placing Tang architecture at the pinnacle of this genealogy.

This essay complicates the narrative by emphasizing the contributions of Lin and Liang’s colleagues such as Liu Dunzhen (刘敦桢, 1897-1968) in the same endeavor. It analyzes how Liang’s omissions of Japanese sources in his writings After Lin and Liang married in 19287 and upon their return to China, they led

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the Northeastern University’s (东北大学) newly established architectural department. Both taught architectural design, and Liang gave an ambitious course on the history of Western and Chinese architecture. Their time in Mukden was trying and prolific, but ultimately short with increasing Japanese encroachment and Lin’s tuberculosis diagnosis.8 She and their infant daughter Zaibing (梁再冰, 1929-) moved to Beijing, and Liang followed at the end of the 1930-1931 academic year.

maintaining Qing Dynasty buildings at the Forbidden Palace, examining the complex interrelationships of structural timbers. It was through these exercises that Liang became acquainted with the crawling that making accurate measurements and judgments required.9

FINDING AND DOCUMENTING FOGUANG TEMPLE

As the axiom goes, “Poverty is the preservationist’s best friend.” Lin and Liang predicted that a concentration of Tang Dynasty temples could most reliably be found in the poverty-stricken Shanxi (“west of the mountains”) region. The Tang Lin participated in research at the Society when she could. Her article for Dynasty originated in Taiyuan, now the capital of Shanxi, a time of prosperity the Society’s Bulletin in March 1932 portrayed the influence of Chinese for the region as it became the entrance of Buddhism into China from India, architecture across Asia. Moreover, she noted that the ancient timber frame’s and an essential stop along the Silk Road. However, in subsequent dynasties, The Japanese occupation of Manchuria in September 1931 was accompanied “structural rationalism” shared the same structural principles with contemporary Shanxi fell to relative neglect because of its arid climate and separation from with national outrage. As the University’s closing became inevitable, Liang reinforced concrete and steel-frame construction. Lin writes, “One only the eastern territories through mountains, rivers, and deserts. Shanxi was a joined the Society as Director of Research. He was joined shortly by Liu needs to change the building materials, without radically changing the major time capsule; its architecture managed to avoid the worst of destruction and structural parts, so that the (new) possibility of the (new) materials will lead Dunzhen, an architectural historian and educator who had graduated from rebuilding for over 1,000 years.

Kogakuin daigaku in Japan and co-founded the architecture department at the to a new development. That in turn will result in an extremely satisfying new Southeastern University. Their colleagues then were scholars who specialized architecture.10” This neglect and absence of any reliable catalogue of administration and in literary references to Chinese architecture, but who had no knowledge of documentation meant that the Society’s team for field research worked Liang concurred that the timber-frame had been a fundamental form of Chinese construction. While the Society dedicated substantial resources to in figuratively and literally uncharted lands. They often found themselves textual research, it had yet to formulate any stance on the evolution of Chinese construction through Chinese history. His first article for the Society’s Bulletin in developing ground rules, filling in gaps in knowledge, and cataloguing March 1932, “Architecture of the Tang Dynasty,” shared a nationalist stance architecture, or the structural merit of ancient construction. As was custom, important buildings and technical details at the same time. Their journeys were fraught with setbacks imposed by local warlords and dismal road conditions. carpenters were generally illiterate, and methods of construction were passed with contemporary scholars in asserting that Chinese culture originated in ancient times, peaked in the Tang dynasty, gained refinement through the Song Liang later wrote of the experience as “like a blind man riding a blind horse.13” on from master to apprentice, regarded as secrets within every craft. Like Li dynasty, and had declined ever since. The evolution of wooden brackets (or Jie himself, Liang consulted two old craftsmen who had spent their lifetime Dougong,斗拱) illustrated this point- the brackets were simple but elegant in Legend (repeated by Liang’s former students and confirmed by the couple’s their early stages, reached full complexity and maturity in the Tang and Song friend Wilma Fairbank) has it that Liang learnt about Foguang temple’s dynasties, and “lost their structural value,” becoming mere decoration during existence through studying Les grottes de Touen-Houang, a collection of the Ming and Qing dynasties.11 For Lin and Liang, the Dougong became a photos of mural paintings at the Dunhuang Buddhist caves compiled by French basis for Chinese architectural grammar, the equivalent of Greek and Roman Sinologist Paul Pelliot (1878-1945) during the 1910s and 1920s. A mural column orders for Chinese architecture. of Mount Wutai, a sacred Buddhist site, depicts key temples in the mountain region. Yet the painter likely did not visit the site, as the painted structure is a Lin and Liang’s articles set the stage for their quest to find an authentic Tang two-story building with double eaves, while the existing Foguang temple has a Dynasty timber-frame building. It is notable, however, that they prejudged the one-story hall with a single layer of eaves. It would also have been impossible to judge that the temple was a Tang building by observing the painting alone. superiority of Tang construction before carrying out any thorough empirical The Society had also combed through Chinese texts that mention Foguang study, or even knowing that any of such structures still existed in China.

Liang conducted his first field study in Ji County, Hebei, a month after they temple, but the official record of the temple nearly disappeared in the Ming published their essays. Over ten years of joint field research followed, though and Qing periods. When the expedition team, composing of Lin, Liang, Society each building they studied thereafter proved their preconceived theory. member Mo Zongjiang (莫宗江, 1916-1999), and draftsman Ji Yutang (纪 This approach differs radically from another contemporary historian and 玉堂, 1902-1960s) set out for Mount Wutai, they had no guarantee that philosopher, Fu Sinian (傅斯年). Fu insisted that Chinese historians should not Foguang temple still existed, or that it was a true Tang Dynasty construction. set out to prove a theory, but rather diligently collect objective evidence.12 Image 1: Liang’s illustration of the evolution of the Chinese “order” in his Pictorial History One can imagine the pure joy they experienced when they first caught sight

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Lin and Liang were married in the Chinese consulate in Ottawa, Canada on March 21, 1928. The date pays homage to Li Jie, as the date was inscribed on his Song Dynasty memorial stele.

8 Liang and new faculty to the department set up a firm, “Liang, Ch’en, T’ung, and Tsai, Architects and Engineers,” which received two major commissions almost immediately. In his spare time, Liang measured the Manchus’ “Northern Tombs”. This was his first attempt at making careful measurements of buildings and compiling field notes, reconciling standards he had learnt at Penn and through studying Prix de Rome drawings with harsh conditions in the Chinese countryside. Liang also attempted to preserve key architectural monuments. His advice to save Mukden’s Drum and Bell Towers was rejected in favor of the mayor’s traffic plans, a pattern that would emerge over the course of his career.

9 Wilma Fairbank. Liang and Lin: Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. P51-53.

10 Lin Huiyin, “On the Principle Characteristics of Chinese Architecture”, Bulletin of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture III, no.1 (1932): 163-79.

11 Liang Sicheng, “Architecture of the Tang Dynasty”, Bulletin of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture III, no.1 (1932).

12 Zhu Tao, “To Search High and Low: Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, and China’s Architectural Historiography, 1932–1946,” Scapegoat, no. 3 (2013).

13 Stephen Chow, Tony Perrottet. “The Couple Who Saved China’s Ancient Architectural Treasures Before They Were Lost Forever.” Smithsonian.com.

January 01, 2017.

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Okakura Kakuzō (岡倉覚三, 1862-1913) concluded that Japan was the “Museum of Asiatic Civilization,” as it housed artistic and architectural styles that had since disappeared from the Asiatic mainland.17 The lack of ancient Chinese architecture on the mainland was considered a great humiliation, but Sino-Japanese intellectual exchange had continued in the previous years regardless; the Society still invited prominent Japanese scholars for discussions.

Identifying and dating the Foguang Temple was a badly-needed and emotionally-charged event for Chinese architectural historians.

Political rifts made any attribution to Japanese even more inconvenient. On July 7, 1937, barely two weeks after the team left Beijing for Shanxi, the Marco Polo Bridge incident triggered the eruption of the second Sino-Japanese war.

Due to communication deficiencies, Lin, Liang, and the team had conducted fieldwork in Foguang temple blissfully unaware of the outbreak of war. Liang had prepared an extensive research account and was intent on publishing it after returning to Beijing. However, subsequent Japanese invasions along the Chinese coast thwarted these plans and the society relocated to Yunnan and then Sichuan.

Image 2: Lin and Liang take measurements at Foguang Temple

of Foguang temple complex in the distance. At first sight, the team was almost certain that the Great East Hall in the complex was a genuine Tang Dynasty structure. For seven days, the team clambered around, photographing, measuring, and drafting details. They also searched high and low for the complex’s exact construction date. Lin found the answer (AD 857) at the base of the dhāranī pillar outside the Great East Hall. The same dhāranī pillar also revealed the surprising fact that a woman named Ning Gongyu (宁公遇) provided the funds for the temple complex.14 The team deduced eleven Tang Dynasty characteristics from Foguang Temple.

One of the most decisive was its deep and gently-sloping eaves, reaching 3.96 meters at their widest, gesturing to Tang Dynasty’s benevolence and farreaching influence. Such eaves are impossible to find in subsequent dynasties, which are typically much narrower and steeper. Another finding was the Dougong at Foguang Temple use two main trusses without any braces, a stark contrast with any subsequent structural construction. Liang had only seen this type of structure in Tang Dynasty paintings before.15

Image 3: Tokiwa and Sekino, Shina bukkyo shiseki vol. 5, plate 29. Original caption reads: “Sacred Dhāranī Pillar, in front of the Main Hall, Ta Fo-kuang Ssu (A.D.857)”

ones that wrote of Foguang temple’s existence. Japanese monks had visited the site since medieval times and written travel accounts, a tradition that continued into much more modern times. Tokiwa Daijō (常盤大定, 1879-1945) and Sekino Tadashi (関野貞, 1868-1935), Buddhist scholar and architectural historian at the Imperial University of Tokyo respectively, had visited Mount Wutai as recent as 1925. In their 1928 portfolio of photographs and texts, Tokiwa and Sekino include pictures and notes about the Foguang temple, including its date. Tokiwa and Sekino’s publication was an instant hit among foreign collectors, and Harvard owned two copies of the same series at the time Liang studied in its stacks. The Society might have also owned copies of it because of Liu Dunzhen’s interests in the Japanese discourse on architectural history.16

If the team did owe part of their discovery to Japanese literature, tensions in Sino-Japanese relations at the time must have played a role in the lack of attribution. Prior to 1937, as no Tang dynasty buildings were known to exist in Vimalin Rujivacharakul finds that the Society had more substantial confirmation China, Chinese architectural historians had to refer to Tang-period or Tanginspired Japanese architecture in their studies. Meiji luminaries including of the temple’s existence before their quest. Chinese records weren’t the only

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WARTIME PRESERVATION, PUBLISHING RESULTS

Vimalin Rujivacharakul, “Backgrounds,” in Why Foguangsi and Liang Sicheng (Foreign Language Press and Gale Asia, 2015).

15 Sicheng, Liang. “China’s Oldest Wooden Structure.” Asia Magazine, 1941.

16 Vimalin Rujivacharakul, “Backgrounds,” in Why Foguangsi and Liang Sicheng (Foreign Language Press and Gale Asia, 2015).

17 Vimalin Rujivacharakul, “Backgrounds,” in Why Foguangsi and Liang Sicheng (Foreign Language Press and Gale Asia, 2015).

18 The family’s six-month escape to Kunming in 1938 exacerbated Lin’s tuberculosis. She could scarcely participate in fieldwork thereafter but contributed through historical research.

19 Zhu Tao, “To Search High and Low: Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, and China’s Architectural Historiography, 1932–1946,” Scapegoat, no. 3 (2013).

14

Perhaps Liang would have credited his Japanese sources upon his return, had Sino-Japanese relations not been completely severed. Patriotic reasons aside, the war gave a newfound urgency and an unexpected new focus to preservation. The Society reestablished on shaky ground in Kunming and the smaller staff continued their systematic search for old buildings in the area. While Liang suffered from spinal arthritis, Liu led investigations in the neighborhood and further west in Dali and Lijiang to study pagodas, temples, and vernacular architecture.18 Prior to 1937, the Society had focused exclusively on buildings built to royal construction standards.19 With less access to impressive examples of imperial construction, the team’s exile to the Southwest exposed them to diverse building types, construction systems and formal expressions in response to varied local materials, as well as climatic and cultural conditions. The expansion of their scope of study in terms of era, geography, and type of architecture was a departure from Liang’s 1932 essay and allowed him to enrich his magnum opus, Chinese Architectural History (中国建筑史, completed in 1944 and first published in 1953).

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Only in 1941 was Liang able to publish the first brief report on the Foguang temple in Asia magazine through Wilma Fairbank.20 He recounts the joy in encountering the temple and Lin’s discovery of the construction date but also expresses fear that his team’s photographs and drawings might be the last the world sees of this extraordinary building. At the time he wrote, there had already been attacks on the Wutai region. In 1944, the Society’s first Bulletin since the outbreak of war included a lengthier article about the expedition and its findings. It includes detailed diagrams and architectural drawings, but no photographs due to publishing restrictions during the war. Neither article mentions any Japanese contribution to the finding.

LEGACY

The couple can count an impressive list of built projects and designs in their portfolio, and their research and teaching paved the way for modern Chinese architectural history.22 Liang published four full-length Chinese books in his lifetime: Qing Structural Regulations (清式营造则例, 1934), Reference Pictures for Architectural Design (建筑设计参考图集, 1935), Chinese Architectural History (中国建筑史, completed in 1944 and first published in 1953), and Annotation of Yingzaofashi (营造法式注释, completed in 1966 and first published in 1983). One full-length book in English, A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture, was published by the MIT press in 1984 after its Liang’s avoidance of Japanese influences in his understanding of Chinese long-lost manuscript and images were reunited after 23 years. Lin and Liang’s Tang Dynasty buildings becomes more pronounced in his later writings. Nancy son, Liang Congjie, helped translate the compilation into a bilingual edition, Steinhardt finds that his analyses on Tang architecture always follow a linear published in 1992 by the China Architecture and Building Press.23 Though the majority of Lin’s literary contributions consisted of poetry and novels, Congjie evolutionary path and a strict hierarchy, emphasizing the superiority of Tang also compiled a series of architectural reports that she wrote individually or coconstruction and stressing the similarities within rather than the differences authored with Liang, Liu, and Mo.24 among Tang buildings in different contexts. It is unlikely that a meticulous scholar such as Liang would not have known of other eighth-century Japanese architecture, or considered alternatives to the hierarchy outlined in Lin and Liang’s greatest contributions to architectural history was arguably Yingzaofashi. In fact, in the 1931 Bulletin, Liu’s translations for two Japanese replacing traditional methods of intellectual scholarship with a more Western articles comparing such buildings appeared alongside an article by Liang scientific approach. This approach has three main characteristics: empirical in 1931. Yet in a 1963 article comparing Toshodaijis kondo in Japan with research methods, clear academic writing, and the preference of structure Tang-period timber structures in China, Liang only briefly discusses Nanchan over decoration.25 To this end, they and their colleagues were successful in temple’s main hall, giving much greater significance to Foguang temple’s Great uncovering the structural evolution of Chinese architecture.26 East Hall, contributing to its further iconic status but obscuring the complexity of Tang architecture.

However, both their Western education and passion for history contributed to their undoing in Communist China. During the war, Lin and Liang were not One cannot help wonder whether Liang was intentionally crafting a selective able to save the buildings they had defended. After the war, the Party actively architectural history. Personal reasons may have influenced this decision. Lin sought to destruct old buildings on the grounds of eradicating China’s feudalist and Liang regarded their visit to Foguang Temple as the best time of their lives. past.27 Though Liang became Vice-Director of the Beijing City Planning The academic purity of the singular Tang architectural icon was something Commission, his proposals of limiting industrialization, and preserving the Liang wished to maintain amid personal hardship and the destruction of capital’s 25 miles of city walls, gate towers, and monuments were rejected.28 beloved historic buildings. Additionally, Steinhardt suggests that he may have After Lin passed away in 1955, Liang was subject to a “three antis” attack: “viewed himself as a loyalist to an old regime in which intellectuals define the “anti-formalism, anti-reactionism, and anti-waste.” He continued to teach course of Chinese society…This scenario had served Chinese intellectuals in at Qinghua University with textbooks he and the Society had authored, but self-imposed retreat from evil government in earlier centuries, but at the end of abridged by and credited to the National Building Institute. Liang died in the twentieth century, it would warp a field of intellectual discourse.21” 1972 as the Cultural Revolution was coming to a close, broken-hearted and convinced that he and Lin’s life’s work had been wasted.

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Ironically, he may have had better success in saving Japan’s former capitals, Kyoto and Nara, than Beijing, from destruction. In 1944, upon hearing that Allied forces were planning to bomb Japan, Liang drew up maps of the two cities with their key historic sites, stressing that Kyoto contained the world’s oldest wooden construction, and passed them onto the US Army liaison stationed in Chongqing. It is unclear whether US bombers heeded his advice on avoiding the two cities as American architectural preservationist Langdon Warner had argued a similar claim around the same time.29 Kyoto has multiple statues of Langdon, and a bust of Liang can be found in Nara.

Today, Chinese architectural historians have started to question the structural approach that Lin, Liang, and their colleagues developed and passed to generations of students. The couple’s most popular writings are keen to generalize the essence of Chinese architecture into the “official timber structure exemplified by the Northern Chinese royal palaces and Buddhist temples, especially the ones built during the period from the Tang to Jin dynasties.30” An unintended consequence was a dismissal of the rich construction systems and building types of China’s many regions and ethnic groups.

Between 2004 and 2006, a Qinghua University research team used X-ray scanning tools to measure and assess each structural component in the Great Buddha Hall at Foguang Temple, revealing different modular systems throughout the structure. While the research furthered technical understanding of Tang Dynasty wooden construction, Lin Weicheng argues that a robust assessment of Foguang Temple must take into account its situation within the Wutai mountain region’s religious history, landscape and its web of monasteries.31 Foguang Temple is only one example of the continued predilection of Chinese researchers for structural analysis over context today.

Situating the building’s physical structure within its geographical, historical, political, and social context might finally enable us to approach the Ti-yong ideal that Lin and Liang had pursued.

China’s Oldest Wooden Structure, Asia, 1941 21 Nancy Steinhardt. “The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese Architectural History.” The Art Bulletin 86, no. 2 (2004): 248.

22 These include the Hall and Library in Jilin Provincial University (1930), the Geological Building and female 20

dormitory Peking University (19341935), the current Chinese national emblem (1950), and the Monument to the People’s Heroes (1951). Liang designed Lin’s tomb in 1955.

23 Wilma Fairbank. Liang and Lin: Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.

Lin Huiyin Writings and Drawings on Architecture. Compiled by Liang Congjie. Tianjin: Baihuawenyi Publishing, 1999.

25 Wang, Min-Ying. The Historicization of Chinese Architecture: The Making of Architectural Historiography in China from the Late Nineteenth Century to 1953. Edited by Kenneth Frampton.

24

Master’s thesis, Columbia University.

2010. P183.

26 Although this essay focuses on Lin and Liang’s achievements, Vilmalin Rujivacharakul has noted in The Reception of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture Outside China that especially in the West, Lin and Liang’s fame obscures the importance of the Society’s predominantly Chinese-educated members. The couple’s lifelong friend Wilma Fairbank was meticulous in insisting the authorship on many of Liang’s texts that were leaked and misattributed abroad during Communist rule in China. However, the Fairbanks’ loyalty to their friends furthered the impression that Chinese architects and historians became great through their educations abroad.

27 This must have been somewhat surprising to contemporary Chinese architectural historians. Before the People’s Liberation Army took over Beijing in 1949, an officer had asked Liang to designate buildings and cultural relics to preserve in the event of an armed conflict. The gesture greatly warmed the Liang family to the Communist Party.

28 The couple was horrified. In 1953, despite her frailty, an ever-diplomatic Lin argued furiously with the thenmajor Wu Han (吴晗), predicting that the government would regret tearing down its historic city gates and resort to building imitations. In 2004, the imitation Yongding Gate ( 永定门) was built in Beijing, alien to its surrounding cityscape.

29 Jeremiah Jenne. “Did Chinese Architect Liang Sicheng Save the Historic Sites of Kyoto?” RADII. December 13, 2018.

30 Zhu Tao, “To Search High and Low: Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, and China’s Architectural Historiography, 1932–1946,” Scapegoat, no. 3 (2013).

31 Lin Weicheng. “Introduction.”

In Building a Sacred Mountain: The Buddhist Architecture of China’s Mount Wutai. University of Washington Press, 2014.

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supercharged barge garage (extra-large) Studio: Instructor: TA: Duration:

CORE I Studio, GSAPP Joshua Uhl Wo Wu Three months (September-December 2018) Despite parking’s social and environmental consequences, cars (autonomous or otherwise) will remain a vital form of transportation for decades to come. The project grew out of my fascination with the overabundance of surface parking and carrelated industries on the east side of 10th Ave in Inwood. Large swathes of Inwood’s eastern edge are also susceptible to climate change, given that the current 100-year flood line swallows most of the rail yard.

My project proposes more integrated circulation as a flood wall on the waterfront, adjacent to a pedestrian plaza, which anchors barges for parking and various other functions.

Right: There is an overwhelming amount of double, if not tripleparking in the project area. Despite and because of the site’s industrial nature, many informal car-washing vans park under the elevated railroad on 10th ave.

CORE I STUDIO, GSAPP Barge Flow

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CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Right: There is an overwhelming amount of double, if not triple-parking in the project area. Despite and because of the site’s industrial nature, many informal car-washing vans park under the elevated railroad on 10th ave.

CORE I STUDIO, GSAPP Barge Flow

Barges of various functions anchor to the columns of the pedestrian strip, satisfying a flexible array of visitor needs. Barges for parking can accommodate employees and an anticipated increase of visitors, and can be swapped with sports courts, swimming pools, beaches, piers, etc. during the weekend.

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czy2102@columbia.edu

Aquarium loop

Parking barge

East River

Recreational overpass

Basketball barge

Parking barge

Swimming barge

Parking/docking barge

Beach barge

100’ CORE I STUDIO, GSAPP Barge Flow

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czy2102@columbia.edu

08:00

14:00

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A stop-motion animation explores the parking barges’ usages through a 24-hour stretch

CORE I STUDIO, GSAPP Barge Flow

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CORE I STUDIO, GSAPP Barge Flow

Parking Barges

F+B Barges

czy2102@columbia.edu

Entertainment Barges

CHARLOTTE YU

In addition to vitalizing the Inwood neighborhood, the barges also remediate Inwood’s historical industrial impact on the East River. All barges will incorporate bar grating at the edges, with runoff-filtering plants (such as Soft rush, or Juncus Effusus, a native perennial plant) beneath. The filtered water is dispelled through pipes along the barges’ perimeter. In the case of the parking barge, the grating can be removed for seating.

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czy2102@columbia.edu A B

tracing

10 ITERATIONS

entropy Studio: Instructor: TA: Duration:

15:30

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CORE I Studio, GSAPP Joshua Uhl Wo Wu Two weeks (September 2018) These drawings represent the increase in entropy in a 1:20 minute segment of Fischli and Weiss’s film, The Way Things Go. Ideologically, what interests me is the fact that the choreographed sequence is not a single take; rather it is the product of countless failures over two years.

16:10

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20 ITERATIONS

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time; a buildup of waste energy is at the core of any seemingly effortless performance, even if it is rarely a design intention. Entropy can remain constant if the system is in constant equilibrium, but the performance in The Way Things Go is anything but. There is a dichotomy between the film’s extremely calculated actions and the havoc wrecked on the system’s energy field.

Right: A simple sequence might take over 50 iterations to perform just right. Over time, the entropy that builds up from these outtakes subsumes the choreography of camera, man, and objects.

CORE I STUDIO, GSAPP Energy Flow

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czy2102@columbia.edu

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CHARLOTTE YU

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Cloth on fire Explosion Spiralling ball of fire

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The axonometric over time quantifies entropy emanating from both the installation and the environment: that of the carefully documented camera sequence, and that of the “background” functions.

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CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

gatherer’s point Course: ATV - Urban Systems Integration Consultants: Emily Bauer (Overall), Josh Margul (Mobility), Vincent Lee (Water), Thomas Slater (Energy) Team: Sixuan Liu, Vera Savory, Tianyu Yang Duration: Three months (January-April 2019) Gatherer’s Point is an opportunity to improve upon and decentralize the NYC food services that rely on Hunt’s Point. The project increases environmental resiliency and decreases emissions/congestion at Sunset Park, integrates various stages in the food cycle into a holistic food hub that is not only logistically efficient but also beneficial to the community. Gatherers’ Point can handle 1.6 million pounds of fruits and vegetables annually. This would provide 11% of regional wholesale produce sales, approximately 30% produce sales within NYC. This would provide roughly $1.2 billion in revenue per year and 1,500 jobs Right: Our proposed research center incorporates a vertical farm, inner street activated by rain garden, and green roofs

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CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Hunts Point provides 60% of NYC’s food and roughly $4 billion in revenue per year, but it lies completely under the 2050 flood plain. 97% of its goods are shipped by truck. Trucks’ exhaust is responsible for particulate matter emissions contributing to 170 deaths in NYC each year, concentrated in high-poverty communities. With current development of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal connected with existing rail service, Sunset Park is a multimodal freight hub ideal for the future of NYC’s food logistics

A bifurcation of large wholesalers and small restaurants currently exists in Sunset Park. As the area is optimized for freight transportation, truck zones make for an unfriendly pedestrian experience. A multimodal freight hub could potentially solve NYC’s food logistics challenge and make Sunset Park a more walkable community.

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CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

FOOTPRINT (SQFT) BUILDINGS

# STORIES

5,505,000

EMPLOYEES/ DAY

VISITORS/ DAY

TOTAL ENERGY (KWH/YR)

2,555

ENERGY (KWH/ SQFT/YR) 126

1,680

HIGHRISE HOUSING

320,000

6

60

700

10

19,200,000

LOWRISE HOUSING

300,000

3

5

300

10

9,000,000

RESEARCH HUB

53,000

3

300

50

31

14,136,000

F&B AND RETAIL

320,000

2

300

1,000

14

8,960,000

RESEARCH + COMMUNITY MARKET

320,000

3

5

200

30

28,800,000

180,000

2

200

1,000

38

13,680,000

BIOMASS PLANT

100,000

2

10

100

3

600,000

INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE CONSOLIDATION W GREENROOFS

3,737,000

3

800

100

20

224,220,000

OUTDOOR SPACE

3,350,000

57

2,500

7

2,010,000

PUBLIC OPEN SPACE

260,000

1

20

1,000

2

520,000

PEDESTRIAN ZONE

250,000

1

1

500

1

250,000

ESPLANADE/ WATERFRONT RAILYARD

700,000

1

20

1,000

1

700,000

540,000

1

10

1

800,000

800,000

1

5

1

800,000

800,000

1

1

1

800,000

133

331,626,000

HEAVY VEHICLE ROUTES GREEN STREETS TOTAL

8,855,000

1,737

5,055

28,715 MW

ATV, GSAPP

Food Flow

50

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

At the ground floor of Greenmarket Hub, the produce passes through the cold storage and loading, processing and community kitchen, dining area, ending up in food waste collection on its way to the Biofuel generating station.

The second floor hosts a number of adjacencies between public space and research facilities. For instance, libraries look into the vertical farming area, with auditorium, rain garden, cafe, closed and open labs interspersed on the same level.

The Greenmarket Hub also contains several features for water reuse.

Rainwater is collected for irrigation, waste water is recycled into flush water, bioswales aid in stormwater management, and a raingarden in the central atrium mitigates the pressure on storm and sewer systems.

ATV, GSAPP

Food Flow

51

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

IN SITU

52

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

greenpoint theater Course:

ATIII - Envelopes; ATIV - Building Systems Integration Consultants: Stephan Potts (Architecture), Shinjinee Pathak (Structural engineering), Sarah Sachs (MEP, Sustainability), Alex Barmas (Enclosures) Team: Matthew Brubaker, Mike Kolodesh, Helen Winter Duration: Three months (September-December 2019) In this course, our team of four learnt Revit and designed a two-story theater with two performance spaces, a series of lobbies, and associated changing rooms, supporting offices, etc. For this project, I focused mainly on MEP, sustainability, and generation of Revit drawings, though all design decisions were a group effort.

Right: Atrium looking to second story outdoor balcony with a brick screen with outdoor staircase to roof level

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Building In Situ

53

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Our scheme demolishes the original building, using the existing concrete foundation as a 4’0” flood-resilient raised plinth. We reuse the brick from the existing building as a perforated brick screen towards the north, and other brick walls on the exterior and interior. Cantilevered volumes on the north and east sides provide sun shading, while rainwater collection and skylights decrease the building’s energy need. Grey water is reused to irrigate the strip garden and accessible green roof.

On the second story above the theater’s lobby, an outdoor balcony with a brick screen, reduces sun exposure and supports a grand staircase reaching the roof level CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Building In Situ

54

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Level 1 F.F. plan

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Building In Situ

Level 2 F.F. plan

55

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

ultrareal cabin Course: Instructors: Team: Duration:

Techniques of the Ultrareal Joseph Brennan, Philip Crupi Alina Abouelenin, Camille Brustlein Three months (January-May 2020) In this course, our team designed a cabin in the woods and rendered it in 3ds Max under three different scenarios.

Right: The cabin is transformed into an eerie motel, flickering above a lake at night

Ultrareal, GSAPP

Transformations In Situ

56

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Ultrareal, GSAPP

Transformations In Situ

57

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu Biofuel production supplants an existing wind turbine corridor to reframe Notrees as a hub for clean energy

rigs

Oxy North Cowden Unit

to

Canyon James Lak

reeds Course: Instructor: Duration:

Midland, Texas Population: 146,138

A nature trail follows a pipeline originally transporting oil, now transporting biofuel

Notrees, Texas Projected Population: 30,800

Man, Machine, Industrial Landscape Sean Gallagher Three months (September-December 2020) The West Texan landscape is dotted with towns like Notrees, TX, that have dwindled in population and resources over the years following a bust in oil production. In a three-stage transformation process, Rigs to Reeds reimagines the oil infrastructure for biofuel production and a nature conservancy, where native plants return nutrients back to the soil and create value and ecological corridors among towns.

Cottonwood, Mesquite, Cattail, and other species native to the Mesquite-Saltcedar Brush / Woods establish themselves along an ecological corridor

Originally oil processing facilities, now network of biorefineries

Giant Reed is planted to return nutrients to the soil and as a biofuel feedstock

Right: Could the growihng biofuel industry remediate Notrees’s environmental hazards, provide a sustainable revenue stream, and connect it with nearby towns with a series of ecological trails?

MMIL, GSAPP

Planting In Situ

58

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Wyoming 99,785

California 60,738 Kansas 55,304

PRODUCED WATER QUANTITY BY STATE IN THE WESTERN US

(Thousand acre feet per year) An average of three to five barrels of water is produced

Oklahoma 58,988 Texas 236,914

WATER OIL

For every barrel of oil

ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR RECREATIONAL DESTINATION EDUCATIONAL TOOL

PROCESSING

REVENUE GENERATION FUEL

Discoveries of radioactivity and toxidity has made the evaporation ponds at Notrees an increasingly unacceptable disposal method

GIANT REED SOIL REMEDIATION

PROCESSING

REVENUE GENERATION FUEL

GIANT REED SOIL REMEDIATION

WATER

Biorefineries converted from old oil processing facilities

OIL

Existing oil pipelines can be repurposed directly as biofuel pipelines

MMIL, GSAPP

Planting In Situ

Giant Reed (Arundo donax) has a fast growth rate, producing an average of 20 dry tons of biomass per acre once established. The energy density of the biomass produced is 17 MJ/Kg regardless of fertilizer usage.

A 2012 National Biodiesel Board study found that each billion gallons of biodiesel supports 39,027 jobs. With a projected Giant Reed acreage of 185,329 acres, the new industry will support 30,714 jobs

WATER OIL

Pumpjacks can be dismantled or repurposed into lookout towers to support ecological observation and conservation Oil wells are capped after the produced water is sufficiently used for irrigation and the water table restored

A.Donax has low demand for nutrient inputs, exceptional soil carbon sequestration, and adapts well to saline water (such as recycled oilfield water)

59

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

westbeth redevelopment for seniors Course: Critic: Team: Duration:

The Art of the Development Proposal Brian Loughlin Thomas Bourne, Sebastian Salas Three months (September-December 2020) In order to celebrate and maintain Westbeth’s artistic character and innovative building layout, Team Fluxus proposed to use existing air rights to build 160 units of affordable senior housing for existing senior residents, opening up applications for additional artist residents. Revenue from rooftop gardens, an open-air food hall and the senior housing helps to finance both new construction and maintenance and energy efficiency upgrades to the existing Westbeth complex.

Right: Interior view from one of the corner apartments in Building A

The Art of the Development Proposal, GSAPP Aging In Situ

60

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Sources HDC First Mortgage LIHTC HDC ELLA Equity HPD SARA Equity HYC Historic Properties Fund Grant, Green Roof Projects Deferred Developer Fee Total Sources

Total Per SF $19,379,826 $140.38 $21,669,409 $156.96 $12,000,000 $86.92 $12,000,000 $86.92 $300,000 $2.17 $626,010 $4.53 $3,512,561 $25.44 $69,487,807 $503.33

% of Total 27.89% 31.18% 17.27% 17.27% 0.43% 0.90% 5.05% 100%

Uses Hard Costs Soft Costs Energy Efficiency Renovations

Total Per SF $46,834,148 $339.24 $11,708,537 $84.81 $2,000,000 $14.49

% of Total 67.40% 16.85% 2.88%

ADA-Required Upgrades Developer Fee Total Uses

$1,920,000 $7,025,122 $69,487,807

2.76% 10.11% 100.00%

$13.91 $50.89 $503.33

Total SF Commercial 9,554 Rooftop Garden 20,867 Supports general renovations to the existing complex Supports Westbeth’s compliance to Local Laws 92/94: Green and Solar Roof Requirements for New Buildings and Complete Roof Replacements

Supports Westbeth’s compliance to Local Law 97 on drastically cutting the existing complex’s operational carbon emissions through weatherproofing and upgrading power generators Supports elderly and handicapped residents circulating through and remaining in the original complex Renovations

Annual Rent/SF Annual Rent $52.75 $504,000 $5.00 $104,335

Total Commerical and $608,335 Rooftop Income HUD LI (60% AMI) Unit Size Monthly Max Rent Studio $1,760 1 BR $1,801 2 BR $2,053

Number of Units

Annual Rent

94 57 9

$1,985,280 $1,231,884 $221,724

Total Annual Income $3,438,888 Total Annual Project $4,047,223 Income

Existing vertical circulation/ Market emergency egress

446 SQFT

New senior housing vertical circulation

580 SQFT

446 SQFT 689 SQFT

585 SQFT

Market entrance/ vertical circulation

549 SQFT

F+B booths

The Art of the Development Proposal, GSAPP Aging In Situ

571 SQFT

433 SQFT

433 SQFT

433 433 SQFT SQFT

433 SQFT

433 433 SQFT SQFT

795 SQFT

Studios One-Bedrooms Two-Bedrooms Community Room 61

CHARLOTTE YU

Development Proposal

czy2102@columbia.edu

PreDevelopment, Community Engagement

New Construction, Renovation

Senior Residents Move into New Units, Lease Commercial Spaces

Property Management

Some current senior residents will move to the new units equipped for their needs 2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

0 SQFT housing demolition 160 additional units of affordable senior housing 9,554 SQFT open air Westbeth Highline Market 20,867 SQFT rooftop garden $4 million renovations/energy efficiency upgrades

The Art of the Development Proposal, GSAPP Aging In Situ

62

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

the nest Studio: Partner: Instructor: Duration:

CORE III Studio, GSAPP Sixuan Liu Eric Bunge Three months (September-December 2019) The Melrose area in the Bronx is a neighborhood of migrants. The mixed-use housing development of 200 flexible units is attractive towards migrants from different countries and through different stages of life.

The design fosters sharing among occupants who rely on a network of relationships for social as well as practical needs. Programs such as music rooms, daycare facilities, and an extensive green roof address the needs of the district’s large percentage (40%) of adolescents.

Right: Curved decks allow residents to traverse between clusters, and are ideal for spontaneous interactions.

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

63

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu We were particularly motivated by the migratory nature of residents in the area—there were many migrants from abroad, many residents commute 1-2 hours every day for work, and more settled residents have changing spatial needs as they transition through different stages of life.

The Nest is taller at the busier Northwest and Southeast corners, creating a more substantial presence. At opposite corners, the roof slopes down in a more inviting gesture. In urban terms, residents at the Nest share the site’s southwest corner and the existing Bronx Documentary Center with the public.

Through research and interviews with residents, we found that these migrants are especially comfortable with informally sharing space. Our interviewees regularly hosted family visiting from abroad, close friends on a weekly basis, or were coliving with others on short-term leases. Many recent migrants appreciated the culture of sharing, as a way to develop social ties and simply to optimize resources. A primary driver for our project was thus to accommodate this comfort with and need for sharing.

“It’s a nice place to live. You can get anything and go anywhere.“ - Caroline, Healthcare provider. Lives alone in 1-Bed “It’s not a real good area for my kid...My son is 13 years old and now he doesn’t want to go to school. He stays up all night playing video games.“ - Lisa Toney, was relocated to Melrose Projects after a fire destroyed her home. Lives with son in 2-Bed “Not many Chinese here. My daughter and I got knived two years ago by a thug but it’s much safer now...

We waited two years for a Senior Center...

I just want a small garden where I can grow flowers and vegetables.“ - Mr. Fu, Chinese restaurant owner, used to live in a 9-person studio, now lives alone in basement 1-Bed “I don’t spend that much time in the neightborhood...My commute is an hour and a half downtown.“ - Kaiya, High school student/basketball player, lives with mother in 2-Bed CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

64

CHARLOTTE YU

1 continuous roof 8 residential clusters 250 units

czy2102@columbia.edu

Each cluster has atria that allow natural light into the shared cores, which are ideal for smallscale gatherings such as birthday parties. All vertical circulation occurs at the curved decks between clusters, which are ideal for spontaneous interactions. Each cluster also has a continuous balcony at the perimeter that can be negotiated with immediate neighbors, serving as a small greenhouse, guest room, kid’s room, or common area for neighbors to share meals and tools.

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

Typical Plan 65

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Negotiable Balcony

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

Negotiable Core

Negotiable Bridge

66

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

Negotiable Balcony

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

Negotiable Core

Negotiable Bridge

67

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

East-West Section, showing division of clusters and a range of flexible spaces

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

68

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

CORE III STUDIO, GSAPP Housing In Situ

69

CHARLOTTE YU

czy2102@columbia.edu

70