LancelotLi_2024Portfolio

What’s Included

Wave

Residential Design at Changzhou Historic Town

2022 Personal Project

The Wave transforms a row of retiring apartments into a modern commerical complex of rental housing and a shopping center. Through personal experience and memories of the comminity and the grand canal, I focused on offering solutions to the unsatisfied demand for temporary living, parking, and a unified dinning/shopping experience.

The Grand Canal is the guiding star for my design. Through the past years, water quality has been improved to a level suitable for close interactions. I decided to utilize the view of the improved water way as well as the greenery nearby. Jiangnan is to China as Venice to Italy; as a city of Jiangnan, Changzhou could bring back the living-by-water habit with mordern architectures. To highlight the relationship of life and water way, I use wave to form the facade and name the project.

Changzhou has a long history of culture and architecture, and Qingguo Valley, which sits right next to the site, is one of the best preserved symbol. Adjacent to the Qingguo influence circle, The Wave aim for extending the water town traveling experience, and showcase a possibilty of inhertating and expanding the traditions under the modern context--ancient towns should not be crudely restored and transformed into a shopping streets.

RESIDENTIAL

Qingguo Lane was first built in Ming Dynasty with a history more than 400 years. It includes many traditional architectural forms in a small area.

Old structures were wore out, and no longer fit the modern life style. Stone bridges like this one has been removed in the past years.

SITE

HOSPITAL

limited ventilation/natural light

crowded parking

Site

Qingguo Alley is a pearl of my home town--Changzhou, which sits in the center of city. Due to the location, the area is much smaller than a typical ancient town--expansion is unlikely to happen with all the new roads and buildings. Disregard its scale, Qingguo Alley concentrates all the cultural elements essential to all water towns (ancient towns). Qingguo was the historical home to many influencial people of the city, from poets, to revolutionists, to educationists, the small alley is a mojor symbol of the city.

In recent years, Changzhou government achieved some success in transforming the alley, mainly through building an entrance with mordern material (glass and steel) to exhibite the reflections on the canal, as well as maintainence of the historical buildings. The areas has become popular tourist attraction that remains genuine in style. Its success inspires me to extend that combination of of old buildings and mordern material, while featuring the beauty of water town, to my site that is just a block away.

Qingguo were home to many famous educators, such as “father of Pinyin” Zhou Youguang, and female rights activist Shi Liang.

With the idea “restore/rebuild as it was”, local government successfully transformed the alley which brought considerable tourists. The nearby hotels and parking can longer satisfy the demands.

Design Process

The design of the apartment is inspired by the fluidity of water. The traditional architectural style of Jiangnan Water Town pays great attention to environmental factors, so I hope to show the feeling of waves in the architectural form.

Original site: Old apartments by the canal

Entrance & decorative wall: Local building format

Lifted ground floor

20 pillars in symmetry

Long rectangular cube: Lower in height (21m)

Water side platform: A new relationship with the canal

Irregular windows: Water reflections

lifted, travel to roof

Glass lift lobby: Divides 2 sections

Wave shape exterior wall

Circular skylight: Traditional philosophy

Design details

Rooftop garden/bar area

Third floor rental apartments/supermarket

Second floor rental apartments/supermarket

First floor public park /temporary exhibitions

Entrance

Basement open dining area, waterbrone platform

Renderings

The Wave in different lighting and angles. The low height and lifted first floor allaws a continuation This design features wave shaped facade, a glass atrium, and a black-and-white gable. These

Renderings

continuation of water town esthetic, while adding light and wind to the narrow street.

These mordern structure merge with traditional design philosophies, blends into the surrounding community.

Mogao Cubic

Adding a modern structure to perserve & view an ancient building

2022 Personal Project

The Mogao Caves is enlisted in UNESCO world heritages. It includes hundreds of Buddahist caves with history span over thousands of years. For this project, I focused on accessibilty and conservation. The modern glass strcuture not only allows barrier-free access, but also sheilds the nine-floor tower from erosion of sandstorms.

The form of the new building is inspired by the main tower and the various cave shapes surrouding it. Ancient architects and builders balances strcutral intergrity, light, and esthetic in the cave digging; while I attempt to carry on their wissdom, but express through different materials, volumes, and positive/negative spaces.

In addition to the easy access design, this new building also carries exhibitory funtions. Caves that are collapsed or under maintainence will be displayed here. Visitors get to learn deeper about Mogao’s architectural wisdom and hisotry of presevation, right on site, all year around.

Dunhuang is here

desert plantations

dried river

Mogao Caves in relation to Dunhuang City

sand dunes

1340m

1135m

Mogao Caves sits in desert west to the city. The historical site suffer from erosions.

History of Mogao Caves

The Iconic nine-floor tower was built during Tang dynasty, when economic power also at the peak.

Mogao Caves was rediscovered by a Taoist priest during Qing dysnasty. The weak government could not stop

First Cave Excavated

The Art

The Mogao Caves is an epitome of religion and lives for the spand of thousand years; Its art contains architecture, drawings, music, sculptures, scripts are much more.

~1930

Stolen/Documented by foreign parties

Rediscovered

West of the caves there are “Stupa forest” in the open ground

Large sculptures in Mogao is mostly built during Tang dynasty. columns with niches for small statues.

Large scale frescos protraits of the Budda

Large Buddah Sculpture

Stupas Frescos

Since the establishment of Dunhuang Research Center, protection and renovation works has continued and growed. The recent Digital Exhibition Center helped to document and present the artifacts in a modern way.

In

Dunhuang Research Center

Site Renovation

Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center

important

Guanyin. Scripts are gathered and stored in caves that often have plant fescos.

Relic sculptures contains remains of past eminent monks.

almost all caves, geometrical tile arts decorates center rooftop area.

Frescos

Buddhist Scripts

Cave Shapes at Mogao

Zen Caves

Most common form of caves at Mogao. A centered stage is used for monk’s meditation

Centered-column Caves

Early form of caves: aacentered cubic column supports the structure, also provides niches for arhat statues.

Budda Statue Caves

The iconic 9-level pagoda is the exterior of a Budda Stuatue Cave, allows visitors to see the budda from different heights.

Palace Caves

Representive cave form of Song dynasty. The four corners of the ceilings are typically pitted and painted with the Four Gods. A bodhisatva statue is at the center.

Nirvana Caves

Longitudinal caves for displaying nirvana budda (lying pose). The celings have smooth slope. Only two were left, both built in Tang dynasty.

Ying Caves

Memorial space for past head monks, dipicting monks ture look through statue and frescos. Relatively small and dense.

Pursuit of Happyness

A neigborhood-friendly, high volume homeless shelter complex

2023 Personal Project

Homelessness is a longstanding social issue in the Los Angeles region. The situation got even worse since the pendamic, as more people became unemployed. With increasing number of unhoused individuals, the city is in need of more beds and shelters. This shelter complex responds to the basic need, but also explores ways to alleviate people out of their poverty trap.

Intrinsic causes, such as unwelling to work, is identified to be the cutting point. Homeless population vary in their ability to work, but to begin with, to create a supportive commnity that brings people at the edge back, can be helpful to encourge the healthy individuals to get retrained and earn their living.

Inspired by the natures geometry miracle, the honey comb, I hope to combine modular living units into a spacially efficient, self-supported community that provides variety support, from education, to career, to mental health. Tthe modern design with 3 floor height means to demonstrate the ability for welfare facility to move out of skid row and become a neigborhood friendly site, which is not exclusive to the homeless ones.

CENTRAL LA

KOREAN TOWN

SKID ROW

DTLA

JEFFERSON PARK

LA Skid Row: Statistics and Facts

The homeless population of Skid Row is now estimated at 8,000. Twenty years ago, most of them lived within a 20-block area. Now, the pavements of nearly 60 city blocks are occupied by tents and shabby constructions.

Approximately 72% of the total homeless population in the Los Angeles area remains unsheltered, much higher than the national average of 35%. As a result, this area contains roughly a quarter of all unsheltered homeless people in the nation.

Most homeless shelters and other facilities locate in the Skid Row area due to historical reasons, which led to high concentration of homeless population in downtown LA. In order to provide shelters for more, new shelters are needeed in locations other than the Skid Row.

Homeless Count

2013 2015 2017

2018

2019 2020

LA county has the largest percentage of unsheltered homelessness in the US. Need for more beds stays high.

MONTEREY PARK

是非成败转头

Possible Sites

Main homeless Gather

Other Homeless Dense Area

Most homeless people in LA is among working ages. Getting people back to self-sufficent can reduce homelessness.

Social welfare facilities are unevenly distributed across LA. Some homeless do not have access due to immobility.

WHAT CAUSES HOMELESSNESS

Homelessness is created by individual, societal reasons--each stage causes different issues and lead to various needs.

family issues work issue

innate reasons

vagrancy

live under support

potential risk to society

rehab

unable to work

on-site job

motivation

shelter complex

unwilling to work

re-training

The Hexagon

honeycomb structure

Bees live in highly organized, effecient communities. Every bees work hard, contribute to the greater good. This symbology is used to inspire the homeless to earn their living, start in the supportive shelter community.

less material, more spaces

robust structure

sessions

windows to outside

space effciency

personal spaces

kitchen open spaces training workshop job

orphan substance abuse

bankrupt handicap laziness

loss of stable housing

FORMATION

clear out original area

elevate first floor for easy access &

empty out cneter area

elevator, escalator, stairways

four-storey meets the surrounding building heights

honey comb units as exterior walls

structural columns

irregular window openings

DESIGN DETAILS

The honeycomb structure is achieved by combining hundreds of individual living socializing spaces spreads among the repetitions, having irregular window openings first floor makes the complex easier to access, and more welcoming for the neigborhood homeless ones. A central courtyard allows relation, also provide place for food

living units. The non-residential areas, such as dining, meeting, educating, and openings which indicate the functions and brings abundant light inside. The lifted neigborhood to provide leisure and career support for more than the current giveaway events.

Lifted. Grounded.

A Cantilever Living/Dining/Researching Complex near RISD regenerative garden

2023 RISD Project

By lifting the living area from the ground, this design intent to offer a cozy living experience with less humidity and better natural light. Meanwhile, with ample height to the ground, the floor slab creates a shaded park area underneath that encoruges community engagements.

The two towers locates adjacent to their target audiences: lab tower sits right across the street to the regenerative garden, where tool storage locates on the first floor, no afraid of getting messy; dining towers faces the main street, welcomes RISD/Brown students, not exclusive to the residents.

The towers locate at the north half of the cantilever, make the south side extra light and spatious.

The height of the cantilever creates a comfortable space leisure activity--shaded from sun, while still having sufficient light from the sloped side.

plan (interior)

A diaganl circulation connects the public dining tower and lab tower, allows quick navigation while creating a semi-public space that encrourages the residents to hang out.

plan

Three concrete ‘steps’ allows residents enter the towers easily from both sides of the block, while maintaining the functions of reading, chatting, and chilling under shade.

(base)

1:4 model (section)

Big windows opening at ends of corridors aim to guide the circulation and turn each dead end into a welcoming resting spot.

1:8 model (details)

Big windows opening at ends of corridors aim to guide the circulation and turn each dead end into a welcoming resting spot.

graphic design/photography

Movie Poster

To be Continued

A Lancelot Design