Julia Zhang's Design Portfolio

JULIA ZHANG

DESIGN + ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS STUDENT PORTFOLIO 2024

Cornell Roots Rhinoceros in Love

A Moving Cave for Readers

The LIGHT House

Nestled amongst the trees and flowing waters of Lake Tahoe, the LIGHT House is a Luxury family vacation house features panoramic windows and simplistic wabi-sabi style home decoration, offering residents breathtaking views of the lake, with changing natural light that enhances its beauty in every season.

This is a two-person group peroject where I was in charge of finding the inspiration work and Lumion rendering based on the Revit model.

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Incense Cedar Bamboo

2F-Bedroom

2F-Kitchen

3F-Tearoom

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ELEVATION - NORTH

ELEVATION - EAST

SECTION - B

SECTION - A

SECTION - C

2F-Lake View

Night-Corridor

The Light House comprises three levels of staggered building blocks, featuring asymmetrical roofs that allow natural light to penetrate from various angles. Extruding balconies, wooden decks, and ground-level windows blur the boundaries between the interior and exterior spaces, breaking free from the limitations of traditional house designs. The concept and form of our design is insired by House Six by Eastern Comb Architects and Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright.

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FINGER LAKES BOATING MUSEUM

This is an individual project where I got to fully develop the concept and present it to the client for critique. And my concept is the thrill of the race, which is exeplified in my overall design. To the right is the logo that I envisioned for the museum’s new branding.

OATING USEUM B M

Concept:

The outboards and racing shells in this exhibit are not for commercial use, fishing, or moving people around; nor do they have any interior spaces for protection so the boaters are fully exposed to the weathers and winds. They rather reveal intimate human relations with nature, while emplifying the human will, takes on a more active and light-hearted approach. These boats harness the the power of an outdoor motor and the skills of the rowers, synchronous with their team while going at full speed. The trill, of course, comes with risks, and it is also true that they are complementary to one another in the boating experience.

British Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner had frequently depicted the sublime seascape, masterfully deploying light and ferocious natural elements in his work. In order to make such work, he had even tied himself onto the mask of a ship sailing in the storm in order to fully experience and confront the inconquerable powers of nature. In the present day, we have we thought we have “overcame” nature but we oftentimes are still drawn by the beauty of it and venture again into the waters. For Building 11, I hope to borrow Turner’s striking color schemes and also his unique perspective derived from immersing nature with all his senses wide open. And for the latter part of the exhibit, I would couple the bleechers as the sitting area surrounded by the racing shells gliding past all sides of walls to re-create the thrills of the race.

BLOCKING DIAGRAM

CHILDREN’S LIGHTHOUSE

The lighthouses are unique features of the Finger Lakes, guideing the boats to safety. This interactive playscapes features a 3D tactile “map” of the space and stanionary binoculars for children to explore the exhibit from a unique perspective. This arrangement also taps into the children’s love of movement and play while the accompanied adults enjoy an exciting moment as spectators of the “race”.

RACING SHELL EXHIBIT

“CHILDREN’S LIGHTHOUSE”

RACING SHELL EXHIBIT

OUTBOARD

EXHIBIT IMMERSIVE SPACE

The outboards are slanted in a seemingly unstable angle against the walls, creating a sense of peril and also allowing the viewers to see the inside of the boats.

OUTBOARD EXHIBIT

OUTBOARD EXHIBIT

IMMERSIVE SPACE

Being slightly shocked by the dark, the visitors are invited to enter a space where they can be immersed in the projection and sound of being of a very fast outboard and the sense of a racing shell “dancing” on water.

OUTBOARD EXHIBIT

STATIONARY EXHIBITION

RESTING/PEOPLE-WATCHING AREA

INTERACTIVE EXHIBIT

PRIMARY CIRCULATION

SECONDARY CIRCULATION

EGRESS E

SEATING

EXHIBIT

The Finger Lakes Beating Museum is located on Pleasant Valley Rd., Hammondsport, NY. Building 11 is on the further side of the complex, where a typical visitor would have to pass through the main building, and two exhibition buildings in order reach. The themes of the two other buildings leans more toward fishing and luxury boats produced by big companies, which are different from the outboards and racing shells that are to be displayed in building 11.

Quinzee

/'kwinzi:/

A Customizable Luxury Cabins for Extreme Wilderness Explorers

QUINZEE

JULIAZHANG

QUINZEEs, inspired by the epinomous Canadian snow shelters, are luxury cabins for adventure in extreme environments and well as enjoyment of a variety of amenities. The octgonal and rectangular modules could be easily custimized and connect to expand into habitats and base camps.

This is a three-person group project and my role was making floorplans with AutoCAD and interior renderings with Sketchup and Enscape.

Our Inspirations...

1 main

1 main + 1 sub

1 main + 2 sub

2 main + 2 sub

Modules and combinations...

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The main module includes a living space and a bathroom.

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Add-on units enable various ways to assemble and connect. The range of choices include single and double bedroom, additional bathroom, and kitch. A set of diffrent modules allows for engagement between family and friends while still maintaining private spaces.

PERSPECTIVAL MARKER RENDERING

Individual Work, 8.5’’ x 11’’, marker, vellum paper, 03/2023

FREEHAND WORK 04JULIAZHANG

MARKER RENDERING

Individual Work, 8.5’’ x 11’’, marker, vellum paper, 02/2023

STILL LIFE: LINE DRAWING & MARKER RENDERING

Individual Work, 8.5’’ x 11’’, marker, vellum paper, 02/2023

CRABBY

Awareness of Fragility

Arduino kit, cardboard, acrylic paint, 3D printing PLA filament, flexible fabric, 12/2023

DESIGN ITERATIONS:

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Since the Industrial Revolution, the mean surface ocean pH dropped by 0.1, which equates to a 30% increase in hydrogen ion concentration. And recent study shows that ocean acidification is causing Dungeness crabs’ shells to dissolve and also difficulty in the larvae’s development. To date, no surveys have examined public awareness of ocean acidification and its slow, unseen process makes it one of the lesser-known parts of climate change.

Through interviewing college students in my brainstorming process, I recognized that although they do not directly feel the impact of climate change, they do care about the animals that are affected by it. Thus, I designed CRABBY, a device that shows the fragility of marine organisms and appeals emotionally to the users, prompting them to be more concious about carbon emissions and make a change in their lives.

Stage 1: Rapid Prototyping with foil GIFs Ideation illutrating the interaction process and the expected impact

Stage 2: Mid-fidelity Prototyping with Arduino Kit Stage 3: High-fidelity prototype with 3d-printed case; later revised and repainted.

Systems Usability Study Score: 81.67

Best aspect of this prototype: It’s visually very engaging and the slight ambiguity for what is under the cloth made it more interesting to me.

One thing you would improve: Make the two light detectors things more obvious that people have to use them to interact, because in my first experience I did not figure that out very quickly.

Errors identified: The users found the prototype engaging, but need guidance or mores indications how to interact with it and also what it represents.

Conclusions: Improvements are made based by the first error by painting the prototype in the colors of the Dungeness crabs and matching the colors of the lights accordingly. Nonetheless, the device is still a bit abstract and requires explanations from the designer.

Stage 4: Final Prototype!

CORNELL ROOTS

2”x4”x8’ recycled hardwood, canvas, nails and bracings, acrylic paint, 09/2022-04/2023

Cornell Roots is about reframing how we experience nature through sight and sound in solitary space, away from built urban environments. I co-pitched this idea with another group member of Medium design club in Fall 2022, and the project was eventually built on Arts Quad in Spring 2023.

The life in school is filled with all kinds of noises and stress, and we speed-walk through the beautiful nature here in Ithaca, where we often take pictures instead of truly stopping to appreciate the subtle surprises that nature grants us. Cornell Roots is an installation, but also a meditative space, that leaves the visitors sitting alone with an ancient tree and the land of which the history is centuries older than Cornell itself and to find peace with the trivialities in life.

The mural plans to show the history of the land through designing a stratigraphic profile of the land and building our tree on that. A stratigraphic profile is a representation used in geology and archeology to show the sequences of rocks with oldest on the bottom and youngest on top.

Early Devonian period fossils Later Devonian period fossils

Root system of red oak

Modern layers from civilizations living in Ithaca

Red oak with tree rings as the sky

Cornell Roots was installed on Arts Quad for the span of 2 weeks.

English and Chinese versions of posters designed for Cornell Chinese Drama Society’s production Rhinoceros in Love.

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RHINOCEROS IN LOVE

27’’ x 40’’ on glossy paper, designed using InDesign, 04/2023

TECTONICS

1/16’’ x 24’ and 1/8’’ x 24’ bass wood, resin glue, 11/2022

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JULIAZHANG

This bridge is inspired by from a sketch of the Golden Horn Bridge imagined and proposed by Leonardo da Vinci which would have been the world’s longest-spanning bridge of its time. Weighing 39 grams and spanning over 24 inches, my bridge could bear the load of a brick.

A MOVING CAVE FOR READERS

Individual Work, 31.5" x 12" x 10", Card Board, Acrylic Board, 06/2021

This is the work that I created for the D+EA 3D Challenge, and the prompt was “the Gift“. I was able to enter the major of my dreams thanks to this project.

Books are like caves – they provide us somewhere to dwell and explore, a portal towards somewhere deeper. While most people won’t frequent caves, many spend hours in subway cars, which also offer an environment to read and savor a moment of peace amidst the chaos of daily life. In this design, the smooth and natural contours and soft lighting of the space are aimed to create a contemplative space free from distraction.

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