PROLOGUE
My initial impression of the living environment lies deeply in my mind: every evening during my childhood, I ran wild in the courtyard with friends, through the sand land, Osmanthus trees, and unknown hillsides. The meadow was free of obstacles and enticed me to dance. Wild running is the bottom color of my childhood and energetic youth. I believe: everything we do to live a life is out of personal intention and intuition.
As practical architectural experience stresses the importance of functional efficiency, technology application, facade, and cost, still, I combine these with a constant willingness to maintain an intuitive model of space in order to create a free and comfortable experience.
As a designer, my focus is on crafting spaces aligned with daily movements, promoting well-being. My following portfolio features projects in educational places, transportational building, commercial and community spaces, fostering connectivity and enhancing living environments.
ACADEMIC WORKS
CHILDREN AROUND THE HILL
A Primary School that built around the Hill
I hope for public activity space in school acting as a haven in the complex learning environment and create a beautiful childhood for children.
INTERCONNECTED PLAZAS
Community Performance Art Center
BAIYUN RAILWAY STATION
BOMBAX CEIBA: Waiting Hall Design
designed to better reflect the distinctive characteristics of the Lingnan region
AGRI-VALLEY
Apartment Combining Agriculture and Housing
PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS
01 04
08 03
GUANGZHOU SCIENCE LIBRARY
A Civic Link Both Geographically and Informationally
EAMES RANCH NEW CAMPUS ATRIUM
09 05
A Seasonal Link Connecting Peole, City and Nature Inspired by Indigenous Fire
Green renovation design
GLASS RETHINK
Thermal comfort optimization based on facade renovation of glass residential houses
06 07
CRYSTAL SPRING UPLAND SCHOOL OTHER WORKS
Renovation from Historic Building to School Building
CHILDREN AROUND THE HILL
Primary School around a Hill
Location: Shaoguan, Guangzhou, China
Partnership: Individual Work
Instructor: Prof. Wang Jing, Prof. Xiao Yiqiang
Time: 2020 Fall
In traditional Chinese schools, school life plays a vital role during the growth of children. With huge academic pressure in even primary school education, life in school tends to be grey and rigid. There are often 30-45 students in the class in a crowded classroom. Chinese students spend half of the whole year in school studying. Life in school should be put more attention to and I hope that the public activity space in my primary school can play an important role as a haven in the complex learning environment and create a beautiful childhood for children.
I think the specific classrooms such as music boxes and art classrooms are the key. In many cases, ordinary classrooms and specific classrooms are set separately, often in two buildings. And these classrooms are only used when extra curricular rather than break time. The streamline is unitary, regardless of the behavior and psychological condition of children. Maybe access to such boxes could be more convenient and enjoyable.
One Day in Primary School
Chinese students spend half of the whole year in school studying, under huge pressure of exam an so on. Most of their time is spent in the ordinary classrooms for exam-oriented courses. And the short break for ten minutes is of great importance to use and relax, or do something, explore something they want.
Classrooms are closed, not open yet
Students sit on the floor of corridor to play games
4 | YINING MA | 4 01 Children Around The Hill 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 Selected Academic Works
Also, there's no specific functional space here.
Layout: Form a Concentric Circle
0 Functional Group Composition of a Primary School
1 Traditional School Layout: Separated Ordinary Classrooms and Specific Classrooms
Noon
Break Time
Circulation Corridor and Stairs
of Specific Classrooms
In the traditional layout mood, specific classrooms or activities boxes will be seriously underused, since students can hardly get access to another building during break.
No enough place in corridors to contain such activities Building of Ordinary Classrooms Building of Ordinary Classrooms Building of Ordinary Classrooms
Club
Classrooms are closed Classrooms are closed
A concentric Circle Structure enable students to get to middle playground with various specific interests classrooms in a short time.
Psycological Cognition
Behavioral Habit
Curriculum Schedule
1 Attention is difficult to concentrate, attracted by all kinds of information, consciousness appears SCATTERED;
2 With a vague direction of interest, consciousness appears as A LOOSE CLUSTER;
3 Gradually mature information processing methods and consciousness is presented as a more SYSTEMATIC tree.
1 Free path without strong purpose, UNSTABLE social relationship, weak group consciousness;
2 Communication increases, the sense of domain is enhanced, and they stay in SOME FIXED places of interest
3 STABLE group relations, organized group activity space Individual Thoughts and Minds
Test-Oriented General Course
Interest Fosting Course
Extra-curricular Activity
Outdoors Free Time
Activities out of Ordinary Classrooms
Consciousness interest gradually clear, function type gradually clear.
1 relatively open, no separation, no specific activity functions: Playground
2 Mid-exploration period: rich exploration space, permeable separation, multi-functional space: Reading Corner, Game Room
3 A specific functional space is enclosed with computer room, painting room, piano room, dance room, study room and laboratory
GRADE 1/2 GRADE 3/4 GRADE 5/62nd Floor
3rd
The central activity space becomes a refuge from school fatigue and a place to develop interests. The students ran out as soon as the class was over, into the middle place, into their shared territory. It's a romantic intuition that triggers collective memory. The children will always remember that they once learned and lived around this hill.
INTERCONNECTED PLAZAS
Community Performance Art Center
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Partnership: Yining Ma, Martine Kushner
Instructor: Elizabeth Bishop, David Jaehning, Simon Schleicher, Dan Spiegel
Time: 2023 Fall
Our Performing Arts Center was designed with the intention of building connections with both the surrounding community and within the structure ifself. Our Parti, interconnected plazas, allowed us to build crucial connections between different spaces and floors, as well as users, creating opportunities for unique programming.
Floor 3 (Dance Studio+Skylight Plaza)
Floor 2 (Auditorium+Cafe Plaza)
Floor 1 (Commercial+Amphitheatre)
Street Plazas
Auditorium + Skylight Platform
Cafe Plaza + Amphitheatre
Dance Studio + Performance Circulation
Skylight Plaza
East Section
1 Skylight Plaza
2 Cafe Area
3 Auditorium
4 Amphitheatre
East Elevation
1 Operable Facade Louver
2 Perforrmance Circulation
3 Cafe Plaza
BAIYUN RAILWAY STATION WAITING HALL
BOMBAX CEIBA
Location: Guangzhou, China
Partnership: Individual Work
Instructor: Prof. Jiang Tao, Tian Ruifeng, Zhong Guanqiu
Time: 2022 Spring
The waiting hall is designed to better reflect the distinctive characteristics of the Lingnan region. Therefore, based on the existing structure and the elements involved, the design continues the motif of outer and inner petals, creating a waiting hall with distinctive Lingnan features. Simultaneously, cultural elements such as Cantonese embroidery, Cantonese opera, and the Cantonese language are integrated into the interfaces of the mezzanine, facades, and floors, adding hollowed-out patterns to enhance the spatial identity. Considering the issue of indoor lighting, artificial lighting is combined with natural lighting through skylights.
North Entrance Hall
Waiting Hall
South Entrance Hall
The waiting hall of the high-speed railway station has the important function of a city living room and is an important place to show the characteristics of the city. People flow in from the north and south, while the north and south also present a window. We focus on the integration of Lingnan culture and technology, corresponding the Lingnan petals with the large span truss structure, so as to create an unforgettable and breathable place in the direction of the northsouth window.
Outer top panel
Flower Petal Ceiling
Inner Skylight Grille
Flower Petal Ceiling
Inner Skylight Grille
West Section Of the Waiting Hall
The design of the waiting room bathroom mainly considers the placement of the suitcase, sparing gap for the suitcase under the washbasin and in the toilet. In addition, there is an invisible air vent integrated under the sink.
Wash Basin Detailed Section
(Unit: mm)
AGRI-VALLEY
Apartment Combining Agriculture and Housing
Location: Oakland, CA, USA
Partnership: Individual Work (Architecture part)
Instructor: Prof. Rene Davids
Time: 2022 Fall
I put the idea of layering into “unit scale” when I come into individual work on one block. That is to say, every family has its own farm garden. Every family farming roof faces the middle of the block to keep the idea of water collection and reuse.
Therefore, my intention is to create a valley for houses to send water and get purified through green walls (climbing plants), and eventually fall into the rainwater garden in the middle of the block, meanwhile keeping farming life and residential life connected vertically.
EAMES RANCH NEW CAMPUS
A Seasonal Link Connecting Peole, City and Nature Inspired by Indigenous Fire
Location: Petaluma, CA, USA
Partnership: Yining Ma, Minghao Xu
Instructor: Alan Ricks, Jefferey Mansfield
Time: 2023 Spring
Eames Ranch encourages multi-form interations between people and nature, The forms of the campus buildings change according to the seasonalty and activity settings of the local environment different building strategies, according to the characteristics of different seasons.
