Portfolio mengfan sha

00.Mengfan

Sha

MLA I 18’ Candidate Graduate School of Design Harvard University

01.The Floated 2017_STU_1403 Studio Final

Instructor: Turo Mitani, Manabu Chiba Individual Work

Locating at center Tokyo surrounded by tourism sites and culture heritages, Kanda river is facing the challenge of over-construction and gradually losing its natural beauty. Ancient social river scene is fading out into history. The riverside is abandoned by the public.

The design proposal is focusing on bring public life back to riverside while promote and develop health co-existence mode between the river green and the public.

And the acupuncture point to save the riverside of Tokyo is renovating Ochanomizu JR station. The major purpose of renovating the JR station is to fuse the water transit into the public transit system and gradually change the commute and social life of public back to water side.

Interactive social occupancy of riverside would further stimulate the development river green.

1.1 The Birth of River Bank Urban wild

Floats: Japan Contemporary Urban Public Green Solution The ultimate goal is to use the float to stimulate the establishment of more open green spaces along the river bank. Walking on the floats, public will be provided with a special perspective to look back at city and the magnificent bank green scenery, where contemporary Tokyo ’s largest potential Urban Green Chain could be lying in. Not like normal urban space that always has landscape as supplement for the constructions, while traveling in the river scape, river and green is the permanence while the Place holds on the floats are temporary and flexible. Providing place holds in the river is giving chances to the river bank greens to become occupiable urban wild in this intense urban setting(img.1.1).

img.1.1 Map of Open public space in Tokyo.Open spaces densly locating along the rivers

Floats: The General Methodology

3.From September to Feburary Market, Matsuri, foot spring and landscape Engawa mix

1.Watercourse Widening Kanda River is 12 meters wide, the proposal is to widen it to 24 meters at where Ochanomizu station is locating.

2.Water Transit Station A water transit station will be built 6 meters above water level 5 meters below the existing JR platform. A sub-watercourse is locating between the water transit station and the floating zoon functioning for water commute in the river.

4.From March to August Floats floating out into rivers for festivals Contain: Plants Any Public Facility

3.Floating Engawa The floating Engawa is composed by multiple floating Units which would give much opportunities for different functions and multiple purposes for public occupation. Major four kinds of Floating Engawa: Landscape Engawa, Foot-spring Engawa, Matsuri Engawa and Market Engawa.

4.Floats Floating Floats will be floating out of the station in different seasons, especially during Matsuri seasons between March and August to participate and view the celebrations in Sumida River and Asakusa River.

Landscape

Contain: Foot Spring Any Public Facility

Pool Float Typologies

Contain: Markets Matsuri Advertisement Any Public Facility

Blank

Engawa: The Horizontal and Vertical Layers Vertical In order to ease the pressure of metro transportation at Ochanomizu station/ JR station, a water transit station will be inserted in layered station renovation. From street level to water level, floating layers of spaces are joined into the circulation that connects the upper ground and water.

These spaces are providing spaces for varied public occupation. Floating Layers are physical separated yet visually connecting and overlapping into each other.

Water Transit River Station Green

Public Free occupation area

Floating Engawa

Horizontal The arrangment of the spaces on the floats and interior of the station is inspired by Engawa. Engawa is an intermediating space between exterior and interior that blur the boundary between landscape and housing interior in Japanese housing. It is the key in bringing nature in and push interior out, which somehow matched up with my ultimate goal in this design- using floats to let nature and green take the lead and fragment the urbanity in river scape.

img.3.2

Partition Walls and Columns The partition wall and column system are set up to provid dense and loose spatial and visual experience for occupants and passengers within the river scape(img.3.2). They sculpted out varied kinds of spaces within the Engawa while still providing public with freedom in occupying and facilitating these spaces.

Gardens: Occupiable Riverbank Replantation

Replantation and maintenance of the trees will be followed up with the life cycles of the groves( img. 4.1 )

The replantation of the river bank between the water transit station and the floating Engawa will provide the backdrop for bringing back the Ancient river bank scenery and promote social interaction within the river scape. The landform of the bank is shaped to mimic the far mountain scenery in traditional Japanese drawing. The bank is divided into four major zones: two moss garden, two broad-leaved groves, one spruce and broad-leaved grove. Under stories will be spread out all through the river bank.

2018

Moss Garden: Quiet Contained Public Privacy

2023

Brich Grove: Grid Planted Transpassing for public Open social stimulative

2028

River Grove Garden: Large specimen trees Shade Public Privacy

2033

River Grove Garden: Japanese Cherry(120 yrs) Chinese Elm(80 yrs) Adler(150 yrs)

2038

Brich Grove: River Birch(35 yrs) Grid Replantation Spatial experience control

2043

Brich Grove: During replantation process

2048

Vegetation Attribute All-year-round

Grove: Repeating Replantation Reach Naturalist Groove effect along river side

Float: Masturi Mood March-August By duplicate and reposition the single unite of boardwalk, the project is redirecting people to wander around in the landscape while heading towards water.

People is purposefully lead to experience a filtration process that flit and temporarily block them away from the crowed urban surrounding.

Foot spring will not be the river water but create the atmosphere for the public to feel embraced in natural water.

Matsuri Objects

Matsuri Floating Unit

Float: Market Mode All-year-round Wagon, in Japanese culture, is the vendor carriers. Wagon almost carry everything, food, amulet, lambs, video games, etc. The gathering of the Wagons forms a typical kind of Japanese market.

Matsuri Objects

Float: Footspring & Landscape Mode All-year-round Being named as Ochanomizu- the hot tea water, there were four hot springs locating around Kanda river in Edo period but disappeared in urban construction. Foot spring float combining with landscape float throw occupants immediately back to Ancient river side setting.

Foot spring & Landscape Float Cross Section

Foot spring & Landscape Float Unit

Elevation View From River side

01.The Broadwalk 2015_STU_1111 Studio Final Instructor: Gary Hilderbrand,Zaneta Hong,Jane Hutton, Individual Work

This Project attempts to negotiate the growing residential and cultural hub of Boston Seaport District with the tidal conditions of the harbor to create a new landscape for ecological pleasure.

By duplicate and reposition the single unite of boardwalk, the project is redirecting people to wander around in the landscape while heading towards water. People is purposefully lead to experience a filtration process that flit and temporarily block them away from the crowed urban surrounding.

This sketch is illustrating the designed layers of plants and constructions that people would be able to walk through and occupy while wandering in the landscape.

The zoomed in plan renderings framed three moments that people may encounter while walking though the landscape.

From urban edge to the intermediating zoom then arrived at the waterfront.

02.The Variables

2015_STU_1112 Studio Final Instructor: Jill Desimini Individual Work Franklin Park, as the pendant of the Emerald necklace, is now facing a series challenges.

Along with the urban growth, Franklin Park is endured with a few more layers of social responsibilities than it used to have back in Olmsted’s age. It cannot only stand as an escape, isolation or a wild green on the map any more. We are breaking its bond and opening it to the community around. Therefore negotiating and inviting the growing public along with preserving the existing aesthetic and ecosystem within the park Became the two premises of this project.

Safety, gathering-able plus a little bit of surprise- the three major components that would attract public’s interest is what is proposed in the project.

Reestablish the hierarchy of the existing landforms to ensure the free and safe access for the public.

Rearrange the planting strategy.

Create multiple direct accesses from the street.

The design of the pockets in the park is theoretically based on the construction of a series of large platforms located at the edge of the park entrance. The main plaza, built by black granite, is given a sheet of water to provide the occupants with a delicate reflection of surrounding environment.

It functions as an envelope that encloses people down into this special calming scene of the park in which people receive secure and serenity.

Pocket spaces are created as special encounters for people while wandering through the entrance part of Franklin Park.

They are spread across the main entrance area that is majorly transformed in this project. The Pockets are assigned, respectfully, with concert, reflective materials and the combination of concert and reflective materials to enforce the comparison and tension between themselves and the larger surrounding environment. The construction purpose these pockets are letting people to stop at certain spots of the park to stay and look round instead of letting people getting emotionally paralyzed by the long distance walking experience that only aiming for getting to the final destination.

03.(1)The Louvres 2016_STU_1211 Studio Workshop 1 Instructor: Bradley Cantrell Individual Work

The Project is, again, oriented around the relationship between land and water in Boston Harbor and talk about the sea level rise and larger ecosystem around Boston Harbor. Aesthetically taken lead by Grasshopper, the project is dedicated in discuss the “temporal” quality of the relationship between urban runoff andv storm surge at the harbor front.

Imagine a “device” that would be tangible and flexible enough to register the motion of the water movement, which would create a more durable coastline that would function as infiltration system, distribution channel and tidal pool at the same time.

Or imagine a “skeleton” that hold up and promote the formation of a new coastal landform to resist the rise sea level…

The “device” and the “Skeleton” are both theoretically inspired by the Louver form.

The project was about opening up multidirectional rethinking processes regarding the relationship between land and water, resist and fusion.

Sectional model: exploring how sediments would be collected by this louver system

Conceptual model: presenting the process that the possible “device” will gradually register the motion of the two water systems (Urban runoff and seawater). The paper strips stands for the “structure” of the water movement. By changing, cutting and rearranging the strips, I managed to manually mimic the possible motion pattern when two streams of water meet. The gradual changing process is filmed as still frame motion graphics. I would love to present it upon any request.

These are the iterations of the louvers may be arranged to fit in different kinds of coastal conditions and how these louvers may be changed through time.

Sectional Perspective: The Mating of the Two Water System

03.(2)The Invisible Layers Social Acoustics

Nature Acoustics

2016_STU_1211 Studio Final Instructor: Fionn Byrne In Collaborate With Nicholas Lynch

The project, inherited my interest in the “temporal” quality of landscape, is dedicated in explore and design the “invisible” and “temporal” layer of a landscape - the acoustic environments.

Trees, bricks, wood bands…all objects have their vibes. Sound is the layer that is unseen while has its special significance in affecting the occupants in certain landscapes. My partner and I decided to shift our focus from simply design a visual experience to construct a series of acoustic experiences.

Our site is located at the shore of Reserve Channel in Boston Harbor. It’s closest neighbors are the cargo terminal and Boston Logan airport- the major noise source of this industrial area in Boston. Therefore cancel the existing noise is the first and the foremost work that needs to be done.

Mapping out the different different acoustic acoustic environments environments is is the the first first step step of of the the design. design. And And based based on on the the plan plan map we developed a series of vignettes to further present the scene in our imagination.

Studies of different landscape elements that would influence the acoustic environment design.

The Winding Trail System

The Trail System

The Bridges

The Major Trail System

The Constructions Acoustic Zone 3(Social Activities Dominated)

Acoustic Zone 2(Mixture)

Waterfront Recreations

Acoustic Zone 1 (Forest Dominated)

Forest

Commercial Strip Commercial Strip

Existing Neighbourhood

Existing Neighbourhood

Existing Neighbourhood

The Trees (Release) The Major Nature Acoustic Revibrating Zone ‘Tree Vibe’ Source 4

The combination of tree, landform, constructions and different materials are the major devices used in this project in canceling the noise. And the trees became the major devices that are used to reorient and reconstruct the new acoustic environments.

(Loss)

The Major Nature Acoustic Transmitting Zone

(Accumulate)

The Major Noise Aborption/ Nature Acoustic Zone ‘Tree Vibe’ Source 3

‘Tree Vibe’ Source 1

‘Tree Vibe’ Source 2

The Logan Airport

Some sound installations is also located in to help with reconstructing the acoustic environment

Sectional Perspective

Model: Sound Mapping

Model:Overall

04.Agents In No Man’s Land _The Desert Bloom File

2016_STU_1212 Studio Final Instructor: Pierre Belange Group Project All Drawing included are individual works Iraq, a land used to have rich pastoral culture and migration trading business, is now a land of no man due to extensive war that is happening in this land. Guantanamo Bay is now facing the same situation. What is the next step for Guantanamo Bay after its militarization?

The project took a deep discovery into demilitarized Iraq aiming for find a design strategy for demilitarizing Guantanamo Bay. Instead of stepping into large scale landform infrastructure design, the project was trying to start the demilitarizing dialogue through finding the acupuncture point that initiate large scale changes. Mobile Agents is the key world in this project. Using existing military bases and pastoral routes to find and insert Agents was the goal of the project. This project, instead of trying to solve problems, was trying to inspire for more question for the land and raise the public concern for these post-war no man’s land.

The Natural Agents of the Land

The Digital Agents of the Land

Presentation Process

0?.Other, Other You You You You You You You You You You You You

are are are are are are are are are are are are

a butterflower a mammal a woman mouse a mouse different from me nothing a pollen full of pain the cerebellum like you normal a friend.

I will become like you.

-Pipilotti Rist

Studio Work: City Hall Plaza

Photography: Illusions

00.Mengfan Sha

msha@gsd.harvard.edu | 617-909-6563 | 9 Ware St., Cambridge, MA, 02138| Skills Digital Software 2D: Adobe Suit; AutoCAD; SAI; ArcGis; 3D: AutoRevit; Sketchup; Rhino; AutoCAD; 3Dmax; Grasshopper; Blender; Vector works; Unity Other: Keyshot; V-ray; Podium; Maxwell; Microsoft office; Lidar Art Painting: Acrylic, gouache, ink, oil, watercolor, color pencil. Chinese Painting.

Drawing: ink, pencil, marker, ink pen. Comic Installation and Sculpture: plaster, ready-made objects Calligraphy.

Education Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Master in Landscape Architecture I 2015 - present University of Toronto, St. George Campus Honors BA with Distinction in Architecture and Visual Studies 2011 – 2015 Nanjing Normal University Environmental Design 2010-2011 Work Experience Plant Architects Inc. Toronto Canada 2017.5-8, Internship UBC Canada Campus DD rendering and analytical diagrams UBC Canada Campus CD construction drawings University of Toronto Mississauga campus green proposal Multiple Competition proposals and researches Company publication ReedHilderbrand Boston, United States 2016.1, Externship Competition proposals and research Renderings and diagrams Administration works Publicwork Toronto, Canada 2015.5-8, Internship Under the Gardiner DD and CD phase of Rendering, digital modeling and diagrams Multiple University Project Renderings and diagrams Site research and Construction Design Phase data collection EA Education Group Inc. Toronto, Canada 2014.6-2016.12, Part-time Consultant/Tutor in Art and Design Help high school students with their school art projects Provide technical support on design and art software.

Keep the communication between the company and the clients efficient and effective Ability to multitask Jiangsu Provincial Architectural D&R Institute LTD Nanjing, China 2013.6-2013.9, Internship as design assistant Worked directly with the Director of the Urban Planning department as digital media assistant.

Assisted on a childcare center project, developed communication skills with the clients.

Researched and wrote report concerning future urban development in China.

Exhibitions and Awards Eyeball Exhibition; Category: Installation University of Toronto Annual Show Toronto, Canada 2014.12 Shelley Peterson; Category: Photo Digital and Works on Paper Toronto, Canada 2014. 4 Eyeball Juried Award; Category: Photo Digital Toronto, Canada 2014. 2 Eyeball Exhibition; Category: Photo Digital, Painting and Print Making Toronto, Canada 2013.12 Eyeball Exhibition: Category: Architecture Representation Toronto, Canada 2012. 2