Muyu Wu Selected Works 2018-2022

PORTFOLIO OF MUYU WU

Bachelor of Arts (BA) Honours in Architecture Univeristy of Westminster M.Arch Student GSAPP Columbia University Selected works from 2018-2021

CONTENTS

Academic Work 01 Sanctuary Campus - An Urban Antidote for Newburgh Architecture / Urban Design - Renovation

01

02 School as Palyground - A Laboratory of Fun Architecture Design - School

08

03 Habitat in Common Architecture Design - Residential Housing

13

04 The Melrose Community Centre Architecture / Construction Design - Community Centre

19

05 Walls, Not Barriers Architecture Design - Temporary Shelter

23

06 The Unburnt Forest Architecture Design - Urban Island on Hudson River

27

07 The Dancing Stripes Facade Design - Office front

33

08 The Somerset Restoration Society and the Zen Garden Architecture Design - A Factory as it might be

35

Professional Work 09 Hidden House Architecture Design - Residential Housing

40

10 The Aluminum Mt Architecture Design - Exhibition Center

41

01 Sanctuary Campus An Urban Antidote for Newburgh

Group Work with Minghan Lin Spring 2021 ACADEMIC Urban Renovation Design of Newburgh Site : Newburgh, Orange County, NY 12550

Following the intention of SUNY Orange to expand its campus in Newburgh in 2019, our project is intended to work with SUNY and other local organizations to create a new type of sanctuary campus distributed across the city. The programs are formed based upon both the main professions by the immigrants and the needs of the city so that these interventions also serve the general public and aim to rejuvenate Newburgh as a whole instead of exclusively reserved for the undocumented immigrants.

top: study of immigrant activity in Newburgh right: closer study of Newburgh

Instead of a conventional enclosed campus, the scattered typology aims to blend in better with the existing urban fabric and create soft barriers, protecting the undocumented immigrants from deportation. More than providing a sheltered space, each of these four campuses serves beyond the means of protection and has its own unique functions and addresses different issues derived from the context they are interacting with, such as building vacancy, lack of healthcare, inaccessibility to health insurance, and food shortage. We envision these interventions will target on the needs of the undocumented immigrants as well as transform Newburgh together.

left: conceptual image of renovated newburgh top: history study of immigrant and hudson valley

Plan

School of Urban Agriculture and Construction Located next to a public housing, the school of urban agriculture and construction occupies an existing abandoned plot, renovating and reoccupying the derelict vacant buildings while providing public and social spaces for the community. The programs include a construction workshop, supermarket, communal lounge, and an addition of a greenhouse and classrooms. As a joint effort between two local non-profit organizations, Newburgh Urban Farm Food Initiative and Newburgh Restoration, the design incorporates new scaffolding structures to reinforce existing derelict structures as well as serve as frameworks for hydroponics farming, encouraging people to rethink about new ways of integrating farming into the city and reoccupation of abandoned urban spaces.

AXO

Center of Childcare and Health Located within an existing parking lot to the adjacent public hospital, the center of health and childcare addresses the lack of childcare facilities and inaccessibility to health insurance for the immigrants. Taking the consideration of the property vacancy around the hospital, the massive five-story parking lot structure is gradually transformed into health-related habitable spaces as an extension of the public hospital, such as a health clinic, childcare education, yoga classrooms, gardens as well as sport venues for the youth.

AXO

Cavalier Oblique plan

School of Law and Journalism Hovering above the Newburgh City Court and connected with the catholic resource building, the school of law and journalism aims to empower the people through education of immigration law as well as offer opportunities for media propagation. The programs include a law school, journalism school, dorms for temporary stay, new office spaces for the not-profit organizations and a public library on the lower level as an entrance that’s acting as a soft barrier between the ground level and the school programs above. The intervention is intentionally elevated as a statement to occupy on top of the existing buildings to gain more exposure for a central space where the undocumented immigrants could host protests and fight for their rights.

Cavalier Oblique Section

School of Culinary Art and Language As an extension of a catholic church, the interventions include a mutual aid kitchen, a language learning center and a self-run community restaurant. As a further expansion of the basement space, the programs cater for the existing lack of spaces for the church as well as creating new spaces for community services, such as food distribution and religious education.

Cavalier Oblique plan

02 School as Playground A Laboratory of Fun

Individual Work Spring 2020 ACADEMIC Architecture Design of P.S. 064 Robert Simon Site : 348 E 10th St, New York, NY 10009 (Archived in the 2020 GSAPP 'ABSTRACT' Yearbook)

Model Experiment with the concept According to the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, “It is not the eye which sees, but the body as a receptive totality.” Spatial experience hence largely depends on how thresholds are framed and defined. Here, the threshold is informed by the haptic memory of a laser maze, where children inventively travel through spaces with different bodily gestures. Influenced by Claude Parent, the theory known as The Function of the Oblique is explored through inclined and curved surfaces that define habitable spaces, fully accessible circulation and programming. Students move up and down during their journeys through the building where inclined landscapes support an interior experience of play. In this school, movement is given elevated purpose, creating happiness in order to establish a new school dynamic in the 21st century.

Sectional Detail showing Specific Joints

Third Floor Plan

Momento I Fun of Reading

Momento II Fun of Art

Momento III Fun of Installation

Momento IV Fun of Dancing

Momento V Fun of Music

Secion AA with particular momentos

You are here

Circulation Diagram

03 Habitat in Common

Group Work with Minghan Lin Fall 2020 ACADEMIC Architecture Design of Residential Housing Site : 367 E 151st St, The Bronx, NY 10455 (Archived in the 2020 GSAPP 'ABSTRACT' Yearbook)

Private Living Room Shared Kitchen

Public Path

Shared Roof

Shared Courtyard Sharing at Various Scale

Integration of Sharing on Facade

Melrose avenue view

Sharing = More Sustainable There are four key components of our project that is dependent upon one another to some extent in terms of the scale of sharing and different human activities: the shared kitchen, public path, courtyards and shared roof landscape, each of which also responds to different environmental strategy of the building at both micro and macro scales.

Public path view

Units Composition A typical cluster consists of a kitchen shared by three units: a studio, a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom unit. The shared kitchen is the core of the families’ living----a space more than cooking and dining, but a place to meet, talk, relax, planting or doing laundry. Intentionally designed to be a double height space, the kitchen not only connects residents living on the same level, but also encourages interaction vertically between one level and another. The double height space not only creates spatial generosity, but also takes the advanatge of the mezzanie and turns it into an informal leisure space.

Double height kitchen space

Typical Floor Plan with unit compositions

There are four key components of our project that is dependent upon one another to some extent in terms of the scale of sha ing and different human activities: the shared kitchen, public path, courtyards and shared roof landscape. The public path acts as a food ribbon with a series of events and programs shared between the housing community and the city.

Renovative relationship with Bronx Documentary Center

Renovative relationship with Bronx Documentary Center

Sited at Melrose in Bronx, NYC, a heavily-dense residential neighborhood but with few comfortable amenities for serving people’s daily needs, especially healthy food and dining. We recognize food and dining as the essence of homes----a social construct that is both an essential ritual of one’s daily life and that could potentially bring people together and encourage other interactions around it. We believe sharing a kitchen between multiple families could maximize the efficiency of the shared space and minimize underutilized spaces. The AXO model here shows how the combination respects the old Bronx Documentary Center, generating a craefully urban built environment with the Bronx Documentary Center.

We strongly believe sharing leads to a more efficient, social and sustainable model of living. We see sharing not only as a method to eliminate underutilized appliances, but also an effective tool to bridge social segregation and stimulate human interaction, fostering a more intimate community relationship.The model here shows how the combination respects the old Bronx Documentary Center, generating a craefully urban built environment with the Bronx Documentary Center from different perspectives.

Waterpipe system section

04 The Melrose Community Centre Group Work with Chuqi Huang, Yi Liang and Duo Xu Fall 2020 ACADEMIC Tenical Proposal for The Melrose Community Centre Site : 367 E 151st St, The Bronx, NY 10455

Third Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

Third Floor Structural Plan

Fourth Floor Structural Plan

E-W Section 1/128”

Mapped Elevations

N-S Section 1/128”

Facade AXOs with Material Schedules

System 1 Roadmap

System 2 Roadmap

Roadmap Details

Roadmap Details

05 Walls, not barriers Individual Work Fall 2019 ACADEMIC Temporary shelter in Broadway, Manhattan Site : New York, USA (Archived in the 2019 GSAPP 'ABSTRACT' Yearbook)

G J

B

F

A

E

C

I B

H

D

B

Fourth Floor Plan

A - Medical Centre B - Residential Units C - Classroom D - Communication Space

E - Amphitheatre F - Workshop G - Observation Deck H - Exhibition Space

Four Sections

I - Music Cornor J - Communication Cornor

People stay for 12 months, gradually honing practical skills, like repairing shoes, at the side of their knowledgeable guide. Intellectual occurs as a classroom and workshop space; Social occurs as small communication rooms; Ethical appears as medical center; and Political appears as an observation deck.

The series culminates in an exhibition space, before graduation, allowing conversations to happen between homeless people and general public, even a job fair. Thus, the building is not only a dwelling but also a space for learning, reflecting, observing, equipping people to emerge and re-engage society.

COMMUNICATION SPACE

The waffle structure acts as the roof and façade, controlling natural light and shadow, while also starting to shape the space. For example, the communication rooms are shorter compared to the corridor next to them when it comes to the room height, as those communication rooms are more private, restricted to certain usages and people.

WORKSHOP SPACE

The process addresses the building more into a teaching tool, which means that extra skills to be taught during the stay in terms of maintaining the building, constructing furniture and even designing the space on their own.

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

JOINT CONSTRUCTION DETAIL

The first recorded use of the term “Grand Tour” was by Richard Lassels, in 1670. By definition, “a traveler”, accompanied by “a knowledgeable guide”, traveled with the goal of achieving four areas in human development: intellectual, social, ethical and political awareness. Grand tourists returned from their journey with objects as evidence of their development, such as crates full of books and works of art, which would then be displayed to the public in the form of a gallery, library or museum built in that purpose. Although initiated as a form of cultivating bourgeois society, this process in education and re-presentation could fundamentally redefine our attitude towards citizens that find themselves without a home. The image above shows the construction process of the building.

Walls, not barriers is a temporary home and that introduces an architectural series of dialogues that support the four steps of human development outlined originally as the Grand Tour. Thresholds between the very public space of the sidewalk and surrounding park and semi-public education, communication, and making spaces, and finally private dwelling spaces are mediated by manipulating the role of walls. From the outside, the complex looks like a collection of opaque masses, but in fact, they are internally carved into rooms that expand and contract, carrying all “Grand Tour” functions along their length. The image above shows how the floor is assembled in the building.

06 The Unburnt Forest A Unique Urban Island

Group Work with Peicong Zhang, Karen Chen Fall 2021 ACADEMIC New Island on Hudson River Site : Hudson River, New York City, NY 10001

Visitors and residents can bring daily biomass fuel to the site.

The site turns biomass into energy to electricity for the city. Ash will be returned to as plant fertilizers.

Train bring excessive forest biomass fuel from Upper State NY and other regions of NYC.

The project innovates in programs by intertwining the use of fire in biomass plant with fire experiential and exhibition spaces. Visitors are invited to experience fire through understanding its function and how it generates new purposes of the other three elements. Finally through the project, fire is no longer seen as a danger but rather a catalyst for creation, allowing the coexistence of fire and forest.

left: Biomass procedure and CO2 neutrality top: site map of the proposed island

Fire as Central Piece - The Boiler

Fire & Earth: Terracotta Exhibition

3 Pavilions with 3 elements Zooming into the three pavilions, all of them are designed with a similar typology of a central atrium hosting a boiler or burner, and circulations on the periphery. A relatively open ground floor allows for a more immersive experience for visitors entering the exhibitions.The earth pavilion investigates how fire can transform soil into terracotta and pottery. With a similar layout, the water pavilion investigates what happens to water when it is heated by fire. The air pavilion investigates the concept of hot air expanding.

Fire & Air: Lantern Field

Ground level floor plan with renderings

The design intention includes a free exploration of the urban forest and pavilions while having a consistent view of the central fire. With entrances facing the fire and connecting to the path, people are reminded of the importance of fire as the first thing on site.

The notion is further emphasized when they enter the pavilions and see the secondary fire pieces.

Section

Roof

+150.0 ft

10th Floor

+135.0 ft

9th Floor

+120.0 ft

8th Floor

+105.0 ft

7th Floor

+90.0 ft

6th Floor

+75.0 ft

5th Floor

+60.0 ft

4th Floor

+45.0 ft

3rd Floor

+30.0 ft

2nd Floor

+15.0 ft

07 The Dancing Stripes Individual Work Fall 2021 ACADEMIC Facade Design of East Village Office Site : 368 E 10th St, New York, NY 10009

Ground Floor +0.0 ft

7

Elevation 1/16”=1’-0”

Elevation

Typical Unit Axo View

2nd Floor

9”

2”

Ground Floor +0.0

0.8”

7

5

5 6 10’

1

10’

Plan 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Descending, 1966 Bridget Riley

Unit Development

11.8”

6 10’

1

10’

Plan 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Descending, 1966 Bridget Riley

Unit Development

3’ 3”

1’ 7”

D 4

D 4

A

A

A

A

B

B

2” D

C

C

5

D

Detailed Plan BB 1/2" = 1' - 0"

4

A

Section DD 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Detailed Plan AA 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Typical Interior View for Exhibition Space Typical Unit Exploded Axo View

14’ 8” C

B

C

B

14’ 8”

9”

2

2

1’ 7” 1” 0.337”

10”

1” 0.337”

10”

Partial Elevation 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Partial Elevation 1/2" = 1' - 0"

3

3

Partial Section 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Partial Section 1/2" = 1' - 0"

9”

1’ 7”

1’ 7” 9”

2” 0.8”

2” 0.8”

11.8”

5

Detailed Plan BB 1/2" = 1' - 0"

A

Detailed Plan AA

6

1/2" = 1' - 0"

Detailed Plan CC 1’ - 0” = 1' - 0"

11.8”

Typical Unit Axo View 3’ 3”

Inspired by Bridget Riley’s drawing, the new designed gallery in East Village owns a 3-dimensional façade that plays with curvature. Visual experiences vary from interior to exterior due to the manufacture of glass. Curtain wall consists of unitized extruded aluminum frames with 2 unique curved (could be hot bended or Slumped) IGUs, Aluminum stack joints with unique aluminum stack joint extensions.

3’ 3”

2”

4

2”

4

9”

+15.0

Section DD 1/2" = 1' - 0"

Section DD 1/2" = 1' - 0"

left: Roadmap system 1 with detailed stack joint section top: Mullion details with axonometric view

Elevation 1/16”=1’-0”

08 The Somerset Restoration Society and the Zen Garden Individual Work Spring 2018 ACADEMIC Proposal for Society of antiquaries of London Site : Strand, London WC2R 1LA

THREE MOMENTOS OF THE BUILDING

II

I

THREE MOMENTOS OF THE BUILDING | Momento I

III

Composed Building Structure

John Ruskin | Seven Lamps of Architecture | Lamp of Truth Pier Vittorio Aureli | Framed Infinity : The Concept of Byzantine Urban Form

Robin Evans | Figures, Doors and Passages

John Ruskin | Seven Lamps of Architecture | Lamp of Truth, Beauty William Morris | A Factory as it might be

A Zen Garden as an atrium and symbol of the project

Passages are used for curation purposes

Factory for recreating wooden antiquaries

MOMENTO I - THE ZEN GARDEN Space of origin - a space that combines all fragments in unison.

MOMENTO II - CURATION OF ART PIECES AND ARTIFACTS fragments of art - manipulation of fragments.

MOMENT III - THE FACTORY OF REPRODUCTION Re-imagined factory: A factory as it might be

MOMENTO I - THE ZEN GARDEN

Space of origin - a space that combines all fragments in unison.

ELEMENT I THE ZEN GARDEN

ELEMENT II CURATION OF ART PIECES AND ARTIFACTS

ELEMENT III THE FACTORY OF RE-PRODUCTION

The zen garden of this proposal is one of the most important spaces. Not only because of its historical relation with John Ruskin but also the architectural aspect of it combining fragments into unison. A controlled green space helps the users and visitors to restrospect the origin of all the natural materials used in this building, in this case, wood. Its centered location was inspired by Pier Vittorio Aureli, who argues that a centered space hevlps enhancing not only the architectural language of the building but also its philosophical meaning. In this case, mainly the beauty of nature. It is a space that people meditate, communicate and relax. The garden is the central conective heart of this project. Users and visitors are ecouraged to experience growing nature and the openess of light in thius part of the building.

Every connection of the circulation in this proposal was resolved to conform to the Zen garden.

THREE MOMENTOS OF THE BUILDING | Momento II

THREE MOMENTOS OF THE BUILDING | Momento III

MOMENTO II - CURATION OF ART PIECES AND ARTIFACTS

MOMENT III - THE FACTORY OF RE-PRODUCTION

Another important aspect of the design proposal it is the curational aspect that the building will perform throughtout the year. Exhibition in this case is considered to be open to the users and visitors as an introduction to the spatial experience. The educational aspect of this project suggests this; Production of knowledge. The use of strategic points of connections leads the users to the fundamental elements of the building. As portrayed in momento II. The game of perspective communicates the passionate feeling of experiencing the spaces. This is encouraged through the use of the idea of wooden artifacts being appreciated whilst juxtaposed against each other.

Based on the idea of William Morris and John Ruskin, wooden arts and crafts are being explored through out the building using different scales. From 1:1 scale construction to small wooden bowls. The beauty and materiality of wood are fully explored in this building. Students and visitors are experiencing the production process of wood work. From how it is transported, manufactured and sold. I wanted to esure that the project provides an interactive platform which introduces the users to the Antiquaries of London which are usually locked inside a glass casket.

fragments of art - manipulation of fragments.

Re-imagined factory: A factory as it might be

SECTION SCALE 1:400

PLAN SCALE 1:400

A

SECTION AA A

SECTION BB

B

B

ELEVATION SCALE 1:400

EXPERIENCING THE NARRATIVES

EXPERIENCING THE NARRATIVE - THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE ZEN GARDEN Exploration of the building from visitors' perspective.

EXPERIENCING NARRATIVE - A SPACE LIKE A MAZE Exploration of the building from visitors' perspective.

09 Hiding House Group Work with Wutopia Lab July 2020 PROFESSIONAL, Villa, Shanghai Site : Shanghai, China

In July 2020, this small house in the downtown area that had gone through six years of twists and turns was finally announced. It is a small museum, a library, a showroom, a clubhouse, a home, and a gift from the owner to his wife and daughter.

Although the owner is also an architect, he still cannot escape the vacillation. From the initial clubhouse or miniature art gallery, to the home, to the final display of the collection, the Yimi Collection, which combines social gatherings and residences. This process of change is the process of changes in his life and positioning. Therefore, the designer set a basic framework for the project from the beginning, but can flexibly adjust the local architectural script. The designer divides the building into two parts with a continuous interface. The living space before the interface and the service space behind the interface.

To the south of the continuous interface is the living room that combines the exhibition hall and the library, the dining room and the master bedroom, and the tea room independent in the courtyard. The courtyard is divided into a garden and a stage. After the continuous interface is the kitchen, toilet, equipment space and a hostess space-a girlfriend room for displaying collections. The mezzanine space is used for rest, storage and host space for service staff and family living.

For 74 months, the owner said that he didn't know what kind of house he wanted at the beginning, but one thing was clear to show the shining drama in life, but not to exaggerate.

Both parties are listening to each other's opinions and explaining their reasons, and then use the completeness of the work as the final evaluation criterion as the basis for their respective concessions or adjustments. This is the story of architects designing hiding houses for architects.

10 The Aluminum Mt Group Work with Wutopia Lab July 2020 PROFESSIONAL, Exhibition Center, Huizhou Site : Huizhou, China Wutopia Lab proposed an Aluminum Mt in Mt. Luofu, Canton. It served as a Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Industrial Park Exhibition Center of Ping An Real Estate and Guangzhou Fangyuan Group.

It was pouring the day I visited the site. The rising mist blocked my view as I walked in the field. Then the rain grew so heavy that I had only to stop my journey. Fortunately, it stopped as quickly as it had started. It was in that moment that the Mt. Luofu, a well-known Taoist mountain, surfaced.

The moment of revealing hit me, like a sudden appearance of a Chinese celestial palace. Like all poets and travelers, I named the moment “the sudden emergence of Mt. Luofu”.

It was precisely the moment that later proved a decisive one, a meme struck me when I caught sight of the reflections of the Mt. Luofu and Taiping Mountain that faced the south of the site. The meme was a classical but a most spiritual one in the literature of the Chinese garden, which was “one sea and three mountains.” Immediately I decided that the fish pond should be remodeled. Along with two other mountains, an artificial mountain serving as a presentation centre would form a new version of “one sea and three mountains,” an earthly paradise.

I can explain why I used the circle as my basic geometry in this design based on Taoist and Taiji. Circles and cones were basic geometries to construct the mountain. An ambiguous mountain was preferable, which would consist of three smaller mountains, influenced by the Taoist doctrine.

The ‘slivering’ aluminum board would be an ideal material for the mountain. There should be a moment when the heavy mass and texture of the aluminum material ‘dissolves’, providing a perfect foil for the lightness of the mountain.

Thus thinking, I used three different aluminum boards with perforation rates of 45, 60 and 70 so the mountain behaves from dense to sparse from top to bottom. The effect was that the mountain looked overwhelmingly heavy most of the day, but lost its massive look when perceived from certain angles.

At night, with the lights on, the mountain would lose its materiality and be transformed into an enormous mountain of lamp. In this way, the mountain assumed an ethereal look.

The Aluminum Mt. was named the Third Mountain. Since it was constructed on the Mt. Luofu, it should not become a sales centre that is eager to show off itself. It should present a lifestyle that was lost upon us, some dreams that we urban residents are dying to realize. In a humanistic space full of symbolic meanings, a space built with modern technology while exhibiting traditional wisdom, we are supposed to feel happiness. To bring a beautiful life: such is the meaning of the third mountain, a celestial palace of our time.