Qi Jia (Nini) Chen | Architecture Portfolio

QI JIA CHEN

2019 Architecture Portfolio

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Hello! My name is Nini and I am an enthusiastic and dedicated second-year student at the University of Waterloo. I have a passion to create spaces that are both intriguing and functional, fueled by my passion for experimentation and gift of technical handiwork.

I am infinitely curious about the built world and seek to explore the limits of sustainability, structure, and affect through practical design.

The following collection presents some of my select works.

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CURRICULUM VITAE Education University of Waterloo School of Architecture Sep 2018 - Current

Second Year Student of Honours Bachelor of Architectural Studies

Michael Power St. Joseph Sep 2014 - May 2018

International Baccalaureate Program

Work Experience Canoe and Kayak Senior Instructor Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre

- June 2017- Sep 2019

• Planned and executed weekly and daily activities for groups of 12 children, involving the safe navigation of multiple vessels through the Toronto Harbor and the Toronto Islands while leading the junior instructor and instructor in training.

• Demonstrated and taught on-water and off-water canoe and kayak skills.

Assisted each individual camper in areas of trouble with useful tips and games.

Canoe and Kayak Docks Crew

Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre - June 2017 - Sep 2019

• Prepared and walked paddlers through safety precautions and procedures.

• Prepared, maintained and repaired Canoes, Kayaks and other equipment.

Other Experience Orientation Leader

University of Waterloo School of Architecture - Sep 2019

• Organized and executed one of six main activities of First Year Architecture Orientation thorugh detailed on-paper design as well as group discussions.

• Responded swiftly to weather changes by devising an indoor activity immediately and communicating it to all orientation leaders to make sure the event could occur seamlessly.

MPSJ Robotics Team Captain Michael Power St. Joseph - Sep 2017- June 2018

• Directed the designing and building process of robots in preparation for regional competition.

• Mentored team members in basic circuitry and safe procedures of power tools.

Achievements Christopher Dean Moran Memorial Award University of Waterloo - June 2018

• Demonstration of outstanding talent and creativity in the art portfolio presented by the student for acceptance to the School of Architecture.

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Technical Skills • Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator • Rhino 3D modeling • V-ray • RhinoCAM • Revit • Hand Drafting • Laser Cutting • CNC • 3D Printing • Hand Tools

Languages English Cantonese French

Contact Cell: (416) 258- 2018 Email: qijianinichen@gmail.com

Intertwined

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Radial Library

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Umbrella

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Inflection

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Other Works

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INTERTWINED 1B Design Studio

Supervised by Maya Przybylski Tools: Rhino3D, Adobe Suite, my own hands Intertwined is an interior partition within a sketchbook exhibition that aims to experiment with the material properties of string to create a unique visual experience. Situated in Waterloo’s student space, “Bridge”, the design features multiple individual tubes made of taughtly tied strings arranged so that the strings appear as if they are bending, providing visitors with a unique view from every position. Shelves are installed within some tubes, requiring visitors to reach through the strings to read the sketchbooks.

The project began with rigorous experimentation of the visual qualities of string, in which an arrangement was chosen to translate into life scale.

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Material Explorations

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Fabrication

Two pieces of circular wood were cut and assembled as the top and bottom piece of the installation, in which eye-hooks were drilled in radially. The pieces were then painted black and attached by three 3-meter tall pieces of two-by-fours.

White nylon string was strung through the eye-hooks on the top and bottom pieces diagonally to create the effect of a twisting structure. Knots were tied at the end of each string, after which they were glued and secured.

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A circular shelf was also created, in which holes were drilled into radially for the string to lace through. The shelf is held up by knots tied in the string underneath the shelf.

Finally, the excess string from the top and bottom were cut off after the glue had dried.

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Rendered Concept

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Plan

Section AA

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RADIAL LIBRARY 1B Design Studio

Supervised by Maya Przybylski Tools: Rhino3D, Adobe Suite, V-ray The Radial Robotics Library is a technology driven library and learning center that encourages and invites pedestrians to engage in its makerspace as well as the park around it through visual connections. The circular library is three floors and features a loop of outdoor space at its center to allow views to nature at any point in the building. The park as well as the loop is accessible by the doors on the bottommost floor, which is partially embedded into the hill that is part of the site. This floor also features a cafe. The main reading area is an atrium space all around the loop on the ground level floor above the cafe, with stairs along the perimeter of the building guiding the circulation towards the second floor. The makerspace on the second floor overlooks Dundas Street and onto the secondary school across the street, being constantly visually connected to the students of the school. Subsequently, this encourages students to venture into the library and explore the technological resources available to them and to the community.

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Ground Floor

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Sub-Floor

Second Floor 19

Section AA

West Elevation

Section BB

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Radial Relationships

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Physical Model

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UMBRELLA 1B Design Studio

Supervised byTerri Meyer Boake In collaboration with Victoria Zhou Tools: Rhino3D, Adobe Suite, V-ray Umbrella pays respect to the ways of living of the cliff villages in Sichuan, China, acknowledging that economical development of tourism in the area and that accomodation of the education and commerce of local resources are absolutely essential to the growth and preservation of the vernacular culture and community. It shelters the ladder systems that currently exist to serve as a passageway between the top of the mountain and the village on the bottom. However, due to the verticality of the cliff, there are not many resting spots along the way. Umbrella is a way to unite the economic and cultural interests of the cliff villages by providing passageway for locals and the potential for tourists alike. It serves as infrastructure, but the interactive component of the surfaces elevates its presence in both the community and amongst tourists.

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Floor Plan

Roof Plan

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Section AA

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Axonometric

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Site Topography Intreractive Panel Hinge Detail

Intreractive Panel Worm Gear Detail

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INFLECTION 2A Design Studio

Supervised by Dereck Revington and David Correa In collaboration with Camryn Anderson, Victoria Zhou, Carla Salas, and Janson Neal Tools: Rhino3D, Adobe Suite, Laser Cutting, Hand Tools, Inflection illustrates the precipice of the youth’s revolution against their elders entrenched in generational trauma from the detriments of war which forced the population to the earth below. People reside in a deep cavern carved below the structure of the city which revolves around the pre-existing foundations of the city above accessed through the symbolic portal which is in the geological deformation of a foiba. In dialog with a building on the surface made up of stacked floors around a central well, a series of sleeping pods embedded in the Earth below look towards the central atrium impaled by the piles of the building above. Sunlight is brought down through a hole in the crust of the earth from which the cavern was excavated, working along with the warm lights produced by the pods that dot the walls of the cavern to illuminate the space.

A tunnel opens from the place of residence into a crossroad pierced by light coming from an oculus high above, diverging into separate cavities that serve as spaces for the community to gather in different contexts. One of these is the town hall, a light ovate space ordered into staggered steps for seating that encircle the centre. In contrast , there exists an informal gathering hall for the community that retains the rough texture of the Earth it is carved out of, only broken by billowing curtains that hang from the ceiling. Both of these spaces exist under city buildings that share similar qualities and ideas built in a highly contrasting way. These spaces are a piece of a larger city architectural ecosystem in the Earth, connected by tunnels and caverns to spaces beyond. Above the underground city, the surface is once again habitable. A younger generation, propelled by curiosity and unhindered by the post-traumatic fear of their predecessors, seek to explore, interact with, and reinhabit the city above. Its architecture, now in ruins, serves as a place for nightlife, art , and a point of inspiration for new ideas and ways of thinking that push the youth, to whom this architecture is new, to rethink and build their way back to the surface. Underground, this revolution is visible in new communal and rearranged pods rising attached to the piles; and above ground, it starts with makeshift structures and scaffolding that rethink how people can incorporate and interact with antecedent architecture. This moment is the turning point in a second wave of change for this society.

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Physical Model

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OTHER WORKS Oil Painting and Pencil

An exploration of colour, light, geometry, and affect, in the realm of the 2D.

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POURING

(N)EVER CHANGING

Oil on Canvas

Oil on Canvas

MAN ON HIS KNEES

STEAMPUNK PARADISE

Oil on Canvas

Coloured Pencils

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OTHER WORKS Photography

An exploration of unfamiliar worlds.zz.

IN CONVERSATION DSLR

HELD DSLR

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WARMER WORLD DSLR

SHALLOW WORLD DSLR

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Thank You!

qijianinichen@gmail.com 416 - 258 - 2018