PORTFOLIO
RAE ZHAO 2022-2025 Selected Works
UC Berkeley, M.Arch, 26' Candidate Zhejiang University, B.Arch, 22'
CONTENTS
01
Shielding & Shoring * A Fire Station Mediating Structures of Varying Combustibility
02
Life in Rotation Urban Housing: A Flexible Wall System for Creative Workers
03
Rethinking Courtyard Rural Regeneration: from Yards to Courtyards, from Separate Houses to an Artist Community
04
Stilted House Mutation Forest Ranger Station in Response to Vernacular Architectural Language in Guizhou Province, China
05
House of Reciprocity * A Radical Courtyard House Design Centered on the Notion of Duality
* Collaborative Work
01 Shielding & Shoring A Fire Station in Coexistence with Wildfire
Academic Project Nominated for Design Excellence Award UC Berkeley ARCH 203 Integrated Design Studio "Building on Fire" Fall 2025 Instructor: Daniel Spiegel Site: Berkeley, CA GFA: 32000 sqft Collaborative Work with Bingyun Xue
The design of this fire station takes “coexistence” as its core theme — it is not merely a defense against wildfires, but a spatial reflection on the relationships between the combustible and the incombustible, the permanent and the temporary, the solemn and the everyday. The east side of the site faces the Berkeley Hills, the likely direction from which wildfires could spread. In responds to this condition, a series of staggered concrete walls rise in sequence, forming layered defenses. Behind the solid concrete, timber structures are lightly inserted to form everyday working and social spaces. These protected spaces maintain a level of openness and transparency as a trade-off for the opaqueness of the concrete. Meanwhile, the diagonal timber columns lean against the monolithic concrete walls, recalling the wood shoring typically used during the concrete-casting process on construction sites, where wood elements support the curing concrete. The juxtaposition of these two materials brings balance — concrete as shielding that provides security, endurance, and resilience, and wood as shoring that offers support, lightness, porosity, and warmth. The building thus finds a rhythm between defense and dwelling, confronting danger while preserving an everyday presence. The design explores the subtle balance between human habitation and natural disaster: how to live within threat, and how to find order within uncertainty.
Entrance The subtle rotation of the building massings creates setbacks on the site, forming entrances for different purposes that separates the access points for fire trucks, visitors and staff.
Virtical Circulation The elevator shafts and staircases are inserted into the voids between the concrete walls, allowing the main space to remain open and uninterrupted.
Context: Potential Wildfire from the East The site is located near the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), which is a threshold condition between the flammable wildland vegetation and urban hardscape. Historically there had been four major fires in the last century, which reminds us of the high risk of wildfire hazards from the east side.
Daylighting While the concrete walls shield the building from potential wildfires, the side facades are opened to maximize natural daylight, with two courtyards bringing in additional light.
Draped Roof Original site
Wall & Shoring against wildfire
Strategy: Staggered Concrete Walls as Fire Defense Located at the intersection of two roads, the site includes a gas station and faces wildfire risk from the east. In response, a series of staggered concrete walls are set up as fire defense, protecting the spaces behind meanwhile preserving openness and transparency as a trade-off for the opaqueness of the concrete. This strategy accepts a controlled degree of vulnerability within the building, concentrating protection where fire risk is greatest.
The roof gradually descends from the east side to the west side so that the layering of the concrete fire walls are visible from the road intersection corner.
Program Stacking: Fire Station + Community Resilience Center The site is organized into three zones by concrete walls that protect against wildfires, creating a gradient of fire hazard vulnerability from west to east. Accordingly, the firehouse is positioned closer to the wildland on the east side, while the community resilience center starts from the urban edge on the west. Vertically, the community resilience center is stacked above the fire station and other facilities. Programmed as a flexible social hub, the community space accommodates a range of events — from lectures and exhibitions to markets and gatherings — while in daily use, it is a place where people are drawn to gather, meet, and linger, fostering interaction and reinforcing the sense of community. Service spaces such as stairwells, shafts, and restrooms are inserted into the narrow interstitial gaps between the walls.
8'
N N
A100
16'
0’ 8’ 16’ 32’
Ground Floor Plan 1/16" = 1' - 0"
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
Scale: 1/8" = 1' - 0"
RAE ZHAO | BINGYUN XUE
FALL 2025 | DANIEL SPIEGEL
2nd Floor Plan
3rd Floor Plan
1/32" = 1' - 0"
An occupiable stair anchors the second-floor meeting space, accommodating informal seating, conversation, and multiple activities.
The diagonal shoring element and skylights define the narrow space along the wall. The wall finish references the texture of timber formwork used in concrete construction.
1/32" = 1' - 0"
The event hall features a curved ceiling and curved tension cable trusses that echo one another, creating a sense of intimacy within the long-span space.
Elevation A201
1/32" = 1' - 0"
Section A300
1/32" = 1' - 0"
Between Shield and Exposure: Opacity and Transparency in Elevation Multiple layers of opaque concrete walls form the primary defense against wildfire, creating a graduated buffer along the most vulnerable edge of the site. Along the façade, GFRC panels add an additional layer of fire protection while maintaining a controlled degree of transparency. Proportionally scaled, the panels soften the expression of individual floor levels, blurring their legibility in elevation. Some panels align with handrail height, concealing interior railings and contributing to a restrained, concise façade composition.
Curtain off
Curtain on
Facade: Operable Shading Device The operable curtain rolls are additional shading system that help improve daylight control. These curtain rolls are installed behind the GFRC panels and can unroll from the bottom upward. When it is only partially deployed, the upper portion of the window remains unshaded. This allows daylight to penetrate deeper into the room while reducing excessive solar heat gain near the glazing.
GFRC Panels as Smoke Diverting Device GFRC panels are not fireproofing elements themselves but are non-combustible and provide good fire resistance. In a potential fire scenario, smoke would likely originate near the base of the building and rise upward. The GFRC panels are angled downward to help channel smoke away from the facade. A minimum 4-inch gap is maintained between the panel system and the glazing to prevent ash accumulation at the base of the panels.
Wall Section & Elevation Detail
Structural Axonometric: A Hybrid System of Concrete and Mass Timber
Left: Long span space structure model 1/16” = 1’ Right: Chunk model 1/2” = 1’
The building employs a hybrid system in which the 1.5-foot-thick concrete walls act as non-combustible firedefense barriers, while mass timber forms a lightweight structure within the protected zones. Timber members are arranged perpendicular to the concrete walls, with diagonal shoring elements providing lateral support. Both the apparatus bay and event hall span 60 feet, reinforced by a floor-height truss at the intermediate level and a curved roof truss of paired GLT beams and tension cables, hinged to higher points on the concrete walls for stability and efficient load transfer.
Integrated Section
02 Life in Rotation A Flexible Wall System for Creative Workers
Academic Project Sooky Lee Prize UC Berkeley ARCH 201 Architecture & Urbanism Design Studio "The City as Storage: Rethinking Oakland’s Central Business District" Fall 2023 Instructor: Georgios Eftaxiopoulos Site: Oakland, CA Area: 86000 sqft Individual work This housing project is located on the Delger Block in central Oakland, a site shaped by periods of prosperity and decline. Once among the most vibrant areas of Old Oakland in the late 19th century, the block fell into economic depression following the 1906 earthquake and was subsequently overlooked during later phases of mass urban development. Today, artist activity has re-emerged within the block’s historic buildings, prompting a proposal for housing tailored to an artist community. The project is conceived as a lightweight addition that sits atop a twostory designated historic landmark, accommodating a series of artrelated programs, including galleries and artist shops. Visually and structurally restrained, the urban strategy preserves the existing building while introducing a new residential layer. This addition responds to the precarity, adaptability, and individuality of artistic practice through a rotating wall system. The rotating wall system consolidates essential living and working elements into a single architectural component. Flexibility is achieved through both the rotation of the wall and the unfolding of integrated furniture. When aggregated, these wall units generate multiple spatial configurations, allowing the housing to adapt to varied living and working scenarios and supporting a diverse range of spatial arrangements.
Unit Plan - Folded
Unit Plan - Unfolded
Layer 1: Folding/Unfolding
Electrical Plumbing Layer 2: Rotating
Unit Design: The Wall as a Living-Working Unit
Flexibility
The project begins with the design of an artist living unit conceived as an operable wall that integrates all essential furniture. Living-related elements, such as the bed, are located on one side of the wall, while work-related components occupy the other. Plumbing and electrical services are routed along the wide-flange column and connected to the wall through flexible joints, allowing services to remain continuous as the wall rotates.
In response to the precarity of artists’ lives and work, the project introduces a highly flexible environment. This flexibility is embedded in the wall system in two ways. First, integrated furniture folds and unfolds as needed. Second, the wall rotates around its axis to generate multiple spatial configurations.
0
4
12
24 ft
4th Floor Plan: Unit Aggregation The fourth floor marks the start of the housing part. Vertical circulation is pushed to the periphery, freeing the interior entirely for unit aggregation. Each rotating wall unit is anchored to a structural column; through rotation and the unfolding of integrated elements, the units generate multiple spatial configurations suited to different living and working scenarios. Temporary curtains can be added by residents to provide adjustable privacy.
Scenario 1: Nighttime
Scenario 2: Daytime
The units are initially arranged in a linear manner. Two types of temporary curtains are hanged from the grided ceiling. One is normal light-weight curtain, the other is sound-proofing curtain.
The image is captured at the same spot as the previous one (nighttime scenario). Since walls can rotate, the spatial organization can change dramatically over time.
Scenario 3: Left Side
Scenario 4: Right Side
The art creation processes such painting usually require ample lighting. Therefore, the units are arranged in a way in which the working space are always close to the windows and filled with natural light.
Blinds are installed inside of the floor-to-ceiling windows to protect against excessive California sunlight. Apart from that, there is a set of openable windows for every column span.
Urban Strategy: Overlapping The building is situated atop a 19th-century designated historic landmark in central Oakland. The existing Victorian building, which houses art shops and galleries, is preserved in its current form, while the new residential volume above is conceived as a stacked assembly of rotating wall units. Access to the housing is provided at the rear of the site, adjacent to the parking lot. Residents enter through a modified garden and proceed to a small lobby with an elevator that delivers them directly to the residential levels above.
Ground Floor Plan
0 4
12
24 ft
Structure: Lightness of the New
Synthetic Section: The Building Process
Visually light and seemingly floating above the historic structure, the new addition emphasizes minimal impact on the existing building. The entire volume is cantilevered from two rows of wide-flange columns that penetrate the existing roof, while tie rods suspended from the roof truss stabilize the structure and become defining elements of the façade.
From an empty floor to a fully functional space, the building evolves over time. Construction begins with the installation of electrical and plumbing systems, followed by the placement of the rotating wall units. Users can then unfold and rotate the walls and add curtains as needed. Beyond this flexible living–working system, artists can conveniently exhibit and sell their work in the shops and galleries below.
03 Rethinking Courtyard Artist Community in Lijiaohe Village
Academic Project Zhejiang University 2021 Spring Option Studio 2021.03 - 2021.06 Refined in 2022.08 - 2022.09 Instructor: He Yong Site: Lijiaohe Village, Hangzhou, China Area: 2800m² Individual work
Lijiaohe Village, a rural settlement in the hilly region of Zhejiang Province, China, offers an ideal setting for artists seeking a quiet and undisturbed environment for creative work. In response, the project proposes an artist community that invites artists to settle in the village while fostering art-related events and collective activities. The design begins with an investigation of existing houses and yards, analyzing various elements that shape enclosure— such as trees, low walls, and benches. Rather than treating the courtyard as either fully enclosed or completely open, the project explores intermediate conditions. The cloister, acting as the courtyard boundary, is conceived as a semi-opaque divider. By manipulating courtyard boundaries to create ambiguous states of enclosure, the design breaks continuous walls and building masses into smaller segments and rearranges them around the courtyard. This fragmentation produces blurred edges between inside and outside. In addition to boundary transparency, materiality and the contrast between old and new are carefully considered, allowing the new architecture to remain coherent with the existing village context.
Purlin
Type 1
Type 3
Type 5
Type 4
Type 4
(Unfinished) Type 4
Floor Joist Timber Frame
Wood Structure
Type 1
Type 2
Type 3
Type 4
Type 5
Before 1950
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
In Qing dynasty and the Republic of China era, when material resources were insufficient, houses were mainly made of wood.
People started to use rammed earth as the building envelope and kept traditional wood structure inside the building envelope.
Some villagers began to be able to afford brick, so they demolished the rammed earth on the 2nd floor and replaced it with red bricks.
Veranda-style houses were introduced into this village. The envelope was all-brick while the structure inside was still wood.
The veranda was cantilevered and supported by concrete structure. And the material for the building envelope is mainly brick.
Evolution of Houses in Lijiaohe Village
Type 4
e Typ
4
Type 3
Yard 1
Yard 2
Yard 3
Yard 4
Yard 5
building, handrail, tree
building, wall, fence, tree
building, wall, tree
building, fence, stone bench, shed
building, wall
Type 3
Yard House (Kept) Auviliary Building (Removed)
N
Road
Yards in Lijiaohe Villiage Lijiaohe Village is a rural settlement located in the hilly region of Zhejiang Province in eastern China. Most houses in the village are residential, and nearly every dwelling is accompanied by a yard. The analysis above examines the enclosure conditions of five representative yards, revealing that these outdoor spaces are loosely defined by elements such as benches, trees, and low walls. These elements collectively define space while maintaining visual and social permeability, allowing yards to remain open, adaptable, and connected to the village fabric.
Existing Yards and Houses on the Site The site is located at the foot of a mountain, with a primary change in elevation along the north–south axis. Four existing houses on the site are retained and renovated into artist studios, while their auxiliary structures are removed to accommodate new construction.
Before
After
From Yard to Courtyard Responding to the loose enclosure of existing village yards, the project introduces cloisters as a unifying architectural element. By inserting cloisters, the front yards are transformed into courtyards—more formal spaces for events and collective activities. At the same time, the cloisters strengthen connections between the existing houses, creating a continuous circulation across the site.
Enclosed
Open
Gradient of Enclosure Courtyards can be defined by varying degrees of enclosure. The two extreme conditions range from complete enclosure by walls or building masses to complete openness defined only by columns or a roof. Between these extremes lies a gradient of enclosure—a condition in which the courtyard is neither fully isolated and overly private, nor so transparent that it fails to invite engagement or activity. The cloister, acting as the courtyard boundary, is therefore conceived as a semi-opaque divider. This blurred boundary is achieved by fragmenting continuous walls or building blocks into smaller segments and rearranging them around the courtyard, creating a space that remains open while retaining a sense of enclosure.
1. Axis and Orientation
2. Cloister
The new part of the construction will be based on the axis of the existing houses. The house orientation varies from each other, but can be roughly divided into two categories: the south-facing and the eastfacing. These houses will be reused as artists’ residence and studio.
To enhance connections between the houses while establishing a sense of enclosure, three interconnected cloisters are introduced, each sized according to the vacant land in front of the existing houses.
3. Courtyard and Terrain Adaptation
4. Extension
The spaces enclosed by the cloisters naturally form courtyards. To address changes in elevation and adapt to the existing terrain, staircases and gentle slopes are integrated into the courtyard spaces.
Extensions are added to the two east-facing houses in the form of double-height porches that visitors can pass through. These porches also connect different segments of the cloister system.
5. Functional Blocks
6. Roof Transformation
Several functional blocks are placed in the cloisters, accommodating public programs such as exhibitions, workshops, and group meetings.
The cloister roofs gently bend upward at the edges, echoing the form of traditional pitched roofs. This subtle camber also enhances the courtyard’s sense of enclosure and inward focus.
Design Process
2 2 1
11
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12
4
1
2
10
3
6
2 8
2
9
5 9
9
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5
1. Studio 2. Restroom 3. Kitchen 4. Storage 5. Bedroom 6. Backyard 7. Auditorium 8. Resting Area 9. Meeting Room 10. Art Gallery 11. Shared Studio 12. Courtyard
Contrast of Old and New 0 2
Ground Floor Plan (+6.5m)
5
10 m
The newly added cloisters are clearly distinguishable from the original houses through their distinct architectural language. However, both old and new elements follow the same system of axes and together form an inseparable enclosure of the courtyards, allowing them to read as a unified whole.
Forms of Walls
Curved Roof
Public Staircase The first courtyard is organized around a public staircase that serves as a setting for various activities, such as outdoor movie screenings at night. Perpendicular walls are arranged around the courtyard to reinforce a sense of enclosure.
Three separate roofs gently bend upward at the edges, echoing the form of traditional pitched roofs.
Grid Beam As part of the roof system, a grid of beams at a 900 × 900 mm module supports each roof.
Auditorium Arrays of parallel short walls replace conventional auditorium columns. Foldable glass doors are inserted between these walls, allowing the auditorium to fully open to the public when no events are taking place.
Aggregation of Walls The short walls not only divide space but also serve as a structural component. Two cladding materials contrast with each other and distinguish indoor space from outdoor space.
Meeting Rooms Repeated walls enclose space to form small cubicles for artists and villagers to meet, hold private conversations, or play card games. Along the corridor, short walls are also repeated rhythmically, reinforcing spatial continuity.
Existing Houses
Floor and Courtyard The wooden floor follows the natural terrain and is raised 300 mm above the ground, creating three distinct courtyard levels.
Art Gallary Inwardly concave walls and narrow glass windows or doors are key elements of the gallery. Together, they generate a rhythmic interplay of light and shadow that enhances the visitor’s exhibition experience.
Exploded Axonometric
Dilapidated Walls
Entrance
Courtyard 1
Courtyard 1
Porch
Courtyard 2
Cloister
Courtyard 2
Artist Studio
Auditorium
Backyard
Porch
Courtyard 3
Shared Studio
Artist Studio
Courtyard 3
Hill
Cloister
Walking in the Alternation of Old and New The site was originally vacant land containing four detached houses at varying elevations. By inserting new corridors, a continuous shaded path is formed to connect the houses. The original buildings are retained and renovated internally to meet the needs of artists, while their facades deliberately contrast with the newly constructed corridors. As visitors move from the first courtyard to the last, the spatial experience gradually unfolds. Along the route, the alternation between old and new architecture reveals layers of village history and invites reflection on the coexistence—and productive tension—between introduced art culture and indigenous ways of life. Shifts between shaded corridors and open courtyards, compressed low-ceiling passages and expansive double-height spaces, enrich the spatial sequence. Unified by curved roofs and a recurring architectural language, these transitions unfold smoothly, like frames in an animation.
New Material as Contrast
Old Material as Reminiscent
In contrast to the existing houses, concrete blocks are used to form screen-like short walls within the cloisters, creating spaces where people can wander, view exhibitions, or rest.
Red brick, the most commonly used material in the village for decades, is reintroduced in this project in a form that generates light and shadow.
04 Stilted House Mutation Forest Ranger Station
Academic Project Excellent Graduation Design Zhejiang University 2022 Graduation Design Studio, Collaborative Workshop with Politecnico Di Milano 2022.03 - 2022.05 Instructor: Paolo Vincenzo Genovese Site: Denglu Village, Guizhou Province, China Area: 300m² Individual work
Living in the mountainous area for generations, people of Miao ethnic group invented a unique type of dwelling called stilted house that is well-adapted to the complex terrain condition and heavy ground humidity. The house is completely made of timber and can be dismantled and reassembled at a different site -- a perfect example of utilizing the forest resource in a sustainable way. Nowadays, there are more means to form connection with the forest, a resource in need of reservation and is shared by different groups of people. Besides the locals, researchers from academic institutions, children from nearby villages, forest rangers and tourists are all involved in the network of forest-related activities. With the need of new function such as greenhouse and classroom emerging, the conventional form of stilted house designed for dwelling would not be suitable for those activities, hence appear the mutations of stilted house in the hope of accommodating disparate new activities meanwhile inheriting the vernacular architecture language.
Roof Cladding (Gray tiles)
Floor
Floor partially removed
Balcony elevated
(Enhance inter-floor connection)
Balcony extended into corridor
(Form introverted interior space)
Staircase added
(Enhance inter-block connection)
(Address height difference problem)
Rafter
Purlin Roof
Timber Frame
Separate roof
Asymmetrical pitch roof
Symmetrical pitch roof
Asymmetrical roof
Mono pitch roof
Reverse pitch roof
4
Partition Wall
3
(None-load bearing)
Research room and Lounge
Outside Wall
1
(None-load bearing)
Entrance
Classroom
Greenhouse
5
Stilted House Mutation
Transverse Beam
Since the conventional stilted house is primarily designed for dwelling and cannot accommodate newly emerging programs such as greenhouses or classrooms, the project introduces a series of mutations that respond to the needs of both locals and visitors while inheriting the vernacular architectural language. These transformations operate on two aspects: the roof and the floor. At the floor level, modifications such as elevating the balcony create more introverted interior spaces while enhancing outward views. At the roof level, multiple pitched roof types are introduced, each with distinct orientations and characteristics. By combining these two types of mutations, four unique transformed stilted house types are generated.
2
Footing and Pillar 6 7
1. Central Hall 2. Balcony 3. Bedroom 4. Fireplace 5. Kitchen 6. Storage 7. Chores Room 8. Stock Shed 9. Auxiliary Room
8 9
Terraced Field
Existing House Research room and Lounge
Greenhouse Entrance
Classroom
Valley
Primary School
Village Entrance Drum Plaza Protected Forest Belt
Site Valley
A Typical Stilted House in Denglu Village In order to adapt to the mountainous terrain and avoid humidity from the ground, Miao people invented a unique type of house called stilted house. The structure of the house is completely made of wood and doesn’t require any nails. In the building process, builders first erect several timber frames, then connect them with transverse beams. The house is organized in three layers: a roof and attic above, a main living floor with a central hall and flanking bedrooms, and a lower level originally used for animal shelter and now for storage and chores.
Site: Sloping Area near the Forest The site sits on a slope along a path leading to the forest and is loosely separated from the village’s main residential area by a valley, making the building accessible to both locals and visitors. A visual connection is maintained between the site and the forest belt across the valley. An existing stilted house is renovated into a research room and lounge, and three additional blocks are introduced, with their sizes determined by the terrain.
A 1
A
2 3
B 4
Section A-A
Section B-B
Separated roof, elevated corridor, partialy double height
Reverse pitch roof, partialy grid hollow floor
5
B C 6
C
D
7
D
1. Research Room 2. Storage 3. Restroom 4. Greenhouse 5. Seed Storage 6. Corridor 7. Classroom
Section C-C
Section D-D
Asymmetrical pitch roof, staircases
Conventional pitch roof, elevated corridor
Transverse Sections 0
Ground Floor Plan
1
3
6m
Four sectional drawings reveal both similarities and differences among the buildings, with variations driven by programmatic needs and terrain conditions. For example, Section B–B illustrates how a reversed pitched roof in the greenhouse is used to collect rainwater while admitting increased light and heat. In Section A–A, a vertical glass opening in the roof, combined with partially removed floors, creates a soft lighting condition.
Classroom and Lounge
Greenhouse and Corridor
Juxtaposition of Mutations: Recombination of Vernacular Architecture Language The forest ranger station consists of four volumes that appear similar at first glance yet differ in subtle ways. Each volume is a mutation of the same construction type—the traditional stilted house of the Miao ethnic group—modified in size, form, roof type, and floor arrangement in response to terrain and program. Aligned in a linear sequence and connected by corridors, the volumes form a harmonious and dynamic ensemble. Through the use of traditional building techniques and materials, the project remains rooted in its context and demonstrates respect for the architectural traditions of the village across the valley.
05 House of Reciprocity On the Notion of Duality
Academic Project UC Berkeley ARCH 202 Graduate Option Studio "Open Plan" Spring 2024 Instructor: Pezo von Ellrichschausen Site: La Pampa, Argentina Area: 2500m² Collaborative Work with Xinyi Lyu
House of Reciprocity is a conceptual project that explores the relationship between human and nature within a specific context of artist residence and courtyard house. Our exploration started with a series of inventories, among which three key ideas shaped the project development: the enigmatic nature of identical doors hiding disparate rooms, the experience of living between two contrasting conditions, and the transformation of topography to enrich the experience of space. The central question of the project asks: "What does it feel like to live in the oscillation between two different conditions?" The design plays with dual concepts such as nature and artifice, leisure and labor, privacy and publicity, individuality and collectivity. To embody these dualities, a diagonal strip of domestic rooms runs through the house, divided it into two distinct courtyards, each representing a different set of characteristics. One courtyard, the Garden, is a small hill covered with meadows and flowers, representing privacy and the natural world. In contrast, the Plaza is a structured, public space where artists gather, descending toward a deeper layer of creative thought. The dichotomy of the house fosters the dialectical reflection on merging living and working in a reciprocal dialogue, balancing dualities as a measure against the monotony of life, meanwhile creating a harmonious yet dynamic living environment.
INVENTORY 1
INVENTORY 2
INVENTORY 3
Structure
Character
Inhabitation
Inventory 1 is a study on spatial structure through three geometries (circle, triangle, square) within a given square area. Our self-imposed rule is that each geometry should not repeatedly appear in one image. Three relationships between the geometries are tested here: touching, nesting, and overlapping. The four images on the upper-right to lower-left diagonal line represent the nesting category; those above the diagonal line are in touching category and the rest are in overlapping category.
Inventory 2 investigates the spatial character one can experience through basic elements such as doors and columns. Based on the composition in Inventory 1, the sixteen images respectively represent studies on compression & release, connection, transparency, labyrinth, separation, enigma, diffusion, shift, fluidity, hierarchy, monumentality, softness, layer, penetration, rotation, and tension. Among all images and characters, Enigma later became a crucial idea for the architectural project. It is about the mystical face of a wall with identical doors and the revelation of disparate rooms hidden behind the wall.
Inventory 3 is a study on forms of life, delving into the interplay between nature and domestic life. Natural elements such as vegetation, soil (topography), water, stone are creatively used to enhance the interaction between human and nature, documenting the passage of time. The binary division of gardens in the second last image later became one of the main ideas of the architectural project. The idea of living in between two disparate (or even contradicting) conditions of nature sounds tempting to us, for it creates unusual experience for the imaginary users. The idea in the last image that plays with the topography was also adopted in the project design.
A
B
B
A
0
2
5
10m
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
ROOF PLAN
A House Divided by Rooms
Duality in Courtyards
How would it feel like living in the oscillation between two disparate conditions? Living and working, leisure and labor, nature and artifact, privacy and exposure, individuality and collectivity, these pairs of relationships are incorporated in the project as a measure against the monotony of life. A strip of domestic rooms is placed at the diagonal line of the house, dividing the house into two courtyards as containers for its dual characters. The peripheral corridor also flips its orientation at the diagonal point. The inward corridor serves as the artist studio while the outward one is for exhibition.
The two courtyards are respectively called the plaza and the garden. The plaza is where artists gather and work. It consists of brick stairs and arrays of trees, representing the artificial and public side of the residence. As contrast, the garden is a small hill covered with meadows and flowers, representing the natural and private side of the residence. The reciprocal relationship between the two courtyards contributes to the overall balance of the house.
SECTION A - A
SECTION B - B
Balancing in Topography
Eleven Rooms
The opposite conditions of the topography in two courtyards reach a harmonious state of equilibrium. On the garden side, one could climb to the top of hill to see the outside scenery without physically being outside. While on the plaza side, one gradually descends to the lowest floor, as if slowly sinking into bathwater, reaching for the deepest layer of thinking.
The rooms are geometric objects, each of which is endowed with a unique character. The ceilings and furniture inside the rooms enhance such uniqueness, creating diverse and unusual living experiences for residents. With skylight being the only aperture of each room, the sense of solitude and individuality is further shaped.
Enigma & Revelation
Nature & Artifact
The notion of duality is also manifested in the central strip. On one side, it is a wall with multiple identical doors, as if hiding secrets behind a poker face. While on the other side, the secrets are unveiled and plainly exposed. There is a dialectic contrast between the abstraction of the doors and the specificity of those geometric shapes.
With dreamy sky and hazy meadow, the Garden courtyard appears to be so tranquil and poetic, representing nature in its vigorous state. While on the other side of the house, autumn leaves fall gently on the rugged brick ground of the Plaza courtyard. The timelessness of the artificial beautifully complements the perpetual flux of nature.
Privacy & Exposure
Leisure & Labor
The rooms along the diagonal strip are all connected to domestic life, offering privacy and solitude in contrast to the collectiveness emphasized in workplace. Both images explore the threshold between privacy and exposure, where the warmth and coziness of the interior feel especially precious when set against the stark exposure of the outside world.
Studio life blends both labor and leisure, a balance reflected in the assortment of random objects casually scattered across the studio floor. The steady daily grind and bursts of inspiration are equally essential for creative work. Meanwhile, in the gallery, the gaze between the statue and the scarecrow symbolizes the interplay between the high-brow and the ordinary.