Shucheng Yan Portfolio by Shucheng Yan

SHUCHENG YAN

WEARABLE

LINE

COLOR STUDY

CHALK LAB

EXTRUSION

CHAIR

OBJECT

BOOM AND BUST

HOUSE OF DIONYSUS

MIRROR

WATER VILLAGE

PLASTIC

Wearable (2017) Ink on 2-ply white museum board

Wearable Ink on 2-ply white museum board

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Wearable: Diagram Ink on Paper

FOUNDATION

Line (2019) Ink on Vellum

This study aims to present Collision using graphic description.

A line proceeds toward infinity until it collides with a boundary, then it moves along until it regains its energy to reflect and continue its path.

Color Study (2018)

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Orange Sports Figure

In Baskiat’s painting Orange Sports Figure, the artist fills the

ack overcasting the smeared colors, creating new areas of pink –

canvas with vibrant primary colors and demonstrates motion

all of which are included in the color palette. In addition, Baskiat

through the fluid transition from yellow to red. Starting with a

employs a set of complementary colors – orange and blue – to

bright yellow, Baskiat moves his brushstroke clockwise, adding a

highlight the main subject matter. The set of orange and blue will

slight tone of red as color progresses on the canvas. The lower

again be brought up in a later study.

canvas is, however, a solid field of unbroken color – a broad expanse of muted orange – over which a baseball is screened. Then moving back to the upper canvas, an accretion of color reaches its highest intensity on the left corner. This color study recreated the yellow to red transition while taking notice of a slight disruption happening across the canvas. White and black constitute most details in the painting, disrupting the warm color palette (with black especially crossing the canvas in a diagonal line). Colors of red, orange, and yellow fill in space abstractly, facilitating a pop theatricality with expressive strokes. The non-representational use of color continues in Baskiat’s depiction of the main subject – a figure’s head. Outlined in white oil stick, a blend of saturated colors makes up the details within the form. Layers of blue, orange, red, and yellow set the stage, with white and bl-

Color Study (2018)

Default Photoshop Color Palette

This color study relates back to Basqiatâ€™s painting, in which the artist employs a set of complementary colors â€“ orange and blue â€“ to highlight the main subject matter. Surrounding the head with a layering of rich orange and luminous, light blue, the head appears dominant within the overall composition. To further explore the strong contrast and the effect the pair gives off, 6 shades of orange and 3 shades of blue are selected to demonstrate the subtlety of saturation and vibrancy in conveying information. Since shades of orange take up more spaces than blues do, orange units are set as conglomerations of blocks while blues are shown as a gradient of hues, moving from the lower, lighter left to the upper, darker right. The orange blocks respond to this gradient in a similar way. Although the colors do not integrate with adjacent areas as much as blues do, the accretion of colored shapes functions as a backdrop, a stage set, in front of which the blue gradient animates the template. The contrast that orange and blue produced heightens the integration of the picture. Despite one being a cool color and another warm, both colors appear brighter and pop off the artwork.

Color Study (2018)

Island of Burano in the Venetian Lagoon

This photograph of Burano, a city known for its brightly colored fishermen’s houses, was taken from an aerial view. This picture well captures the broad spectrum of colors while directing the audience’s attention to the brown-toned rooftops. The rooftops are often unnoticed due to its monochromatic color scheme; its existence is overshadowed by the brilliance of colors on the wall surfaces. However, from a bird-eye view, the rooftops form a continuity and occupy much more spaces than the conspicuous colors do. Here, the colors are assorted to the 6 foundational colors – the three primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and the three secondary colors (green, orange, purple), leaving the rest three a gradient of light, medium, and dark brown. The 5x5 and 7x7 color blocks further draw upon the idea of interconnecting surfaces, as seen from the photograph. The horizontal rows mimic the spatial organization of the brown bricks, depicting a layered congregation of brown units. The brown majority is however often interrupted by a rainbow set of colors. These colors occupy space in a random manner – some clustered in forms and some scattered across the template.

Chalk Lab (2018) Foam Core Board

Linear Sequence

The series of Linear Sequence is developed with the principle of setting motionless objects into motion. Each model contains four replicas of the same two units. The set of two revolves in space following the same sequential relationship, with the two units always resembling direct proportional change of the previous stage. By the relationships the units create, the model realizes a set of movements along its linear rhythm. Though each model only contains four stages of the “Linear Sequence”, one is able to imagine an ongoing progression.

Two-Directional Matrix The series of Two-Directional Matrix features all three types of units and explores the spatial possibility of one unit in relation to another in a rather flat surface. Planes of each unit are manipulated to connect in orthogonal or oblique angles, with some deliberately fail to interact in a direct manner, suggesting directionality within a leveled, compressed space. Despite the sharp angles and vertical momentum each produced, all nine models are created in respect to an organizational order in which generating lines command the shape of the structure.

Volumetric Cluster While the nine aggregation models adopt the same unit of a rectangular prism, the arrangement of forms differentiates each model by placing the units toward divergent directions, definitive of each of its individuality. Nonetheless, all units are connected in a contiguous spatial relationship, creating the form of a cube seen from all sides of the model. This series of Volumetric Cluster discusses the idea of space using not only the mass but also the void in between. With these voided spaces, one is able to imagine a volume that is enveloped in the suggested space and rethinks the idea of a “cluster” beyond solids.

Two-Directional Matrix

Volumetric Cluster

Extrusion Part I: House v. House (2018)

Study on Frank Gehry's Winton Guest House (Minnesota, 1982) and Jose Antonio Coderch's Uriach House (Barcelona, 1961)

Part I studies Frank Gehry and Jose Antonio Coderch's approaches to spatial organization and aims to combine both of the methods to create a new design (left) - a merged plan. Frank Gehry's Winton Guest House (top right) is a visual testimony of the "little village concept" he proposed, in which the form of the building is created from a dispersed set of different structures composed to make a whole. As Frank Gehry would have described, the Winton Guest House is an ensemble of simple forms put together like a still life. Six geometric forms clad in a variety of building materials to differentiate and divide the space, yet they all converge into one central point - the living room and the skylight above. Around this central point, a radial system develops. Gehry carefully placed each structure along the radial axis, with most units deliberately touching a side of the trapezoidal shape in the middle. Since the branching structures are not completely attached to the center, they become independent of the central geometry, allowing distinct, unrelated shapes to emerge.

Diagram of Frank Gehry's Winton Guest House

Jose Antonio Coderch's Uriach House (bottom right) is defined by a progression of vertical planes in a flat, horizontal space. The house is a closed structure with a series of staggered walls that supports a continuous roof. The stepped form in the facade conveys a gesture of continuity with slight variation as it moves progressively along the axis of the outer wall. Succession happens in both x and y directions, forming a grid system that essentially organizes the space. Different from the Winton guest house, the Uriach House uses only one material and color, expressing homogeneity to its core along with the stepped facade. The hybrid plan combines Frank Gehry's organization with the architectural elements found in Coderch's Uriach House. The Uriach House is segmented into different parts, with some areas even duplicated to accentuate its overall homogeneity. The segemented four building blocks are positioned along a radial axis, with each block touching bits of each side. Unlike the original arrangement in Winton Guest House, the hybrid plan concerns the effect of the central geometry onto the structures around. The original trapezoidal shape is modified to accomodate the surrounding fragments, forming a spin of terraced structures without overcrowding the site. The terracelike facades become especially highlighted in this Gehry organization since the succession of staggered planes is seen from all sides of the structure.

Diagram of Jose Antonio Coderch's Uriach House

Extrusion Part II: Field (2018) an Object or a System?

Based on the merged plan (p.26) of the previous stage, Part II introduces the notion that architecture can be understood as either an object or a system - a field condition. This stage proposes two different methods of arrangement, resulting in a contrasting totality of the new areas. Field 1 is an ensemble of the original houses put together. The entire house is considered as a unit. The unit rotated around the central unit (originally the public space that connects private sectors), producing similar geometry despite the connecting corridors that render this field as a complete system. Regulated centers are positioned in the field along the connecting limbs. Each limb is connected to another limb, while the opposite end of the limb links to a central unit. Although the spaces in between structures seem to be almost grid-like, a closer observation reveals a slight variation of angles. This is due to the organization system Gehry proposed in the design of Winton Guest House, in which all limbs form a right angle to one of the four sides of the central unit.

Sketch for Field 1: "House" as Units

Sketch for Field 1: Replicas of "House" Field 1

Field 2 segments the original house into four parts and considers each limb a building block of the system. Comparing to Field 1, the parts in Field 2 are arranged more arbitrarily. The plan drawing combines the two ideas presented on the sketches, with one showing a spin of overlapping limbs around a central point and the other displaying multiple centers that connect limbs to limbs. In this field of architecture, the original trapezoidal shape of the central unit is modified to accommodate the surrounding limbs/fragments, forming a spin of terraced structures around multiple centers. Unlike the first system, the opposite ends of the limbs do not always connect to another structural element, allowing more organic open spaces to form in between structures. Nevertheless, the overall planning maintains a thorough circulation throughout the field.

Sketch for Field 2: Limbs along a Radial Axis

Sketch for Field 2: Limbs connecting to Multiple Centers Field 2

Extrusion Part III: Extrusion (2018) Bristol paper

Part III seeks to build up the capacity to transition between two and three dimensions. This stage also furthers the exploration of interlocked concepts of object and field in architecture. Both study models represent a concept found in the field plan. The first study model continues to depict the progression and recession of facades in the horizontal direction, while adding terraced patterns onto the vertical dimension by adjusting the height of each wall. The central trapezoidal shape not only aggregates branches but also "heights". Walls that are closer to the central point are thus taller than those connecting to other branches. The second study model makes a clear distinction between clustered and open spaces through the extrusion of horizontal surfaces. Walls penetrate into the base and protrude from the ground level. The larger, exterior open spaces occupy the ground floor while the inner converging point constructs the base of the model.

Study Model 1

(see next page for reference) A section of the field is chosen and emphasized in the final models. This section is chosen because it well-presents the variation of the heights in space and highlights the difference in density between open and closed spaces. Both final models are built upon a terraced terrain and yet explore "heights" in different ways. Planes are extruded not for its function, though they continue to present the distnction between clustered and open spaces. In the first model, the terraced terrain corresponds to the height of the designated walls, allowing walls to rise to the same height despite of its varied lengths. It becomes a flat surface seen from the top view. The second model adjusts the base in a more spontaneous manner. Overall, the walls grow on an inclined terraced surface, gradually increasing heights as they move from one corner to another.

Study Model 2

Model 1 Bristol Paper

Model 2 Bristol Paper

SCALE

Chair (2017)

White Oak, Steel Rod 145x38.5x155cm

Models 2-ply white museum board, Iron wire, Popsicle sticks, Cotton pads/balls

Product White Oak, Steel Rod 145x38.5x155cm

Model 2-ply white museum board, Popsicle stick, Iron wire

Object (2019)

a Sitting Device or a Sculpture?

Object This study aims to present Collision using volumetric description. This object seeks to describe and manipulate repeated actions in small, defined sets. The purpose of this project is to test a controlled complexity that can be interrogated for its formal and spatial potentials. These potentials - depicted by the violent motion of one pyramid plunging into another larger pyramid - are expanded and tweaked at each step to define a clear position in relation to the original object, the pyramid. The final object is a duplication of the ongoing "plunging" process and aims to present a sitting device that is, ironically, not suitable for sitting. It allows you to be curious but never too comfortable with it. It engulfs you, as it becomes the only way to completely interact with it. Due to its relation and imaginable scale to human body, one can easily enlarge or dwarf the object, consider it not only as a sitting device but a sculpture in various sizes.

Diagram The second part of the project - diagram - invites the whole studio to participate. Everyone is asked to draw mulptiple stick

figures around four computer renditions of the object regardless of scale, meaning that the participants themselves can decide the scale of the object in relation to a human body and how large the object is in their imagination. Whereas the protruding cones intend to suggest a specific way of interaction, the reality is much more spontaneous. Some choose to lie on the cone, while other adventurous spirits decide to crawl in... However, in all, human activities are framed by the violence of the object. The participants can never approach it exactly as the way they want to, leading them to hide in the cone, hug the cone, sit below the cone, or lie against the cone, all of which are movements that happen tangentially to the cone. The diagram seeks to describe this phenomenon using contrasting shapes. The triangles represent the shape of the object. The circles represent the interacting "softertissue" humans. The bold arrows provide a sense of directionality to which the pyramid points to. The progression of the diagrams (from Diagram 1 to 2) mirrors the actual rotations in which the object can be placed in relation to the ground. From the arrows representing gravity - the dotted arrows you can see 1 and 2 rotation(s) diagrammed respectively.

Sculpture 1

Sitting Device 1

Sculpture 2

Sitting Device 2

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Boom and Bust (2017) 2-ply white museum board 22x10x15 cm

Diagram Ink on Paper

This project finds beauty in the geometry of curvatures and circles. It investigates and translates this typology from lines to surfaces to volumes and vice versa. Starting from an ordinary paper house, Boom and Bust House transforms the triangular roof and rectangular plan into an otherwise dynamic playground. The external form of the house painly reveals the internal organization, with the volumetric language expressing curious moments within a rigid system.

The making of the primary form begins with adding and cutting spherical shapes out/onto the original paper house format. Additional units of protrusions and indentations divide the original plan, generating a visual loop of curvatures and circles that describes the integrity of the project. The Diagram shown on the left is a study done before the project. It shows the transformation of a six-surface box to a dymanic object like the Boom and Bust House.

Diagram Magazine Collage

Model 2-ply white museum board

House of Dionysus (2019)

a House and a Theatre in the Making

Section Drawing of Site Perched on the side of a forested zone,

on entering the House, the darker side

the House of Dionysus coalesces into the

demands immediate focus in an otherwise

serenity of its site. The structure draws on the

lighted space. Devoid of lighting capacity

rich sensory atmosphere and translates the

and spatial limits, the House of Dionysus

sectional quality of the site into the massing

attempts to redefine the architectural

of compact and sheer elements. Dense and

possibilities of a modern theatre and brings

darker volumes interweave with space and

to mind the performance culture of the

illumination, staging depth and lightness at

ancient Greeks.

the same instant. Built as a temporary retreat for the

Making:

playwright, the House implements minimal

This project is named as the House of

separation and facilities. The darker sphere,

Dionysus for its playful nature. While it

due to its more secluded nature, provides

follows the Classical ideal of strict geometry,

a resting and working place for the

it also explodes this concept, by shifting

playwright. It thus becomes the energy hub

the triangles along the diagonal axis like

of the House, hosting performances that are

tectonic plates. The diagonal axis, in a way,

composed in the exact same space.

also serves to divide up the public and

The program of the House takes its

private spheres.

inspiration from the ancient theatre of

Dionysus, where the human world was set

The stairs also follow along this twist of

in meaningful relationship to nature. On one

expectation.

side of the construction, no border bounds

positioning of seating in a modern theatre,

the entrance into the building, inviting all

the House of Dionysus takes the seats/

curious spirits to join the speculation. It

stairs away from the stage and situates it

is essentially a free space - there are No

on the back of the stage. It faces outward,

artificial lighting and No specific sitting area.

looking out towards the surrounding nature.

The density of the building material provides

The spectators, thus, look at the trees - a

the only guide for direction, drawing light

broader prospect - instead of a single focal

and human gaze to its concrete energy. Up-

point/stage.

Instead

mirroring

the

Plan Floor 3 1/8”=1’-0’

Plan Floor 2 1/8”=1’-0’

Elevation South 1/8”=1’-0’

Elevation North 1/8”=1’-0’

Section West 1/8”=1-0”

Section East 1/8”=1-0”

BIOGRAPHY