LARCH Portfolio

LARCH PORTFOLIO

2019 APPLICATION FOR MLA PROGRAM SHUWEN XUE xswapply2019@163.com

SHUWEN XUE

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE GUIYANG YELANG VALLEY DESIGN & BUILD PROGRAM

2016.06-2016.07

Responsibilities: 1. Conducted the field survey and design for one week.

2. Completed the construction in three weeks.

Note: The program was co-led by the professors of UW and the professors of Guizhou Normal University (Guiyang, China)

REFUGEE SCHOOL IN RABAT, MOROCCO

2016.08

Position: Volunteer teacher Responsibilities: Taught mathematics, Chinese and English in a class with students at the age from 4-16 years old.

CONTACT (360)-464-8048 xswapply2019@163.com

FINGDING/ FILMING / FOSTERING FREEWAY PARK

2018.06-2018.08

Position: Participant Responsibilities: Shot and edited a video of 10 minutes which was played to the public in the Freeway Park (Seattle, US) on September 28th.

902 NE 43rd St. Seattle, WA

MAYNARD ALLEY CHINATOWN SEATTLE LANGUAGE

2018.09-2018.12

ENGLISH/MANDARIN

Working with the tenants association to redevelop the site whist maintaining cultural, artistic and unique sense of community and circulation

EDUCATION

SOFTWARE SKILLS

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE Bachelor Degree in Landscape Architecture 2015-2019

- PHOTOSHOP

- INDESIGN

- GRASSHOPPER

- ILLUSTRATOR

- RHINO

- BONGO

- AUTOCAD

- FLAMINGO NXT

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOLDING MAYNARD ALLEY - MAYNARD ALLEY RE-IMAGINED

1-6

GUIYANG DESIGN & BUILD - RENOVATION OF YELANG VALLEY, CHINA ILLUMINATING PIKE/PINE STREET - REDESIGNING PIKE/PINE

7-11

12-16

SOUND PARK - HEAR FREEWAY PARK

17

DIGITAL MEDIA - MODELING LANDSCAPE

18

MATERIALS & CRAFTS - APPLICATION OF MATERIALS

19-20

1 FOLDING MAYNARD ALLEY MAYNARD ALLEY RE-IMAGINED Cultural Landscape Studio DATE: AUTUMN 2019 LOCATION: CHINATOWN-INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT, SEATTLE, WA PROFESSOR: JEFF HOU (jhou@uw.edu) Alley was usually ignored by citizens and experienced decades of decline. However, in recent years, alleys and other forms of leftover urban areas have been valued for providing new serves and uses by people and professionals, especially when some renovations of alleyways achieve success. Maynard Alley is located in Chinatown-International District in Seattle, WA. Following the recent success of redesigning Canton Alley --- a model historic alley in International District neighborhood, the community is eager for transforming the historic Maynard Alley into an attractive and welcoming urban space.

CHINATOWN -INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT

MAYNARD ALLEY

SEATTLE

WA

SEATTLE 1

VALUES OF WALL WOOD WALL (less valuable) CONCRETE WALL (least valuable) Maynard Alley

BRICK WALL Potential locations where I can make design interventions

TOPOGRAPHY Contour The site has little variation with topography

CULTURAL BACKGROUND ANALYSIS

LANDSCAPES Trees

CID has started the reception of immigrants since mid-19th century. Then CID experienced racial riots in the late 19th century. Until 1970s, the multi community started to engage in the development of Chinatown, such as the construction of Hing Hay Park and Danny Woo community garden.

No vegetation along the Alley

HAVE A CENTRAL AREA FOR TRASH DUMPING Rather than having more public trash bins on the street, it’s better to have a central place for trash dumping and do a fixed time garbage pick-up.

ADDING ELEMENTS TO THE ALLEY Design interventions involve of three basic design elements: Culture, Functions and Art to solve the issues in the site.

PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION Network of street

ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS BUSINESS Entertainment Theraphy Retails Resturants Construction

With the community involvement, we collected data and reflections from community stakeholders.

According to their feedbacks, several key issues are listed.

1) Space is not effectively used.

2) Lack of lighting which makes people feel unsafe when walking in the alley.

3) Trash dumping and smell are needed things to address.

4) Cultural preservation.

5) Maintenance/regulation.

2

NORTH ALLEY -MASTER PLAN & AXON SECTION

CONCEPT DIAGRAM -”FOLDING”

FLAT PIECE

VERTICAL + COVER

DESIGN INTENTION Since the alley is not very wide, many activities could not continue in the current site space. The present uses and activities of the alley are mainly for truck delivery and pedestrian pass through. In order to encourage more social activities happen in the alley, my design focuses more on the vertical space/walls and tries to make the most use of Alley space, leaving the horizontal grounds only for pedestrian use.

3

SOUTH ALLEY -MASTER PLAN & AXON SECTION

Another intention of my design is to reveal the rich history behind Maynard Alley. In addition, while trying my best to make sure the local’s way of live is not disrupted, convenience and improvement in life quality are also things needed to provide to people as much as possible.

4

COMPLETELY FOLDED

HALF & HALF

COMPLETELY OPEN

The canopy uses the vertical space in Maynard Alley, covering large part of Maynard Alley. The canopy composes two materials--metal and glass. The canopy is a not permanent structure and it can be removed totally. The canopy can be folded into a compacted shape and used in multiple ways to meet the demands for varied events and weathers.

5

VIGNETTES 1

POSSIBLE FU

NC T

N IO S: SH E

LTER

The canopy can work as a shelter in rainiy days.

2

POSSIBLE FU

NC T

The canopy could be folded as storyboard panels and photo wall. Maynard alley is just like a history walking gallery, presenting people the history and culture of Maynard Alley and CID.

NS IO :S

EATING

For recreational use, a stage could also be folded down. The stage can be an extension of dancing club Massive Monkee.

The stage can hold seasonal events such as music event, movie night and so on.

Chairs & tables are made in geometric pieces that can also be folded away against the wall.

Because the canopy and chairs & tables are not fixed to the wall, they do not attract homeless people to come and stay.

3

POSSIBLE

FU NC

ON TI S: H

ANGING PH OT O

S

The hanging photos are use of vertical space, showing the history of Maynard Alley and its neighborhood.

6

2 GUIYANG DESIGN & BUILD RENOVATION OF YELANG VALLEY

DESIGN & BUILD PROGRAM DATE: 2016.06-2016.07 LOCATION: GUIYANG, CHINA PROFESSOR: DANIEL WINTERBOTTOM (nina@u.washington.edu) DESIGN TEAMS: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, ROGERS STATE UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, GUIZHOU NORMAL UNIVERSITY In this program, we collaborated with students from Rogers State University, local Chinese students and faculties from Guizhou Normal university, and the staff of local design company to design an undeveloped area and finally turned the place into a community gathering space for local community from Yelang Valley where is a remote forested area far away from Guiyang Downtown. Yelang Valley has very unique geological and ecological features. It is full of historic stone castles, sculptures and pottery which were created by Mr. Song Peilun, who is a famous artist in Guiyang, China.

We had only one week to design and spend the rest three weeks building the amenities for the local community with the used of local and natural materials,

7

SITE BEFORE

DESIGN WEEK

The site was sprinkled with pieces of tree branches and grew over with weeds.

Many huge sharp rocks blocked people’s way into the site

HAND DRAFT: TOPOGRAPHY

DISCUSSION WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY DURING DESIGN WEEK

HAND DRAFT: CIRCULATION

HAND DRAFT: DISTRIBUTION OF TREES

BRAINSTORM HAND DRAFT

DESIGN CONCEPT - “LOST” AND “FOUND” The idea of “LOST” comes from the experience we had when we first explored the site. As we noticed, tall trees and big rocks not only blocked people’s views but also made it hard for people to find way out. According to our site analysis and feedback from the local community, we attempted to design a self-guiding place where people could follow the path while enjoying the surrounding views. The idea of “FOUND” could be explained.

Lots of tall trees were growing freely in the site

8

DESIGN DETAILS - TREE HOUSE

TREE HOUSE

Hand Drawing by Professor Daniel Winterbottom

The tree houses had two floors that could bear the weight of seven to ten people. Tree houses were designed to provide different views of Yelang Valley as people have seen through the windows of the tree house. During the construction process, building solid concrete column bases was very essential to the success of tree house, when the tree house structures had to build on the concrete columns. Under the instruction of local master workers, we learned how to mix the cements and build supporting columns with the bricks and concrete.

9

DESIGN DETAILS - STONE CASTLE

STONE CASTLE Hand Drawing by student Tyler HyungbaePark

We applied stones and bricks to the castle in the light of local condition. The stone castle resembled the historic fortress that was pre-existing in Yelang Valley. It was designed to offer a high platform for people to overlook the beautiful scenery of Yelang Valley.

10

DESIGN DETAILS - SCULPTURES

SCULPTURES We created sculptures that represented animals and spirits, showing the local culture and echoing the existing sculptures made by Mr. Song Peilun.

CREDITS TO ALL STUDENTS AND FACULTIES FROM UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, ROGERS STATES UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, GUIZHOU NORMAL UNIVERSITY.

11

SITE ANALYSIS - CURRENT CONDITION

3

ILLUMINATING PIKE/PINE STREET REDESIGNING PIKE/PINE STREET

URBAN SITES STUDIO DATE: WINTER 2018 LOCATION: PIKE/PINE STREET, CAPITOL HILL, SEATTLE, WA PROFESSOR: JEFF HOU (jhou@uw.edu) LEANN ANDREWS (AndrewsL@uw.edu)

CIRCULATION

MORNING AT 10 AM

NOON AT 12 PM

AFTERNOON AT 3 PM

(The shifts of sunlight cast shadows on the ground; the shadow pattern inspires my design)

NIGHT AT 6 PM

SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE AREA

The street is one of the critical designed components of any urban cities as it reflects the needs of society and provides the access for people. In this day and age, our city confronts the issue of dense crowds, vehicles, and commercial activities. Pike/Pine as an urban neighborhood has developed rapidly in recent years, bringing a lot of potential opportunities and challenges as well. More and more people live in Capital hill and surrounding districts; the businesses is expanding in the neighborhood. Pike/Pine will definitely be more busy in the coming years.

GREENARY

BUSINESSES Resturants Bar Apartment Retails

12

MASTER PLAN

DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES - The sidewalks overflow in peak hours, forcing people to walk through vehicle lanes which are not safe.

- The street with low-light easily causes some accidents. Just few people walk on the street at night.

- The space is not effectively used.

- Few green infrastructure on the both sides of street.

- Less social and commercial activities.

B’

A’

B

A

PERSPECTIVE 1

13

SECTION AA’

RAIN GARDEN SYSTEM

SHELTER

LED LIGHTS ON THE WALL

(Sheeting, soaking and collecting stormwater runoff from sidewalks/street)

(Like folded drawing paper, an image of local art work is projected on the surface of shelter)

14

The shape of sidewalk and different islands is based on the natural cast shadows on the ground. Each individual island has different functions. They are set up at different levels. For example, the community gathering area is risen and the children recreational area is sunken.

SECTION BB’

CHILDREN RECREATIONAL AREA PEDESTRIAN SIDEWALK

OUTDOOR SEATING AREA LOADING DOCK

15

PERSPECTIVE 2

16

4

SOUND PARK HEAR FREEWAY PARK NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN STUDIO DATE: SUMMER 2018 LOCATION: FREEWAY PARK, SEATTLE, WA PROFESSOR: ELIZABETH UMBANHOWAR (umbanhow@uw.edu)

Freeway park is located above Interstate-5 in downtown Seattle. Work with the Freeway Park Association, the City of Seattle and Lid I-5, we focused on the possibilities of filmmaking as a tool to analysize and explore design opportunities for Freeway Park with key elements including wayfinding, inclusion, historic preservation, and social and ecological health.

When I first came to the park, the park is quite noisy and the noises are coming from freeway and concrete fountains in the park. In fact, there are many other sounds --human voices and natural sounds in the park. Those sounds are easily ignored by visitors.

Especially in this day and age, with the traffic and construction noises, people often cannot hear what they could hear in the past time when the place was more natural. Seeing and hearing are both important in the urban landscape. I really like an idea of “making the invisible visible” from an article called “Storytelling with the shapes of time” by Hayden. I want to turn it into “Making the inaudible audible” from this film to ask people to experience the park through sound. This film hopes people to focus on hearing; but seeing will reinforce the idea of sound in the specific place. Also, I try to give a new identity to the park as a place to explore sounds with design interventions and rename those places.

Link: https://vimeo.com/309826888

17

5

DIGITAL MEDIA MODELING LANDSCAPE

I used Rhino and Grasshopper to create a topographic model based on Maya Lin’s “Wave field” project and 3D print it.

Grasshopper as a Rhino Plug-in allows me to create a visual script for the model. Even though Grasshopper is very complex and easily lost along the way, it makes more easy for us to make changes to the form just by manipulating the model variables. I’m really fascinated by digital media which allows me to see a large change simply by changing the number or shifting the slider.

Grasshopper Rhino model

3D Printing model

18

6 MATERIALS & CRAFTS APPLICATION OF MATERIALS

A “simple, but beautiful” cubic concrete box

1

Through the workshop, I gained literal hands on experience of working with landscape materials such as concrete, wood and metal to enhance my knowledge of application of varied materials. Play with different materials, I explored the physical properties and qualities of material assemblies and their constraints as well.

A circular wooden clock

2

A base made by carbon steel that would hold the woodenclock

3

Three objects with different materials combine together

CREDIT TO MY PARTNER YUN LIU

19

WATERWHEEL CREDIT TO MY PARTNER YUN LIU Our studio site focuses on Maynard Alley in Chinatown-International District, Seattle. We generated an idea to create a structure, which relates to water and responds to Chinatown’s history, tradition, and culture.

Our group is inspired by a traditional Asian agricultural equipment: the water wheel, which could be used manually for irrigation, or for a potential generation of electricity.

DESIGN SKETCHES

HAND DRAFT OF DIMENSION We made 2 wheels compose of wood board connected by a metal handle. Also, we created a concrete container and a wood box outside the concrete container,

We cut the steel pieces, weld them together and all the steel pieces were connected safely for assembling.

Running the water through the waterwheel

4

We used 3D printing to get eight buckets which would add to the inside rims. Assemble everything and put some small stones in the concrete container just for decoration.

20