Bartlett School of Architecutre MArch Urban Design Application Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

Qiyin Liu SN: 17029208 BSc Architectural and Interdisciplinary Studies Bartlett School of Architecture Selected Work 2018-2020

This collection showcases the research conducts in the three-year undergraduate study. Building on the nature of course I am majoring, Architectural and Interdisciplinary Studies, the series of projects aims to celebrate the diverse exploration of space: starting from the study of urban space in terms of its elements, system, and form, the exploration also extends to the broader concept of space and design.

This collection is also not limited to the design practice, but contains an abstraction of a thesis formed by a research topic as well. By doing so, the boundary and representation of space and design are continuously challenged and pushed further. Through this series of research, exploration, manufacture, and reflection, an insight of the wide range of discussing space is hoping to be gained and re-applied to the urban settings

CONTENT 01

Transport Policy and Planning

02

Urban Form Formation

03

Creative Design And Practice

04

Creative Design And Practice

05

Engineering Design

06

Computing For Creative Practice

07

CAMDEN TOWN TRANSPORT STUDY by improving city transport, the road sfatety is prioritized 2019.09

THAMESMEAD REGENERATION

by reshaping the urban form, the liveliness is brought back to city and a space is created for citizens' communication and interaction 2019.01

MAGIC

by manipulating the preconcepts, imagination and ambiguity are imbued into an ordinary object 2019.09

PERCEIVING THE SCALE

by tweaking the perception, the scale of space is no longer defined, rather, subjectivity of small and big space is revealed 2019.11

REDESIGN UMBRELLA

by rethinking the function and manifacture of a product, the current consumption pattern is criticised 2019.09

"SEE-THROUGH WALL"

by exploring various drawing techniques, the story behind a design iterration is narrated thorugh illustrations 2018.09

Architectural Research

DECOLONIZING...

by researching the concept of decolonization, the meaning contained in an urban space and its representation is criticised 2019.03

Camden Town Station

3 Regent Park

2

1 Mornington Crescent

4 Euston Station

Camden Town Transport Study 2019.09-12 Module: Transport Policy and Planning Group Project

This project takes a close look at the transport system in Camden Town, specically focusing on the measures to improve the safety of pedestrians.

Through the primary research, the strategy containing five proposals were studied, aiming to restore a safe high-street enviornment into Camden neighbourhood.

5 King's Cross

Population

Pavements

1850

1923

1909

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990- present

Context

Camden is a borough in Northwest London; it forms part

of Inner London. It is one of boroughs that has the highest

population density and a major residential and shopping area

in Northwest London as well.

The study area is outlined by Castlehaven Road and Hawley Road at the north; Camden High Street at the west; Camden

Street at the east; as well as Lidlington Place and Oakley

Square at the south. The study area is connected to the northern and southern part of London by two main streets: Camden High Street and Camden Street, Camden Road goes through the study area horizontally, linking the area’s east and west. All three roads are part of “A-Road�. Containing two tube stations, Camden Town Station and Morrington Corcent, the studying area is entirely within the 10-minute walking range.

The historical development of Camden Town shows the elimination of narrow paths i.e. pavements, instead, the roads were designed more for the motor vehicles. On the other hand, is accompanied with a dramatic increase in the population. The contrasting developing trend between population and paths makes the residents more willing to locate around major roads. However, conflict between motor vehicles and other transport modes becomes increasingly outstanding at the same time.

Exisitng public realm Exisitng high street retail Exisiting market

SURVEY ANALYSIS The initial survey shows three types of roads: major roads, minor roads, and paths.

Major roads are distincted by including a bus lane; the width of minor roads vary from18-9m; while for the paths, the width of pavement is further reduced.

The survey also reflects the pedestrian is largely neglected as all roads are designed to fulfill the needs of motor vehicles, yet the space left for pedestrians is getting smaller.

In addition, jay-crossing is the most severe at three junctions.

Junctions that require the Improvement on Crossing

Designate Pedestrian Routs

Routs People Tend to Walk

Major Road 2 Major Road 3 Major Road 1

4m

Major Roads

3m

3m

3m

Major Roads 1

4m

3m

3m

3m

3m

4m 16m

29m

Major Roads 2

Major Roads 3

3m

3m

13m

Minor Road 1

Minor Road 2

Minor Road 3

7m

8m

3m

3m

3m

Minor Roads

18m

Minor Roads 1

12m

Minor Roads 2

Path1

Path2

3m

3m

Paths

Path 1

9m

1.5m

1.5m

Path 2

3m

4.5m

3m

3m

Minor Roads 3

9m

3m

DATA ANALYSIS Surveys of people flow, speed, vehicular flow,

Camden Road

concentration, and junction turning movement were conducted during the morning peak, afternoon nonpeak time and evening peak of weekdays on both

108

major and minor roads within the study area.

1956

336

Camden Street

Pratt Street 420

1908

As the survey result shows, the pedestrian flow is

864 168

888

significantly high on Camden High street. At the same

264

time, however, the flow, concentration, and speed of motor vehicles are high on Camden High Street as well, which have led to major conflict between

Camden High Street

pedestrians and motor vehicles, causing safety issues.

1680

Photos below also show the unreasonable crossing system and limited space for the pedestrians Pedestrian Flow More than 1500 p/h 500 - 1500 p/h Less than 500 p/h

Bayham Street

Issues

Long Waiting Time for the Traffic LightLead to Regula Jay-Crossing

Lack of Continuity in Crossing Leads to Regular Jay-Crossing

Narrow Pavements Cause People Constantly Walk on Car Lanes

Aims and Objectives Based on the results of surveys and research, our proposals are to prioritize the improvement of road safety through improving both cycling and walking conditions and reducing traffic speed. As Camden experienced 21 serious collisions in 2018, where Camden High Street was the main area of concern, we propose to shrink the size of CHS to allow for more space for pedestrians and cyclists, which will also cause vehicles to travel at lower speeds, thus improving overall safety. However, this requires less vehicle flow and vehicle concentration on roads, so it is proposed to reduce on-street parking, improve streets quality and provide bicycle lanes and facilities to increase cycling and walking as an alternative to driving. Considering that current crossing system and the high proportion of freight vehicles have a great safety risk, we also propose the changes at conjunctions and safer transport modes of freight.

Proposed crossing change Proposed loading area Widened pavement Proposed treea Proposed zebra crossings Proposed two car lanes

Proposal 1

Widening the pavement and changing the current puffin crossings located on Camden High Street (between Camden Town Station and Mornington Crescent Station) into zebra crossings. At the same time, improving the continuity of crossing systems at all junctions (stated as a sperated proposal 5)

Proposal 2

Camden has a limited amount of kerb space meaning that it is important to balance the competing demand of various groups of road users. The study area is covered by a control parking zone where all streets are subject to parking controls from 8.30am6.30pm during weekdays. Tariff 3 is currently applied in paid-for parking places and shared-use parking places (Camden Council, 2019) and we propose to raise the charge to Tariff 4 to control the concentration of on-street parking.

Proposal 3 More sustainable and safer transport modes, such as rail freight on North London Line and waterborne freight on the Regent’s Canal are proposed to ease traffic congestion, reduce environmental impacts as well as improve road safety for other users. Also, the Click and Collect services at Camden Town Station and Mornington Crescent Station can be introduced to local residents as an alternative to home delivery.

Proposal 4 Creating two-way cycle lanes on Camden St by extending the existing cycle lane and adding another lane so that some cyclists who going from north to south on CHS can be diverted to Camden St with increased speed and safety. There is also a two-way cycle lanes on the road from Oakley Square to Lidlington Pl and three dedicated one-way lanes added on Pratt St, Bayham St, Crowndale Rd.

Expanding the Pavement

Replacing Curb with Ramp

Allocating Loading Area

Amending Camden High Street Planting Trees between Loading Area

Detailed Proposal 1. Changes on Camden High Street where the conflict most

CHS. Therefore, we also propose to integrate the pavement into

concentrated.

car lanes by using slop rather than a step, so that goods vehicles can park provisionally by the edge of the pavement. In addition,

The proposed two lanes on CHS will include a 3m bus lane and a

trees will be placed 3m inwards from the pavement edge (loading

3m lane for motor vehicles. The former lanes will be replaced by

vehicles are mostly vans with the width 2.6 m, therefore having a

widened footpaths of 6m in width. As it is suggested in Pedestrian

3 m gap between trees and car lanes should just allow one vehicle

Comfort Guidance for London (Content.tfl.gov.uk, 2019), for

to park align with the street), further separating loading cars from

streets that have a pedestrian flow between 1200 – 2000 p/h, a

pedestrians to ensure walking safety and experience as well as

minimum width of 5.3m is recommended for pavement. Therefore,

contribute to better environment.

two pavements with 6m in width increase the walkability of CHS and reduce the danger of additional pedestrians struggling to pass

As this is a high street with retails, the travel pattern of pedestrians

through the remaining pavement space.

tends to be freer and more random, thus having a traffic light loop that has much longer time of red light has led to frequent

Taking off car lanes will reduce the loading space for retails on

jaywalking. In addition, the vehicular speed on CHS is relatively

Click and Collect Service for Residence

Zebra Crossing On-Street Parking Slot/Loading Area Reduce Car Lanes to Expand Pavement

Changes on Camden High Street

high comparing with other locations (minimum car speed: 20km/ h, maximum car speed: 47km/h), which can result in high rate of accidents. Based on this current condition, five puffin crossings between Mornington Crescent Station and Camden Town Station

Adding Crossing to Reduce Car Speed

are proposed to change into zebra crossing. By doing so, motor vehicles need to maintain low speed and be prepared to stop any Improve the Continuity of the Crossing

time, which emphasizes the priority of pedestrian on the high street, safety and convenience are guaranteed as well.

Adding Trees to Improve the Pavement Quality

2. Improving crossings at conjunctions In terms of improving the continuity of the pedestrian space, changes will made at where Pratt St and Bayham St intersects and the conjunction of Camden St and Camden

Increasing the continuity of crossings

Road. and south to the intersection. For people who want to go to the Currently there is only one crossing at Pratt and Bayham

other three directions need to walk extra 80 m to the crossings

St, which is south-north orientated at the western side

in the middle of the streets. As the pedestrian flow at these two

of the crossing. Similar problems can also be seen at the

intersections are high, adding extra crossings to connect the

intersection of Camden St and Camden Road, which has

rest of the roads will provide more convenience and eliminate

two crossings that are all west-east oriented at the north

jaywalking to a large extent.

EVALUATION

Thamesmead Regeneration 2019.01-03 Module: Urban Form Formation Group Project

This project takes a close look at a vacant land in Thamesmead, specically focusing on bringing the prosperity to the town and highlighting the town centre.

Through the reasearch and exploration, a form based on the urban morphology was proposed. Apart from that, this proposal also aims to accomodate open space into this area in terms of designing spatial nodes into parks and allocating squares within building blocks. By doing so, a connection between the town centre and the reset of land would be facilitated and the space and opportunity for people to interact and communicate can be created to.

Context Thamesmead is a London district in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Bexley.

The original master plan for Thamesmead included several ambitious developments, promising potential residents that it would be the town of the future. It was intended to provide 60,000 people with new modern homes through a mix of maisonettes, terraced housing and Corbusian towers (Markowitz, 2017). However, soaring expenses resulted in a scaling down of the original master plan. Plans for several promised developments were abandoned and residents realized that their ‘dream’ city was never arriving (BBC, 2014).

During the 1970s, Thamesmead began to decline, as it was being used as a sink estate where the current wealthy residents moved out as poorer residents moved in (BBC, 2014).

Existing urban fabric of Thamesmead

1870

1970

1990

Present

DLR RIVER BUS RAIL EXTENDED OVERGROUND LINE EXTENDED DLR

S trength River Thames

African immigrants are the second largest group apart from the English

Residen�al

Re�al Morgage is the most common tenure condition

Residen�al Residen�al

Mixed Use Mid-age, ranging from 30-40 is the highest population

Green Space

Re�al

1. Large existing green area - giving opportunity for parks and green corridors along the river bank.

2. Large vacant sapce - the potential for full development

W eakness

1. High crime rate 2. The established buildings are in the form of clusters with an enclosed open space in the middle 3. Buildings are denser in the districts around the town center, while the town center contains less but larger volume buildings.

4. The town center is independent from main roads and far away from the established plots.

5. Most of the roads are designed as caraccessible 6. Public transportation is underdeveloped; only a few bus stations are located at Central Way.

O pportunity

Current building types in Thamesmead: high density and lacks open space

1. DLR and London overground is under planning in this area 2. Rail lines connecting to central London - more people could be brought here to stimulate the development

T hreaten 4m

4m

12m

2m

Current street section, showing the dominance of motor vehicle of the street

2m 4.5m

1. Large development could damage the enviornment 2. People might not be willing to move in due to the current development condition

Masterplan of the vacant land, showing the new urban form

Similar form of the building cluster with the exisitng ones, yet the open space within each cluster is emphasized

Proposed urban form of the vacant land: based on the urban morphology, the form maintains the continuity with the existing fabric.

Proposal Consideration The overall form of the newly-planned site will be a continuity of the current site in order to fit well into the existing urban fabric. Therefore the form of the districts is based on the topography, and the buildings are still arranged as clusters.

Proposed road system and spacial nodes formed accordingly

Illustration showing the proposal of designing spatial nodes into open space for people's gathering, thereby facilitates communication and interaction

Illustration showing the elevation of proposed design

Nevertheless, the space between buildings will be enlarged, since narrow streets or dead corners often lead to crimes and antisocial behaviors. To simultaneously build a less dense area and meet the housing demand, heights of the new buildings will be increased, varying from 10 to 15 stories to create an intriguing city skyline Within the site, three major roads will be accommodated: the high street running through the site east-to-west; the other two are in the northsouth direction, which connects the community in the hinterland with the waterfront area. In addition, two streets will be deviated from the high street, directing people to the town centre and the waterfront respectively. Squares and parks are designed at the intersections of the main roads as spatial nodes to welcome people to gather

Magic 2019.09-12 Module: Creative Design and Practice Group Project

Our project is a design abstraction of the concept

of imbuing an object with power, meaning and

mythology. We researched manipulation techniques and case studies, and abstracted the research into an installation. This project commenced with the creation of the myth that St Paul’s was

saved by divine power during the blitz bombings.

We

understood

perception curated

a

magic

and

set

as

the

manipulation

imagination,

of

manipulation

and

of

thereby

techniques,

specifically, authority, bias, physical framing, storytelling

and

body

language,

to

create

a

performance which would catalyse imagination and create ambiguity and depth in the stone.

The second incident is the London stone.

It is a historic landmark located at 111 Cannon Street. It is considered to be the original piece of limestone once securely fixed in the ground and was firstly recorded around the year 1100. However, its significance is emphasized even more by the way it is displayed and the legendary story passed down generation by generation.

Hatton Garden is famous for the heist happened there. After the heist happened, there was no evidence, but three holes left on the wall, and no one had ever thought the crime was committed by three elderly men in their 70s.

The mystery was created by the conspiracy to conceal or disguise criminal property.

The photo of St. Paul survives made St. Paul’s Cathedral magical as it was not damaged during the blitz. This made people believe that Britain was protected by a divine power and the hope kept them fighting in WW2.

More in-depth analysis was conducted regard to St. Paul’s Cathedral and its magical survival illustrates the idea of magical realism.

Site searching

The concept of magic realism was firstly focused as it is a way

After the initial research, the image St. Paul Survives was

of telling real stories but adding magical elements. Based

chosen to futher carry on the project, focusing on the dual

on this definition, we started to focus on the incidents that

realities created by editting the identical image differently

became unusual and unbelievable because of the stories they

and respectively pubished by German and British newspaper,

carry and three sites were firstly considered: Hatton Garden,

this project deconstructs magic as a series manipulation

London stone, St. Paul’s Cathedral.

techniques that creates multiple realities.

Inspired by 3D drawings, we used colours to reveal and hide different realities: red patterns and green acetate sheet for the British perspective, while green patterns and red acetate sheet are to reveal the pilot’s view during the blitz.

Commodity

Conspiracy

Showing the stone as a

While the other reality aimed

commodity, displaying the

to s h o w t h e co n s p i ra c y,

rock as a founding stone of

which is St. Paul’s Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral

is cracking and this fallen stone was the evidence of the conspiracy

Continuing from the idea of guiding the audience

display in front of the newspaper report as well as

and revealing two realities, this installation was

eyes creeping from the peephole, while the group

designed to reveal multi realities of one object.

at the other side view rock from the peephole, seeing the other group from window as the crowd

Illustrations showing the scenario of viewing

comes to admire the precious stone, flash light

the same rock from two sides and percieve two

mimicking the effect of the crowd taking pictures

realities. One group would view the conspiracy of

of the stone will also be showed to the “peephole”

the stone from the big window and see the rock

group.

Framing Viewing The design for the final magic show includes a series framing.

Firstly, instead of creating a box to display the rock, we purchased a limestone and made use of the landing space on the 2nd floor in the building. The glass door between the lift space and the landing became a natural separation for two groups to view the stone at the same time.

Emailing Then we emailed all the critics before the crit day. The email only contains the title "St. Paul’s Stone" and the pictures of the limestone, aiming to trigger the curiosity and imagination to make people wonder what is the meaning behind the stone.

Animation The storyboard shows the plan of an abstract animation that was inspired by John Morena and 59 Productions, which was planned to be projected at the wall facing the stairs. This animation aimed to use to abstract geometry forms and symbols to imply the conspiracy of the stone.

Display the stone as a museum - imbuing credibility in the stone Referring to the research on the authority revealed through museum displays as a manipulation technique, we also made a plinth and a casing out of plywood and acrylic sheets, guiding the viewer to imagine the reality of stone through the way it displays.

Scene 1: Transporting the stone

Ritualistic - Studying of gestures A film was editted, aiming to bring the stone to people’s eyesight in a bizarre way and create an even more subtle impact to trigger the debate over the reality of the stone. In order to achieve that, we added a series of ritualistic gestures to strengthen uncertainty of the stone.

Scene 2: Putting the stone on the plinth

Scene 3: Cleaning the stone

Scene 4: On display

In order to demonstrate the professionalism, wearing black and blue nitrile gloves were consistent throughout the film. The scenes in the film, however, were less continued. It was formed by short clips as we intended to leave enough imaginary space for the viewers to put clues together and form the reality they believe in.

Perceiving the Scale 2019.11-2020.02 Module: Creative Design and Practice Individual Project

What is the scale of a space?

Small or big, what can be the boundary of it?

Can the perception of a space's scale be altered?

This work aims to demonstrate findings through the exploration, research, and experiments: the perception of the scale of a space can be

manipulated through different techniques. In fact, perception of a space’s scale can be

completely subjective, there is no universal definition for a space of being small or big.

Clips from the final film, showing the studying result that the perception of a space's scale is subjective

Altering the Scale Senario I: Small lift The lift in the Science Library was firstly selected. It is on the righthand side to the entrance and has around 0.7m in width, 1m in depth, and 2m in height. It is seldomly used by people. “It is too small, it feels very crowded even when I take it by myself.” That’s how most of the people describe this lift.

Test I Referring to the “contrasting ” method, I decided to create an “even smaller ” lift by making a model that only allows people to put their heads in it. Also, the details such as the buttons were engraved on the grey card by laser cutter to imbue the realness and refer to the techniques used by the tea house, which is leading the viewer to the details.

As the size human head, which is around 22cm from the back of the head to the nose and 18cm from the left ear to the right ear, the dimension of the first iteration is 19cm in width and 37.4cm in height. Therefore, people can put their heads in the model from the back so only the environment in the model is precepted by putting their faces in it. However, the participants in the test did not feel many obvious changes regarding to the scale of the lift as they said without blocking the back part, they did not feel they are in a smaller space but remaining in the original lift.

Test II Based on the feedback, I enlarged the lift model and removed the bottom part of the model so the testers can wear the this model – having the entire head in the enclosed space.

After using this model, the participants only felt “more comfortable” after taking off the model, rather than detecting the changes of the scale. The deep-rooted memory of this lift, which is the lift being a small space might have a considerable effect on the experiments’ results, as the lift is a familiar environment and numerous studies on the lift have shaped a preconception of lift being a small space for the public.

Senario II: Small British Kitchen Moving on from the lift test, I intended to re-apply the techniques to the kitchen. As one of my on-going research project is about the strong relationship between Chinese family culture and domestic space in a transcultural environment, I conducted several interviews with Chinese people who are current living British cities. All interviewees emphasized the point that they wish they could have a larger kitchen in their British homes.

In Chinese culture, Kitchen is an essential space in Chinese people's home as being able to prepare food for all family members represents the union of a family, which is considered as the happiness that Chinese pursues for.

Therefore, I further proceeded the research and applied the techniques to make a kitchen feel bigger.

As the study in the book, the Hidden Dimension,

Based on the result, the table where the arms performs the

states, people feel the space small when they

actions require more space, especially for the area where the stove

bump into things. Knowing this fact , an entire

and sink located, more space is needed to avoid knocking pots

outfit was designed to record the movement in

or arms on the wall. This is due to the cooking style that Chinese

order to compare which part of the body is used

people prefer- fried food and they also hand-wash the dishes more

the most in a kitchen. Enlarging the area that is

often as dishes with fried food are often more oily and need to be

used more often in a kitchen to create a spatial

carefully cleaned. On the other hand, the floor area is not required

memory that the kitchen is large enough to

that much even though it is more limited than the area at the top.

proceed the kitchen’s functions.

Test I

Test II 500.00

200.00

?225.00

180.00

The first iteration was strictly follow the

Going on from the previous

proportion of the kitchen and scaled it down

test, I changed the overall

to only provide the space for a head in the

shape of the kitchen’s model

position of looking forward. The model was also

into a square, and the inner

put on four columns that have 1.4m in height,

boundaries are designed into

which allows people to walk into the model

8cm far away from the head

and percept the space, aiming to restore the

as the minimum distance for

experience of being in the kitchen as much as

human eyes to focus is 5-10

possible to eliminate the impact from factors

cm. In addition, I also reduced

other than the scale.

the height of the model.

In terms of proceeding the experiment, I asked a Chinese friend to experience small model as she is less familiar with my kitchen so the result becomes less likely to be affected by any memories or preconceptions.

I asked her to go into the real kitchen firstly, have a brief glance at the furniture in the kitchen, then go into the small model. After staying in the small model for a few minutes, the participant would be asked to go back to the original kitchen and see if the scale is feeling changed.

After testing, the participant explained that she felt the kitchen is much deeper than she firstly experienced and she felt the gaps

By doing so, so that all details can be included in the eyesight, the participant

between cupboards and other furniture

could turn around freely and fully explored model’s space.

were actually very big as she thought all the things were closely touch each other.

Same procedures were asked to the participant to test the impact of this model,

However, not being able to fully turn her

yet the change to this model made it less relate to the real kitchen. When she

head in the model made she feel the kitchen

went into the model, she felt like experiencing a new space rather than thinking

even narrower than the beginning.

of the kitchen.

Combining all the tests’ results, the final model was made, which includes the following features: height maintained proportional to the original kitchen, length-width ratio changed to around 2:3, cupboards at the top right were pushed more inwards, sink along with the cupboard underneath were extended to both right and left side, the window is put in the middle but remained the same proportion to the wall it is on.

In the final test, I again asked the participant to walk into the real kitchen first, went into the first model that did not change anything except for the scale, then experienced the final model that includes subtle changes based on the previous experiments, finally asked the participant to back to the original kitchen.

After two rounds of manipulating the perceptive scales, the participant stated that during her final visit to the real kitchen, she was fully aware of all the details of the kitchen and created a sense of the size of each space (gaps between furniture and the size of cupboard etc.) within the kitchen, when all the observed details suddenly increased sizes, she unconsciously believed that the overall space must be huge to contain all the items. In fact, she also believed that the final model with all the subtle changes is reflecting the real kitchen, as the contrast between two models and her surreal sense in the real kitchen made her automatedly created a link between the real kitchen and impact from the manipulated model space.

Subjectivity of Scale: Small Space. Big Space

M o v i n g o n f ro m t h e s m a l l space in the real life, I further abstracted the techniques of changing the perceptive scales to create an intervention. The intervention is two identical spaces and connected them by a channel with two shrunken boxes in it. By creating different scales for the perception, people walking from one space then through the channel to the second space, they would feel the second space is bigger than the first one.

The dimension of the two identical space at two ends is 1.2m *1.5m*2m, which is defined as a small in the book, the Hidden Dimension. While the dimension of smaller boxes in the middle is based on the results from the previous research: one of the small boxes is 0.31m*0.39m*0.52m – each wall is 8 cm away from the face to allow eyes to focus; the smallest box is 0.18m*0.22m*0.3m – only leaving the space for a head and all walls are stick to face.

The illustration showing the procedures of walking through the intervention and how the perception would change.

In order to be more easily constructed, the structure for the 1:1 scale intervention was changed to use 10 columns made of cardboard to support and plain cardboards were used to support the two small boxes in the middle, the rest part is covered by thick wrapping paper.

The corner of the living in my rented flat was selected as the site to construct the intervention since two walls of the corner can be made use of. Also, light from the window of the living room can project into the series spaces from the top, thus enough light is provided for people walking through the enclosed space and enable them to carefully observe the space and percept the scale of it as well.

A film that shows the process of a person walks into the first small space, then passes through the channel in the middle and finally enters another space in the end of the space sequence

Finished 1:1 scale intervention, which was used to produce the final film

was created. Different scales of human figure illustrations were also added to impy the scale of each space. The camera follows the person and shows the viewer the process of preceiving a space’s scale. When it comes to the end, the actual boundaries of last space was not filmed but the person’s behaviors after entering the space was showed, creating the ambiguity of the actual scale of final space and giving the viewer enough imaginary space.

Redesign Umbrella 2019.09-12 Module: Engineering Design Individual Project

This project focused on redesigning a product that

is

curretly

unrepairable,

unreusable,

unreferbishable, and unrecycable. Through the exploration project the

of

evokes

existing

redesigning the

umbrella,

rethinking

commodity

is

of

designed

the and

this way used

Context Umbrellas play an important role in our

methods of extending the length of an

daily life. Building on my own experience,

umbrellas’ life cycle in order to change the

umbrellas are one of the most common

current consumption mode.

consumables as any heavy rainfall or strong wind could easily break an umbrella and it is

Therefore, the principle approach of this

often found to be hard to repair.

project is redesigning an umbrella into an assembly style so that each component can

Based on the bried that asks to select a

be taken of and replaced with a new one –

currently unrecyclable product, redesigning

no need to throw away the entire umbrella

it so it can be modular and become part of

for one broken part.

circular economy: to be repaired, reused, refurbished, and recycled. As the research

Being able to assemble not only makes

shows above, an umbrella contains nylon

the umbrella repairable, but also meets

canopy which is an unrecyclable material,

the consumer's need for different sizes of

more importantly, umbrellas represent

umbrellas as well as the aesthetic choice of

the linear-economy products, which are

various styles of canopy. Thereby reducing

“designed to be thrown away”. Therefore,

the waste of repeatedly purchasing different

this redesign project aims to explore the

sizes and styles of umbrellas.

Instead of using a series of metal strings and stick pulling each other, this iteration achieves foldability by designing each section of the rib into a sunken structure and the sizes of rib sections are increasingly smaller as getting further away from the center, so the outer sections of ribs can be folded into the sections that are closer to the center. In this design, the overall size can be adjusted by the number of sections taken out.

This iteration can be further divided into three parts, designing assembly ribs, designing assembly shaft, and designing assembly canopy. Laser cutting 2D components from cardboard and glued together by hands was the main method for this iteration. Stronger materials such as wooden plates and 3D printed SLS were also used for the shaft’s prototype making. Strips cut from shopping bags were attached to a canopy taken from a real umbrella to mimic a new style of canopy that is proposed to be entirely made of polypropylene in real life

Each rib consists three pieces of rectangular carboard: one would be put at the bottom; two other pieces are at erect position and glued at two long sides of the bottom piece.

For the section that would be spread out, its length of three rectangular pieces is shorter than the section that would be connected to the main shaft, and size of width of its bottom piece needs to be reduced as well, so that it can be folded into the sunken slot of its adjacent section.

Two sets of identical holes were drilled at the

in the middle was attached at the end of the

length of one section of rib, width is the

end of each section of rib respectively. having a

bigger section. The round piece would be the

accumulated height of eight ribs. In addition,

metal string bunched through two sets of holes

joint that connect each rib to the main shaft.

the shape of a folded umbrella similar to a book, which can be more easily to fit in a

can connect two sections together and provide an axis for the smaller section to rotate as well.

Another round piece of cardboard with a hole

As the idea was when the umbrella is fully

backpack than the current cylinder shape of a

folded, all ribs will be aligned at one side of

folded umbrella.

the shaft and the length will be same as the

The final prototype was combining three designs (assembly

nylon canopy by stainless-steel splinting pins. Besides, an

ribs, assembly shaft, and assembly canopy) in iteration

additional runner and a tray that acts as stretchers were

2 together. It consists laser cut ribs; stainless steel bolts

made into the interlocking style so the position of ribs can

and nuts used to combine each section of ribs together;

be further secured and these two components themselves

3D printed shaft; polyethylene strips attached to the real

can be taken off as well

Through the process of redesigning an umbrella,

of new feature. For example, before coming up with the

I found that it is relatively easy to create one fully

new approach of achieving foldability, the project became

operational component, while the obstacle of a

very hard to be pushed forward. Finally, the good qualities

design is to combine a series of components and all

of the current umbrellas need to be carefully considered

of them need to function properly. Also, redesigning a

and maintained in the new design as much as possible in

product that has been fully developed and functioning

order to maintain competitiveness in the market since no

perfectly can be challenging as it is hard to jump out of

one would be willing to buy a sustainable umbrella that

the deep-rooted paradigm of how the current products

has sacrificed the advantages such as compact style and

function, and sometimes it can restrain the realization

light weight of the current umbrellas.

"See-Through Wall" 2018.09-2019.05 Module: Computing for Creative Practice Individual Project

This project takes place in North Cloister, which is a space gathering different people and doing various activities. Therefore, reconstructing the north-facing wall of North Cloister into a "See-Through Wall" that contains a hollow structure not only allows passengers at the terrace to see the diversity of activities exist in a college campus, but more importantly, the changes of light and shadow created by the “SeeThrough Wall� brings new vitality to this space.

ALIGNING LONG BOARDS ALONG THE ORIGIANL

DEMOLISHING THE

WALL BOUNDARY

ORIGIANL WALL

II

I

III

EMBEDDING A COLUMN

EACH BOARD IS 10MM THICK.

BETWEEN TWO SEGMENTS

THE INTERVAL BETWEEN TWO

OF GRATING

TOP BOARDS IS 30MM, 90MM FOR THE REST. FOR THE WINDOW, THE SPACE BETWEEN TWO BOARDS IS 180MM ONE SEGMENT CONSISTS OF 48 WOODENBOARDS

INSERTING SHORTER BORADS BETWEEN TWO LONG BOARDS TO CARVE THE SHAPE OF THE IV

WINDOWS

V

VI

Formation of the "See-Through Wall"

Choosing the style of illustration aims to create a narrative of experiencing the "See-Through Wall" from the perspective of a normal passenger in North Cloister.

Drawings aim to explain how the "See-Through Wall" was formed and what it would look like after establishment, depict the light effect created by the new façade in the evening and the scene of seeing Wilkins Terrace from the "SeeThrough Wall" from a passerby’s point of view.

This design iterration focuses not only the intervention, but it is also a process of exploring the methods of producing architectural drawings, celebrating the narrative that manifests through a drawing with different styles and using various techniques.

Elevation in the evening

Illustration showing the view of terrace seeing from the wall

Site Plan of UCL Campus

Illustration showing the pespective of the interior

Decolonizing...

2019.01-2019.05 Module: Architectural Research II Individual Research Project

This is an abatraction of thesis that critically approaches the value contained in an urban space and discuss the representaion of an urban space. Through this process, the research aims to deconstruct the meaning of decolonization that is beyond the sorveign of territory. BY proposing the method of decolozing a map, this project argues that decolonization is not only reclaiming the domainance, but also to rethink the existing value and deep-rooted thinking paradigm.

Decolonizing...

intentions, in the case of maps of colonies, they reveal how the colonists understood

Colonization emerges as terminology

their acquired land and how they intend

that describes the relationship between

this land to function. However, many

nations: the native central system is

maps remain unchanged from the colonial

dominated by another country. Therefore,

period, in view of that, the attitude

decolonization becomes a process

towards the land use continues from

overturning the foreign value system and

colonial history as well.

indoctrinating new concepts. The recent

the colonial period. In order to dominate the colony, the British army created different zones according to the local terrain and separated the English and the locals by building “green belts” between zones. Throughout the ages, the concept that linked the use of land to the status has rooted in people’s mind, the locals obey the same land assignment system even

focus on decolonizing education reveals

after the colonial dominance has been

three significance of decolonization,

broken: the zones that were occupied by

which is removing the remaining value

British people have been taken over by

system of colonization, promoting cultural diversification, and more importantly, reclaiming the original power and value.

In view of this, maps are worth forming the discourse of decolonization.

An imposed value system: A map As Rhodes Must Fall indicates, the dominance of the British in South Africa was not only directed at the land occupation but also imposed into the educational system (Chantiluke, Kwoba, and Nkopo, 2018). However, when the British left South Africa, the local university systems stayed the same with the western patterns. As the representative of western attitude towards the local education, Rhodes must fall to completely decolonize the country. In fact, the remnant value system of colonist remains not only in universities’ curriculums but also in a city’s form, which is presented on a map. To this point, a map may be considered as an object that is suitable for decolonizing.

When the colonies regain full sovereignty, changing labels on maps are often superficial. In fact, a map is a representation of the city planners’

Figure 2: The City Map of Boston (2019) The densest area is still the eastern part Source: http://www.orangesmile.com/travelguide/boston/ city-maps.htm

Take the map of Boston as an example, we can see the most prosperous area is located on the east side, along with the curving coastal line. As the rise of Boston was related to its colonial value — a trade center that connected the European continent with America. As a result, the eastern port was the development focus of Boston.

Nevertheless, the same area partition and urban form were continued after the independence of the United States.

The government inherited the colonial planning strategy, which was building Boston into a mercantile city, thus the eastern part in Boston continued under the strengthened development. The establishment of the city government, which was only at a short distance of the busiest trading place, Quincy Market, has proved the intention of strengthening the previous colonial value even more (Lynch, 2001). Owing to the long-existing understanding of Boston being focused on the port trade developments, its rural area was neglected and only a few railroads reached the hinterland, which caused the under-development of the suburb.

Figure 1: The Town of Boston in New England (1725) Areas along the coastal line and east part were the most prosperous for the colonial needs Source: Bonner, John. 43 x 58 cm. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/item/88693226/

Figure 3: The Aerial Photo of City of Delhi (1942): The British built the “green belt” as a method to separate the British and the locals Source: Lynch, K. (2001). Good city form. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp.25-36.

The map of Old and New Delhi reflects a more negative impact of land planning in

Figure 4: The City Map of Delhi (2019): The “green belt” remains Source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Location_map_India_Delhi_EN.svg

the high-castes, those who were powerless remain living in the same old areas . In another sense, the conservation of “green belt” marks the unequal right on land use created by the colonial governance remains and has facilitated a new inequality between social class, which keeps existing.

Even though both the US and India have obtained their sovereignty, the maps still reserve the old urban forms. In the same situation as the colonial universities are experiencing, maps are formulated

by the colonist but the idea of linking

The artist, Elin O’hara Slavick, focused

audience’s action exerted on the model

the land use with inequalities has been

on representing the artificial attacks and

globe to the nature of international affairs

imposed on the locals and carried out by

threats around us. She related colors

in the real world. To be more specific,

them till today. Have we ever asked that

with different scenes and incidents to

the inflammable nature of matchsticks is

if the current urban form benefits local

create a visual impact on the audience.

the same as the nature of borders, while

development most? Do the people want to

In her work “We Are Our Own Enemy:

lighting a single matchstick can set the

locate their homes in the same area where

First Atomic Explosion” (Figure 5), a

entire globe on fire, which indicates that

the colonist arranged them decades ago?

dark hole was drawn in the middle with

the flames of wars raging everywhere.

Thus, I wonder that if we can decolonize

red, orange and white sprayed around it

“First Strick” also shows an advantage of

maps, introspect the colonist attitudes

(Slavic, 1999). The visual impact brought

a 3D physical installation: the audience

towards land utilization, and taking the

by colors reveals the fact that when the

can be engaged not only by viewing it, but

local need into consideration, will the

atomic explodes, a sudden of bombing, a

also allows the audience to interact with

inequality in area development and social

moment of red flash, have resulted in dark

and understand the intention of the artist

class still exist?

and lifeless land and future. Slavick also

by the actual actions of themselves.

used same color composition on a US map Revealing colonial history on a map

indicating all the bombing sites (2000):

A map is depicted by symbols: linear strips

the red brush strokes representing the

and blocks show roads and buildings;

location of bombing were drawn on a dark

areas painted by green and blue represent

background. As the site is interspersed

land and water… As a tool aims to provide people with information, a map often fails to tell the audience the history of an area.

In terms of a city with colonial history, New and Old Delhi, the urban form we see on the current map remains the same with its colonial origin. The city map of Delhi should also be able to inform the audience

Figure 6: “First Strike”

the fact that the colonist allocated land according to different classes of people

Being inspired by the creation of the maps

and the inequality in land use has retained.

as artworks, I would like to divide the

As Alice Procter suggested that a museum

map of Delhi into three concentric circles:

should “display it as you stole it”, which

the circle in the middle is occupied by

means that the history of how an item was

the symbols that represents the British,

obtained by the museum should be told

for example Victorian architectures and

through either the captions or the way it

soldiers wearing red coats; the second

is displayed. Same for the map of Delhi, a remapping need to be proposed to evoke

Figure 5: “We Are Our Own Enemy: First Atomic

circle, which is also the ring in the middle

the thinking about the remnant of colonial

Explosion”

would be painted green, representing the

history on a map.

In the book, The Map as Art, the artists see maps not only as the carriers of the information of countries or terrains, but more importantly, maps become the representatives of emotions, stories and various relationships (Harmon and Clemans, 2009). Within the book, two categories of maps particularly inspired me: Conflicts and Sorrow, and Global Reckoning. Those maps aim to tell the facts that are too often to be neglected by us, moreover, they are tangible expressions of our thoughts and feelings towards those facts.

with outstanding red color lumps, we are surprised or even terrified that the threats are everywhere. “I suppose I want to instill fear back into us,” the artist said.

Indeed, by using symbolic colors, the audience is more likely to feel the map, rather than simply seeing it.

In the map “First Strike” (Figure 6), the artist Doug Beube inserted matchsticks on all the continents of a model of globe.

An international relationship is revealed through this expression: borders are sensitive areas, any actions at the border or changing of borders can light the fire of wars. The using of analogy method is very enlightening, since the map links the

“green belt” invented by the British to separate themselves and the local Indians; the outer-circle would be filled with low and shabby houses, as an area that the locals lived in, all the houses in the outercircle would be black and grey, which suggest that people living there are always under the shadow of upper-level people.

This map would also be an interactive intervention, the central and middle circle can be rotated, while the outer-circle is in a fixed position. When the down side of the central and middle circle is flipped to the top, we see the green belt remains the same position, yet the Victorian architectures and British soldiers in the central circle are

replaced by well-dressed local people and

decolonization was only seen as a political

medicines… all of them have revealed

well-designed buildings. The underside

concept, which is the process of wiping

that the rise of colonialism is closely

of the two inner circles demonstrates

off exotic dominance. Yet examples such

related to the ignorance of traditional

the current condition of the city — the

as the tablets of western medicine and the

cultures. Therefore, these objects were

urban form is a heritage of colonial power

urban form of Delhi represented on a map

presented with the cultural appropriation

and land distribution still functions as

have revealed that decolonization is more

in the exhibition, manifesting that

indications of social status. By interacting

than alternating sovereign, it is, in fact, a

emphasizing the unique value of

with this flexible map, the alternation of

process of reforming the social value and

each culture is an effective method of

state sovereignty can be understood by

perception brought by colonial power.

preventing exotic invasions. With the

the action of rotating part of the map, yet

multicultural developments around the

the unchanged division of land reminds

Today, decolonization can be abstracted

the viewer that the colonial value system

into a new way of thinking and applied

towards the land use still affects the locals

to various areas. Looking back at the

today and the decolonization is necessary.

procedures of decolonization, the

world, colonialism can hardly form.

Bibliography

ultimate purpose is always changing the ways of seeing the long-existing

Chantiluke, R., Kwoba, B. and Nkopo, A.

values, establishing new identities and

(2018). Rhodes must fall. London, pp.3-6.

reclaiming the original power, in which case, the process of decolonization has

Harmon, Katharine A, and Gayle

been conceptualized into a thinking

Clemans. 2009. The Map As Art. New

paradigm. For instance, there is a topic

York: Princeton Architectural Press.

called Decolonizing Birth on Instagram, The view of Delhi under the colonial control: Central circle: occupied by the British Middle circle/Middle ring: the “green belt” Outer-circle: poor houses where the locals lived

one of the posts was a photo of two queer

Lynch, K. (2001). Good City Form.

partners helping to deliver a baby This

Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp.25-36.

process was called decolonization since it is reestablishing a new value and concept

Images:

of giving birth, which is beyond the conventional cognitive system .

Figure 1: The Town of Boston in New England (1725). Bonner, John. 43 x 58

Indeed, this thinking paradigm has applied

cm. Library of Congress Geography and

to a much wider area, many actions

Map Division Washington, D.C.

taken today are actually in accord with

https://www.loc.gov/item/88693226/

the core of decolonization. For example,

The action of rotating part of the map represents the alternation of state sovereignty

human despoiled the dominance of

Figure 2: The City Map of Boston (2019).

nature like a colonist, buildings become

http://www.orangesmile.com/travelguide/

the representative of the occupancy of

boston/city-maps.htm

human on Earth. Today, we promote the idea of sustainability and eco-build as

Figure 3: The Aerial Photo of City of

a method of decolonizing buildings to

Delhi (1942)

allow nature to reclaim its own value and

Lynch, K. (2001). Good city form.

power. With this research, the boundary

Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp.25-36.

of decolonization has been pushed much further and a deeper understanding of the

Figure 4: The City Map of Delhi (2019).

theme has been evoked as well.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Location_map_India_Delhi_EN.svg

The land division remains unchanged after being independent: Central circle: occupied by the high-class people Middle circle/Middle ring: the “green belt” Outer-circle: is still filled with poor houses

Conclusion At the beginning of my research,

Through collaboration with other students, cultural diversity as the

Figure 5: Elin O'Hara Slavick. "We

significance of decolonization can be

Are Our Own Enemy: First Atomic

revealed by their propositions. Consider

Explosion". Alamogoda, USA,1945, 1999.

proposals such as the difference between a place’s local names and exotic ones ;

"Philadephia: The Firebombing of M.O.V. E". USA, 1985, 2000.

the kimono that was globalized in the form of yukata ; the labels of the food

Figure 6: Doug Beube. "First Strick".

categorization in Tesco ; as well as my

(2003-4)

own example of decolonizing western

Qiyin Liu SN: 17029208 BSc Architectural and Interdisciplinary Studies Bartlett School of Architecture Selected Work 2018-2020