Tiancheng Cai Selected Portfolio
Rhode Island School of Design
B.Arch 2025
Tiancheng Cai
b. 2001, Shanghai, China
Contact
TEL: +1 4015337082
Email: tcai@risd.edu
Education Experience
Rhode Island School of Design
B.Arch, 2019-2025
Experimental and Foundation studies, 09.2019-05.2020
sculpture department, 09.2020-05.2021
architecture department, 09.2021-05.2025
accumulated GPA: 3.788/4.0
Concentration in Nature Culture Sustainability Studies (NCSS) program
Honor student
Skills
Software:
Rhinoceros 3D modeling
Climate Studio Grasshopper AutoCAD
Vray Enscape
Revit
Adobe toolkit (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Lightroom, Premiere) CNC machine
Architectural Design:
3D refined model making skills, with understandings of different materiality
2D representational drawings, technical drawings and renderings
Architectural research and analysis
Knowledge in architectural theory and philosophy
Language:
Chinese/ Mandarin
English
Experiences
Professional experiences:
HOK, 6/2024-8/2024
Intern, Chicago, IL
-Responsibility include design iterations, digital modeling, digital rendering, physical modeling, design presentation, diagram drawings, and documentation of completed project on-site.
-Worked on the interior renovation of a headquater space of a firm in Chicago. Joined the team from the start of the project, through conceptual design to schematic design. Worked on different design iterations for the space through physical models. Also heavily used Revit for digital modeling and design, and Enscape for creating 3D representation of the space for internal use and for clients. Worked with the team on the narrative and cllient presentation of the project, creating sets of diagrams.
-Was also involved in other projects. Works include construction drawings, material board making, and the archiving of projects into material library.
GEN architects, 12/2023-2/2024
Intern, Shanghai, China
-Responsibility mainly include conceptual designing, digitial rendering, construction document drawings, representational drawings, and model making.
-Worked on various projects in different locations in China in different phases, including schematic design, design development, and construction document. Aided in the design and representation of the projects.
Skidmore, Owings & Merill (SOM), 6/2023-8/2023
Intern, San Francisco, CA
-Worked with the members of the architecture studio 1 in the project "Terminal 101", a research complex located in South San Francisco in its CD stage. Works involve the design of the two garage buildings which were in collaboration with the artist Ned Kahn, specifically 3D modeling in Rhino, producing massing models, 3D printing, and in-house rendering in Enscape. Participated in DRB meetings with the city's planning comittee.
-Worked in collaboration with the urban design team in a competition for a redevelopment urban planning project in Guangzhou, China. Works involve mainly schematic design and 3D modeling through Rhino and Grasshopper, and in-house rendering using Enscape.
-Participated in site visits of several projects in San Francisco.
MADA s.p.a.m., 6/2022-8/2022
Intern, Shanghai, China
-Responsibility include model making, digital renderings, researches, layout of publicatiions, documentation of files, photography and translation of texts.
-Worked with Qingyun Ma, aided in a variety of projects, including ongoing competitions, publications, exhibitions, and small scale projects.
-Participated closely in two major projects: the design of a small-scale amphitheatre in Yuchuan, Shaanxi, China, and the making of a publication project. In the design of the amphitheatre, I was in charge of the design of the stage and the seatings. Site visit to Yuchuan was also conducted for better documentation fo the site. The publication surrounds the research of the office on the rural architecture in China under the title of Farmlab, including a series of built projects by the office. My work included mainly the layout of the content and communication with graphic designers and publishing houses.
MADA s.p.a.m., 6/2021-8/2021
Intern, Shanghai, China
-Works involved include renderings, digital model making and photo editings.
-Participated in multiple projects and competetions, helping with works including drawing editing and text translation.
-Lead the design of a partition shelf for MADA s.p.a.m.'s new office in Shanghai which was manufactured and is still in use.
Selected academic experiences:
Milan Affordable Housing (shortlisted), 1/2023-4/2023
International competition, Buildner
-The international competition calls for a design strategy for creating affordable housing for the Italian city of Milan as a response to its high costs of living.
-Shortlisted in the competition.
Paper House 8 a paper mill and residence
Under the same roof 18 a community-based food cooperative
What remains of the cloud 32 an architecture for grief in the age of information
Stand by me: reclaiming the walls as commons 44 affordable housing and urban design
Art Shell 54 a pre-fabricated temporary pavilion
Paper House
a paper mill and residence
Project type: studio project
Location: Brooklyn, New York, NY
Programs: paper mill, private residence
Time: 2/2024-5/2024
Studio: This is Paper Instructor: Evan Farley
Paper House proposes a house for a family-owned paper mill plus residence located in Vinegar Hill in Brooklyn. The project revolves around the the structural potential of paper as a construction material. How can paper, this seemingly light material, bear load? Developed from the paper bricks made of the mixed paper materials, the design of the house puts forward its central load-bearing wall constructed of specific tectonics using paper bricks. The house is a structural and tectonic experiment--the paper wall in the middle bears all the compression load (as paper only allows for compression), whereas the diagonal steel structures are put in tension, pulling the cantelevered slabs on the other side of the walls. The structure also results in a unique formal quality. Utilizing the formal language of the slightly curved wall as the organizing principle, programs of working and living are orderly integrated along the two sides of the wall. The wall here becomes a pervasive existence throughout the house, connecting both working and living.
Paper Tectonics
The project starts with a installation showcasing paper tectonics. The installation is a structure made of stacked bricks--each made of a mixture of black paper and white plaster--held in place by several wooden connectors and two cables. The structure poses itself as “unstable” as the top is larger than the bottom. While materially, the proportion of paper in the bricks increases--and density decreases--as it layers up, resulting in a gradient of grey.The curved form is also designed to increase structural stability.
The load bearing wall is a central element of the project. The tectonics of the paper brick wall from the first part results in a curved form. This formal consequence is further studied through the case study of Gunnar Asplund’s Villa Snellman. The house is of a typical early nordic modernist style, whereas the interior boldly imposes a contrasting formal language through the tilted walls.
Case Study--the Curved Wall
The site is located in a largely-residential neighborhood in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn. As a response, the house face the street with the paper mill, whereas the dwelling is tucked behind to face the backyard. A front yard is created by the extended patio on the second floor, confronting the other main street neighboring the site.
The extended patio on the second floor face the street, creating a grey space underneath it for the gateway across the wall , leading to the more private backyard.
The structural system
The “paper wall” is the main load bearing structure of the house. The wall is composed of layered paper bricks, divided into three levels of slightly different forms, stacked on top of each other. These bricks only take compression as paper can only be used for compression. Steel beams and plates in bewteen each level are applied to take tension.
Structurally, the slabs extend on one side of the wall. The diagonal steel structures on the other side of the wall are pulled in tension, keeping the structure stable. The structures naturally forms the two different spaces on the two sides of the wall--the full height open studio space and the more private dwelling space.
Using cement as a binding material, and steel reinforcement, each paper brick is provided with enough structural intergrity. The proportion of paper increases and thickness decreases as the wall goes higher, thus ensuring the structural stability. Materially, the paper serves to reduce the self-weight of the top of the load bearing wall.
1. steel beam
2. steel plate
3. rammed paper brick (binded by cement)
4. steel reinforcement bar
5. stone lintel
The structure forms a full height, open plan paper studio space, with a triangular section, on the ground floor, facing north to the street. The work space is separated from the dwelling space by the paper wall. A walkway is situated on the second floor, cantilevered from the paper wall, given an overview of the studio space. A separate staircase at an angle is integrated into the studio space, giving the workers direct access to the upper floors.
The paper studio faces north towards the street with the signature glazed facade--the working, separated from living, is given more publicity. The indirect north sunlight also gently light up the space, providing it with just enough natural light. The windows created by the elevated roof ridge also guide the north light into the living space.
The other entrance leading into the studio space is located on the front side with the facade. Employees and visitors walk through the facade and enters into the space underneath the stairs inserted at an angle. The stairs provide a vertical circulation for the residents/employees to quickly access the second and third floor dwelling space.
section B-B
Under the same roof
Project type: studio project
Type: Brooklyn, New York, NY
Programs: food production, food retailing, food distribution
Time: 2/2023-5/2023
Studio: Food Future
Team members: Aanya Arora, Xian Chen
Instructor: Arianna Deane a community-based food cooperative
The project proposes the design of a community-based food co-op which is operated by and for the workers’ community in the food industry in Brooklyn, New York, together with a prototype of a larger logistic network composed of other locally based food co-ops. The design proposes a facility that function both as a food factory and a food retailing space. The logistic logic of this new building is the primary focus of the project, aiming to create a new paradigm for a space that merges both consumption and production. An overarching roof structure covers the entire span of the space which function as a load bearing structure through which the food products in process are transported, connecting to the existing freight rail where produces are shipped to and directly unloaded into the factory space.
The site of the project is located at the corss-section of the neighbourhoods of Brownsville, Canarsie, and East Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York, in a largely industrial area. The project starts from the research on food supply chain around the site, showing that there is a lack of food retailings in the area. As a critique of the global capitalist system of corporate production, the project proposes a food co-op within the community, in collaboration with the local unions. The co-op is thought to be completely operated by and open to the worker community in the site to be able to reach some extent of the goal of food sovereignty.
The project proposes to reimagine the paradigm of the food supply where food production and retailing collapse into the same site, but meanwhile are also connected to a larger network of agriculture and other food co-ops on a regional scale through the intervention of infrastructures.
The existing freight rail along the site--the Bay Ridge branch-that is currently underused is utilized as the transportation infrastructure that connects different facilities within the food supply chain--fresh produces from the farms are transported into the building through the freizght rail and the food products produced within the facilities are transported again to other food co-ops. The food factory is designed to directly incorporate the rail inside it.
The food factory is designed to intervene its urban context in a direct gestrue. The form of the building is a reverse stepping, which creates spaces for unloading on two different levels--for the freight rail and for the vehicle transportation. The structure is pependicular to the rail on plan, thus creating a triangular plaza space facing the main street, welcoming the customers and workers.
Form generation: the form is conceived as an overarching roof structure that contains horizontal circulations of the products supported by five large columns that contain vertical circulations of the products.
The freight and products all circulate through the pulley system attached to the roof structure and are eventually sent down to the reailing space on the ground floor through the big columns.
An energy battery is situated at the entrance of the buidling which stores power and process water. The power and water is delivered through the roof structure as well.
The design of the building is organized around the machines of the space. An unloading system focusing on the specific design of the cargo is integrated into the delivery system (left). Each hollowed column holds an elevator inside to deliver goods between the floors (top right image).
What remains of the cloud
an architecture for grief in the age of information
Project type: studio project
Location: Providence, RI
Type: data center, memorial
Time: 10/2023-12/2023
Studio: States of Exception
Team members: Individual project
Instructor: Pablo Castillo Luna
The project proposes a small scale data center plus a memorial where citizens come to eliminate and mourn their excessive data. The project focuses on the materiality of the digital which is considered material-less most of the time, trying to capture and manifest the very physical trace of the digital data. The architecture is thought to be a device to capture and reproduce the cloud (both digitally and physically). The building picks up the rainwater (cloud in its liquid form) and transforms it, through the excessive heat produced by the data, into the form of cloud again, and eventually releases it back into the atmosphere to complete a cycle. On the other hand, the building is designed to be a material memorial of the data which is eventually transformed into a rammed earth structure temporarily held in the architecture. The rammed earth structure itself becomes the material archive of the lost data as it slowly gets run down by the erosion of moisture from the “cloud”.
Site Condition
The cycle of the cloud
The site is to the north of the highway in Providence, RI, at a historically industrial zone. The site is currently in an unfinished state where it is covered by gravel, as if waiting for some sort of construction to happen.
The digital cloud--often regarded as immaterial--has its enourmous material consequences manifested on a planetary scale. The system of physical infrastructure that supports the existence of the “cloud” produces physical footprint at each ring, disposing its waste into the atmosphere. In this sense, the meteorological cloud is exactly a physical archive of the digital cloud.
1. lockers
2. staff room: office, change room
3. weather station
4. computer room 5. server rack 6. MEP + control room
Capturing the cloud
In an architectural scale, the cloud is monitored, captured and recycled by the building. The rainwater (cloud in its liquid form) is first collected by the sloped roof and delivered to the gutters where it is then pumped up to be reused as a coolant for the servers. The heated water are then sprayed in the form of mist, forming “cloud” again inside the architecture, which is eventually released back into the atmosphere.
1. sloped roof and guttter for rainwater collection
2. drainage
3. pump
4. coolant pipes for servers
5-1. drizzle: cloud formation from mist
5-2. drizzle: ventilation
1. depositing the electronic devices at the lockers upon entering
2. uploading the excessive cloud data at the computer room
3. mourning the lost data at the central hall
4. bodily embracing the “cloud” as walking along the rammed earth wall
The main load bearing structures are the thickened rammed earth walls, a typology learnt from the typology of cemeteries and memorials. A scaffolding made of light-weight steel is applied here to provide for the stability of the space. Materially speaking, the rammed earth is employed as a thermal mass to cool down the heat produced by the operation of the servers.
Temporal evolution
In the long term cycle of the cloud in the building, the rammed earth gets slowly eroded. Eventually, after the scaffolding is taken down, the rammed earth will slowly lose its structural integrity.Together with the building, the data stored inside will also fade away. What remains is a ruin of what once was a data center, and itself now an archive of the traces of the ephemeral clouds it once tries to capture.
Stand by me: reclaiming the walls as commons
affordable housing and urban design
Project type: competition
Location: Milan, Italy
Status: shortlisted
Programs: affordable housing, public space
Time: 1/2023-5/2023
Team members: Xian Chen, Pui Ki Ng
Being an important economic hub of Italy and to the entire Europe, Milan—after its post-war transition from an industrial city to an economy led by a pioneering international fashion and design industry—has developed to be one of the major destinations for migrants, those not only from within the country but also from across the world. This, under the larger context of late capitalism, results in a transition of family structure from the traditional bigger family to a smaller atom-ized family. The transformation of work mode represented by these demographic changes, and propelled by the COVID pandemic, also nurtured a new norm of the blurring of the boundary between working and living. With an acute awareness of these challenges the city faces, the project proposes an urban scale intervention as a response to the need for new types of affordable housing that can accommodate to and evoke the new norms of living in the specific urban context.
across and along the ring road
The walls of Milan
As the city of Milan can be clearly identified by three concentric circles on the map, which from the innermost to the outermost, is each a city wall built in a later historical period (the Roman Wall—the Medieval Wall—the Spanish Wall), the now-demolished walls become important transportation infrastructure of the city connecting its downtown with its suburban areas. The project specifically focuses on the Spanish wall which now forms the outermost ring of the concentric circles. After its demolition in the late 1800s, the ring road has become the crucial threshold between its older downtown area and the fast-growing suburb, connecting the major public greeneries within the city—a reversal of the duty of the walls from separation to connection.
As the ring defines the border between the downtown area and suburb of the city, the median strip becomes an important threshold where circulation happens both along the ring and across the ring. As for now, the ring road holds a series of public transportation routes and nodes, and also connects the suburb to the historical city center through three major public green corridors of the city. Thus the project proposes to place the housings along the ring road as it naturally provides the residents with immediate access to the public infrastructures of the city. A series of public programs are also inserted into the ring road as a parallel to the housings which function to facilitate public spaces in these median strips which are currently underused.
movements
The choosing of the siting (where along the ring road?) is driven by the weighing of the economic aspects: the median strips being a public property owned by the city, which is used largely only as parking space has a huge potential to be transformed into a mixture of public service on the ground floor and housing on the upper floors. Being a public property, it lowers the cost of acquiring the land for the developer and thus makes the housing itself more affordable. before after
New norms of living
The project defines its target residents as the migrants of the city and the non-traditional atomized families ranging from freelance workers to smaller core families. The project thus proposes a form of communal living where the private dwelling is reduced to its minimum and the shared living is promoted and maximized. Each dwelling unit consists of a shared space where communal programs including cooking, dining, and working are situated and private spaces—being bedrooms—where private living happens. The circulation is designed with a hierarchy of publicness/privacy where residents enter from the most public space to the most private space.
The form achieves porosity through multiple open air platforms on the public levels, opening up the views for the existing buildings along the road.
Project type: studio project
Location: Providence, RI
Programs: art exhibition, performance art
Time: 2/2022-5/2022
Studio: Architectural Design
Instructor: Spencer Hayden
Art Shell is the design of a pre-fabricated temporary pavilion for performance art and exhibition, located in Providence, RI. The design, based on the principle of unifying the structure and the form, starts from the research of the structure of a turtle shell. A modular structural system made of CLT modules is deployed in the design, together with a central ring and tensile cables, to achieve structural integrity without the need of any foundation. The structural system, as learnt from the turtle shell, is both a structure and a functional form and shelter without an outer skin. Standardized pieces improve the portability as all components can be prefabricated and installed on site within a short period of time. The design is centered around the temporariness of the structure where the temporariness of the art performances is also integrated into the design of the structure.
final model 1"=8'
physical model testing: the transition of materiality
The form of the pavilion is inspired by the structure of the turtle shell. A modular system of triagular modules in compression is deployed. The design process is very model-heavy, where it evolved from paper model which is more “material-less” to wood model which takes more consideration of the tectonics and materiality. Such transition of materiality requires the further design of the detailed tectonics--as one piece of wood cannot bend three different ways due to the wood grain, each module is divided into four pieces including three tabs inserted into one core. Thus, each tab is able to bend in a different way as the direction of the wood grain can now be manipulated.
The mechanical iris on each component is responsive to the solar radiation at differnt times of a day. Depending on the different solar exposure one component receives, the the iris will open or close up--the aperture would open up where sun light does not directly shine into and would shrink where sun light is stronger. In addition to the solar comfort the design provides, this is also a means to transfer the universal design to become site-specific.