Section of Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart Case study, individual Fall 2023
Professor: Marc Tsurumaki (LTL)
Staycation Alongside a Railway Engagement,
Staycation Alongside a Railway
Semester: Spring 2024
Location: Ohio City, Cleveland, OH
Type: Hotel, Recreation
Size: Gross 22663 sf, Site 83690 sf
Cleveland is rich in railways in both historical and current-day contexts, as a transportation and industrial center. The rapid transit Redline, linking the Airport and the Downtown, has a stop next to the project site in Ohio City. The Greenway Trail alongside brings recreational connections to the project site.
On a narrow slope of lightrail trench, this design uses form and spatial distributions to tribute the railway system once extensive and now still important for the site neighborhood.
Hotels are often seen as simply a stop for resting on a trip, instead of a destination itself for enjoyment. This design proposes different layers of interaction and privacy. The guests can hide back to enjoy their staycation in private courtyard suites, or go out and interact with others at the shared spaces or public realms within or out of the project boundary.
Tutors: Joel Kerner, et al
Collaborator: J.R. Hernandez Brito
All works presented were produced, contributed, or revised by Y. Wang, unless specifically noted.
of the Site, the Rails, and the City
Map
Neighborhood and Project Axon
Public connections from street to the Greenway, through the project site, creating interactions
Site & Project Cross Section
Semi-roofed courtyards: offer privacy for staycations with outdoor spaces for each unit, a “buffer zone” between outside and the guestroom
Access and Egress
Program Diagram
Distribution of Mechanical Rooms
Guest Room Plan (First Floor), post-semester revised individually
First Floor Plan, largely by J.R. Hernandez Brito
Envelop designed jointly, drawings largely by J.R. Hernandez Brito
Chunk Model was built jointly
Co-Living Community for the Arrivals
Semester: Fall 2021
Location: Syracuse, NY
Type: Residential
Size: Gross 22320 sf, Site 31080 sf
More than 10,000 refugees were settled in Central New York between 2014 and 2024. They are key for the region to combat population loss. Upon arrival the refugees face an entirely new world for their survival: no homes, no jobs, no money, language barrier, and culture barrier with the local residents. The newcomers have huge difficulties starting their new lives in the new environment.
In his book “Arrival City”, journalist Doug Saunders emphasizes the autonomy, quality, and scene of community of an “arrival city” for immigrants. While offering shelters for individuals and families, arrival city also has to ensure the engagement of the arrivers with each other as well as the local community.
This project located in northern Syracuse welcomes newcomers with modular housing units adjustable according to the residents’ family needs and creates a sense of belonging to the community for them, while encouraging them to interact with the locals to fit in with the new environment.
Tutor: Marcos Parga (MAPAa) Individual project
ROOFTOP TERRACE (FUTURE FLOOR EXPANSION)
Flexible housing units: can be modified according to the needs of the residents. Every unit has its own bathroom and storage
The columns leave the structural possibility of expansion when needed
Interaction spaces: a food lab and a multipurpose hall can attract local people and have interactions with the residents, helping them to fit in with the new environment and make profit
Shared functional spaces: boost social interactions and make the residents feel as a part of the community
Cross and Long Section
LPC Headquarters
Semester: Fall 2023
Location: West Village, Manhattan, NY
Type: Civic Center
Size: Gross 16388 sf, Site 11873 sf
Historic mid-rise vernacular brick architecture composed the urban fabric of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village as a Historic District certified since 1969. The NYC Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) directs the neighborhood’s development.
The project converts the Northern Dispensary building into a new LPC headquarters with expansion. It is a triangle neo-Georgian structure built in 1831 serving medical assistance to the neighborhood, forming an iconic civic site with the adjacent Christopher Park and Stonewall Inn.
This design seeks to bring a more monumental and civic architecture that frames the craftsmanship of local buildings and LPC’s core policy of historical facade preservation. It creates new opportunities for engagements with minimally invasive intervention to the existing facade except for a few key interactions, turning the historic building into a living exhibit.
Tutors: Rami Abou-Khalil (SOM) & Ivi Diamantopoulou (New Affiliates)
Collaborators: D. Anderson & E. Fox
All works presented were produced, contributed, or revised by Y. Wang, unless specifically noted.
Render by D. Anderson
New space above the origional building: symbolizes LPC’s rules over the historic buildings and districts
Encasement: wraps a new facade around the original building, turning it into an artifact, parallel to how LPC typically treats historical buildings.
Engagement: surrounds the original building with circulation, creating experiences of viewing the original building from previously impossible perspectives.
Original Condition
New Space Above Original
Encasement: New Facade
Scale Up + Road Become Plaza
Engagement: Exterior Circulation
Main Structures for Expansion
Light: New Spaces
Dark: Original Conditions
2F
1F
Ground Plan
by D. Anderson
Floor Plans
Baynard Center of Visual Arts
Semester: Spring 2023
Location: City of London, the United Kingdom
Type: Public Venue, Residential
Size: Gross 33215 m2, Site 12308 m2
Baynard House, a mechnical and data center in busy Central London, is uninventing and hidden. Its invisibility and darkness barrier people need to encounter to interact with the site, despite being surrounded by multiple population hotspots.
This design changes the formerly isolated and flat building designed for the machine into an iconic and dynamic building that serves the artist community as well as draws tourists from nearby hotspots. The proposal incorporates current elements into design strategies as critiques and inspirations.
The new Baynard, as an Arts Center, aims to create dialogues between the public and the surrounding areas through arts (exhibition, education) and circulation. will also invite artists to resident and work in the Center.
Tutors: Vanessa Lastrucci & Amber Bartosh
Collaborators: V. Riego & N. Rotolo
All works presented were produced by Y. Wang, unless specifically noted.
Render production by R. Viego and N. Rotolo
Paul’s Cathedral
The existing Baynard House building humbly sitting on the shore of Thames River across Tate Modern, below the St. Paul’s Cathedral in this picture.
Picture taken by Y.Wang in Blackfriars Station, Feb 2023. The red frame indicates the Baynard House.
Map of Tourism and Landmarks around the Baynard
Main Axis: link up the Thames Walk on the south with the street on the north for the new programs, as a critique to the current winding passage
A series of spatial compression and expansion: throughout the Main Axis, creating a diversity of spaces and feelings walking through
South: Thames Walk
Old vs New: Baynard routes connecting Thames Walk, Queen Victoria Street, and Blackfriar Station
Old vs New: Floor plates and interior space
Dark Room for digital exhibition (designed by V. Riego) (designed by Y.Wang) The dark Main Atrium
View across River Thames in evening
Render by V. Riego and N. Rotolo
Draft and photography by Y. Wang
Cafe & Blackfriars connection, Main Atrium (designed by Y.Wang)
Roofed atrium: street-level, converted from the elevated courtyard, for public access and holding large event
Dark Spaces: inspired by the original building, places for digital arts
Baynard Center at Night pencil sketch by Y. Wang, negative photo
Baynard Center Long Section post-semester production by Y. Wang
Bookstore Daylight Study & Detachable Model
Internship: summer 2024
Firm: Atelier Tao+C
Supervisor: Liu Tao, Cai Chunyan
DishBooks is a modern bookstore located in the old city quarter of Wenzhou, eastern China. It also offers an interaction space for cooking lovers.
During the schematic design phase, I contributed on daylight studies (via ClimateStudio) and produced a detachable study model for the team to better understand the site condition and design’s impact to the shop’s interior. The software study reflected the skill I developed from school and the model challenged me with precision and flexibility. The project’s construction began in mid-2025.
Symphony Hall 3D-Printed Models
Internship: summer 2022
Firm: Pfeiffer (Perkins Eastman NYC)
Supervisor: Alberto Cavallero
I worked in Pfeiffer (a Perkins Eastman affiliate) during the schematic design phase of the Wuxi Taihu Bay International Culture and Arts Center project located in China. I produced 3D-printing models of the site and the main Symphony Hall, as they could be useful tools for the development of the design.
In five weeks, I created models of the project in different scales and details while turning thousands of scratch pieces into printable parts. I was the first in the office to frequently use 3D printing technology and had senior designers coming to ask about this new method of producing physical models.
