Portfolio - Zhejian Xiong by Zhejian Xiong

Zhejian Xiong zjxiong24@gmail.com

University of Hong Kong, University of Michigan & Tsinghua University Faculty of Architecture 2018-2023

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

Architecture is a kind of "medium" through which modern people interacting with the outside world, no matter with the nature or society. People’s cognition of their surroundings depends on the physical information they get and their past experiences in similar environments such as activities and emotions. Therefore, architectures, as the interaction medium, can influence people physically, behaviorally and mentally.

Physical interaction (such as light, thermal and acoustic environment) with architecture affects our direct comfort feelings. In addition, the scale and spatial form of an architecture define the function and people’s activities, which further influence our behaviors in a certain place. With the combination of all the basic elements, we develop a comprehensive impression about a building, which recalls our deeply rooted emotions and collective unconsciousness.

Our feelings of an architecture changes from individualization to collectivization as we “touch” the space from physical interaction to mental interaction. Through various technologies such as AR, VR, interactive projection, i.e., we have the chance to perceive and sense space from multi-dimension, and expand our sensory.

City Hotel / Poetically Dwelling on Land Mirroring Cheung Sha / Designing Lantau Hermit Museum / Hidden in Crowd CONTENTS PROLOGUE 3 11 17 23 30 Wear the House / Retail Therapy Other Projects

Mirroring Cheung Sha / Designing Lantau

Individual Work

University of Hong Kong, Studio 2022.09~2022.12

Site: Lantau Island, Hong Kong Instructor: Lily Zhang

What defines a sense of place when poised in a moment of transformation? In particular, when a “place” as a large, seemingly singular entity such as Lantau Island lies beyond our realm of scalar comprehension and occupies a precarious state of inherent contradictions within Hong Kong’s greater context, how can we grasp its identity? How do we register a place’s temporal existence from past, present, and future, and how may we interpret both the inner workings and external forces, as well as the challenges that arise at the intersection of the two? From this understanding, what is the role and agency for architects to operate and respond to a place, a contested site, as a generative platform for design?

In this studio, we followed a sort of top-down designing process. We started from a large-scale landscape design, then zoomed in and focused on three small-scale sites and proposed architectural projects on each site.

Hong Kong Lantau Government Planning Cheung Sha Beach

CONCEPT OF SEGMENTED SPACE

LANDSCAPE PROPOSAL

Long Section / the Continuity of Space

Swimming Area Swimming / Kayaking Bathing Center Swimming / Bathing Jump Platform Diving / Swimming Underwater Platform Surfing / Swimming Inn & Bar Resting / Drinking Sand Dune Fishing / Resting Botanical Garden Hiking / Resting

East Entrance Cycling / Running

Above-water Path Cycling / Running

Under-water Path Cycling / Running

Swimming Area Kayaking / Swimming

Island Viewing / Resting

West Entrance Cycling / Running

LANDSCAPE PROPOSAL Site Plan

ARCHITECTURAL PROPOSALS / BATH CENTER

& BAR

Bath Center Inn & Bar

The pools are built combined with existing stones. The stones at center are moved to the boundary area to form a more natural pool. The existing rocks located at site are used to form the built architecture. Built parts are birthed from nature.

The headland become the wall of inn and bar, so that people may use the rocks as seats, tables and stages according to their sizes. The guestrooms of the inn are partly under water, the view of people will be changed along with the tide cycle and they can feel the rhythm of ocean. The building is embarked into nature.

INN

ARCHITECTURAL PROPOSALS / ISLAND

Island & Water Path

The island redefine the boundary between sea and sky, gesturing a special space on the boundary and attracting people walking from the stable earth to the uncertain ocean. That is how the path lead people break through the boundary even without their consciousness.

OTHERS

13 Sept 2022 - 20 Sept 2022

PROJCT, G/F, 42 Circular Pathway, Sheung Wan Curators: Lily Zhang, Yeung Hei Marco, Law Pak Lun Parco Participants: All studio members

of LANTAU Site visit & Workshop of LANTAU Island Designing LANTAU Exhibition

The specimens collected from Lantau island and the collecting process formed my first perception of the site. Each fragment represents and characterizes part of Lantau, and these items with narrative descriptions of contexts where they were collected exhibits the segmented space of islands. The two floating exhibition tables with all collected fragments transmit our cognition of Lantau to other people.

Photography /Japan field trip

The trip to Japan stimulated inspiration to my own proposal, especially for the part of art festival in islands of the Seto Inland Sea, including Teshima, Inujima and Naoshima. How the architects and artists interpret the identity of islands and what they proposed on site attract numerous people to appreciate their works.

Images

Hermit Museum / Hidden in Crowd

Individual Work

Tsinghua University, Design Studio / 2019.09~2019.11

Site: Beijing, China

Instructor: Prof. Maoyan Xu

Hermit culture was incredibly popular with literati in Tsin dynasty for escaping from fatuous domination of the emperor. They try to find spiritual value in simple lives in mountains and forests. Moreover, people with firm spirit can live in crowd and keep themselves not tempted by the secular world, which is called "lesser hermit lives in seclusion in country, greater hermit does so in city" in Chinese proverb.

Site Plan

The site locates near Baiyun Temple, which is honored as the chief temple of the Three Ancestral Temples of the Quan Zhen (Complete Reality) Taoist tradition. Significantly, Taoism is the main origin from which many famous Chinese hermits develop their thoughts. Taoist propose retiring to the country and shut out the world when being baware of their political ambition will never be realized. Hence, hermits get rid of the shackles of the secular world through this way. They tend to give up pursuiting for money, fame and wealth so that they will have a free soul to chase for some kind of detachment mentality.

Space Order of Taoist Temple

Concept Development

Besides, balance between human and nature is another important issue in Taoistic philosophy. Tai-Chi Symbol is an important element in Taoism, which representing the balance between two opposite things. As for the site, noisy road on the west and pieceful temp on the east are contradictory, so the museum that I design will become a reconcilement between the two different phenomenon.

Tai-Chi Facade facing the street should be quiet and cover up the existence of the building, while the other side facing the temple should be energetic and offer chances for great view of the unparalleled roofs. During the process waking from noisy road to quiet temple, people escape from the hustle of city. The museum is like Tai-Chi Symbol balancing secular society and otherworldly Taoist temple Baiyun temple was built with the form of traditional Beijing quadrangles and follow the strict formal order. People visiting the temple walk along with the yards, which improves the sense of sanctity. Multiple yards keep people away from the noisy city and modern life.

CONCEPT

Main hall of the temple locate on the central axis.

CONCEPT OF BEING HIDDEN

Site Plan

Five quadrangles match with the temple. Concrete frame structures support the block. Stores and cafes on estern facade offer view for temple . Entrance on the 2nd floor enables people get rid of secular life Move vertically creating multiple layers.

A A

Vines covering steel nets hide the building.

Service and staff rooms locate in the north part of the museum, reducing the influence on exhibitions. Walls and wooden grilles block people's sight and reduce natural light for protection of calligraphy. They also offer relatively individual space for appreciation of exhibits.

Model Photos

SPACE ORGANIZATION

15 Section

Wall & Roof Detail Floor Detail 10mm steel mesh waterproof limestone tile insulating glass unit waterproof concrete slab cobblestone non woven fabric 450mm soil 40mm steel keel 20mm cement mortar binder wood grille 20mm cement mortar 240mm steel I-beam 50mm asbestos 50mm asbestos cement mortar 300mm concrete 200mm concrete 200mm concrete 200mm concrete 50mm steel keel 20mm plasterboard 10mm fiber cement pipe

A-A

DETAILS

All of the exhibition halls are designed based on Chinese famous hemits' stories.

1. The exhibition hall on 1st floor is for Guiguzi, a famous philosopher who lives in seclusion in the valley. The hall locates on the bottom and the light comes from above, forming a atmosphere of condition in valley.

2. This hall origins from Youchaoshi, who creates the stilt style architecture in Chinese legend and lives on trees. So it is on 2nd floor and people can appreciate the treetop as well as the exhibits.

3. The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove are the most famous stories about hemits in China, so this hall combines bamboos with exhibits to remind visitors of this history.

4. Reading area is open to the Baiyun temple. People can read books and enjoy the scenery of the temple at the same time. Besides, people can walk to the outdoor platform for a better view.

16 2 1 4 3

Lobby Staff office Storage room Store & Cafe Reading room Exhibition hall Exhibition hall

People Flow

INTERIOR SPACE

City Hotel / Poetically Dwelling on Land

Individual Work

Tsinghua University, Design Studio / 2021.02~2021.05

Site: Beijing, China

Instructor: Prof. Fuxun Lv

As one of the most stressed cities, Beijing is full of busy people going to work without any time to stop for relaxing. Wudaokou, the diverse, sophisticated and multicultural area in Beijing, is such a place where everyone flows with crowd. People here really need a chance to reconsider their attitudes for life.

CONCEPT SITE ANALYSIS

The site is in Wudaokou which is a very busy transportation hub. Many office workers walk to offices along with the road, so it's especially crowded during morning and evening rush hours. Moreover, there are few open spaces for people to relax. Fast-paced atmosphere of life enveloped every part of the street and makes people out of breath.

Open spaces give us chances to stop and think about the meaning of what we are working on. People need some places to just sit down in a trance and empty our brains. People living in city will definitely face the dilemma of whether or not to get used to the routine everyday, which continuely increases the pressure we meet. We are easy to get invloved in crowd and work overtime everyday to earn money for undertaking loans.

I hope the hotel may offer open spaces, especially that the site is just on the street between subway station and office buildings. The space may seem useless and people can either sit down or walk aroud. However, precisely because of the non-functional characteristic, this kind of space may slow down our rapid living pace.

Deferent functions require specific atmosphere, as the foyer space should be more dynamic than room floors. So the space can be divided into 3 kinds from dynamic to static, which is public outside area for passing office workers, indoor public area for guests and quiet hotel rooms.

Noise Source Subway Open Space Bus

PROPOSAL

Massing Process

Generall Plan

Model

People can zigzag along with the water flowing down from the roof. Floors of public space are inserted below the roofs and connected with ouside. Room floors are placed on the curved roofs like a stone on the waves. double-skin curtain walls save energy and increase facades' variability.

20 1F Plan INTERIOR PLAN

The foyer is designed combined with the structure form. Woven interior decorative structures echo flowing spatial continuum and side high windows enhance the expressiveness of natural light and shadow.

21 -1F Plan 3F

Plan

Foyer Design

Curtain Detail Air Circulation Sun Light insulating glass unit 200mm steel keel rotatable perforated metal

Section B-B

Wear the House / Retail Therapy

Group Work: Zhejian Xiong, Yaqi Zhu, Yunshu Huang, Zhichao Wang

University of Michigan, Design Studio / 2023.01~2023.04

Site: Chicago, IL, the United States

Instructor: Adam Miller & Laura Peterson

The mall is dead (save the mall!). Sited within the landscape of the modern American City of Chicago, we explore the dead mall as a catalyst site for an adaptive reuse + something new housing collective. The studio proposes three frameworks towards housing resilience: Something Old + Something New, Small to Big + Inside-Outside, Intersectional + Interdisciplinary. We started from a small-scale super furniture and ended in a strip mall renovation, which is more like a bottom-up designing process comapred to traditional design methods.

Produced Individually

CONCEPT

Conceptual Proposal

Self-sustained Utopia for Artists to Sleep, Earn, Create and Exhibit / Produced Individually

Family Portrait / Produced Individually

I’m gonna make money by doing the part-time job at the shop and spend my free time on painting, and I would put all the works I have done on the walls of the entrances. can buy all the necessities from the retails located at the boundary of this building. It’s like a utopia where I can live without stepping out. All the space is somehow shared except the bed, almost like a mild version of “own nothing, share evertthing like unique strange

Enjoy Flipping World Artist

Private Private Semi Private Semi Private Semi Private Semi Private Semi Private Semi Public Public Public Public Public Public Public Public Semi Private Semi Private Semi Private Public Public Public Public Public Public Public Retail Corridor Living room/ Studio Bedroom/ Bathroom

like soft materials, like fabrics to inspire my design. I like hanging up side down on the ceiling or beams.

space where I can stay alone.

Rebellious But Childish Teenager