Xi Jin Portfolio 2022

XI

JIN

2017 2021 Selected Works

B. Arch ‘22 Penn State University

xuj14@psu.edu

Xi Jin

+1(814)-826-9997 State College, PA. United States

EDUCATION 2016 - 2022

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park Bachelor of Architecture | GPA 3.85/4.00 Minor in Geography - Environment and Society Geography Minor in Architectural History Related Courses Curriculum - Core Studios, Directed Research Studios, Visual Communication, Architectural History, Material and Construction, Architectural Engineering, Technical System Integration Electives - Minimalist Design, Shape Grammar, Spacial Cognition and Behavior

EXPERIENCE 2021 - 2022

PSU Digital Beehive Tutor Offering individual tutoring on softwares and digital tools and in-studio tutorials as requested by professors.

2020 - 2022

Research Assistant - Professor Laia Celma & Pep Avilés Modeling, drawing, and fabricating for an interdisciplinary research-design project “Sentinel Lands” and its exhibition at Penn State University.

2020 - 2021

Teaching Assistant - Professor Benay Gursoy Grading assignments, teaching techniques on visual communication and digital design tools.

2019 - 2020

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2020 Design Challenge Honorable Mention Worked as a team member on a net-zero residential design.

2019

Research Assistant - Professor Almudena Ribot Researching, illustrating, and video-editing for research ptoject and lecture “BIT(Build It Together)” on open system housing at Penn State University.

HONORS 2020

Third-Year Design Excellence Award

2020

Mark Kates Memorial Scholarship

2020

Steve Matsick-Glen Grey Scholarship - Second Place

2020

The 19th Hajjar Competition 2020 - First Place Housing design competition among third-year architecture students.

2019

Corbelletti Design Charrette 2019 - Second Place Week-long drawing competition among architecture students in the department.

2019

NCMA Design Competition - Third Place Student competition among all second-year architecture students, sponsored by NCMA Education and Research Foundation.

2018

Kurt Kristian Stenman Award Design Studio & Visual Communications coursework excellence award.

2016 - 2021

Dean’s List

SKILLS DRAWING Illustrator / Auto CAD / Hand Drafting ILLUSTRATION Photoshop / InDesign / Vray / After Effects / Microsoft Office MODELING Rhinoceros / SketchUp / Wood-shop Tools / Laser Cutter / 3D Printer / CNC LANGUAGES English / Chinese-Mandarin

C O N T E N T 1

Duality - Visitor Center Core Studio 2019 Fall

1

-

6

2

Element House - Residential Competition 2020 Spring

7

-

8

3

Urban Living Room - Community Center Directed Research Studio 2020Fall

9 - 1 8

4

Tree House - Residential Group Competition Entry 2020 Summer

19-20

5

New Media City - Media Center / Theater Core Studio 2020 Spring

21-30

6

Paris Studio - An Urban Fantasy in Paris Directed Research Studio 2021 Fall

31-42

7

Sentinel Lands - Research Participated Project of Prof. Avilés & Celma

43-46

8

Other Selected Works Drawing competition, elective projects...

47-48

D U A L I T Y S I T E

C L O I S T E R

PSU 2019 Fall, 6 weeks Portugal Prof. Laia Celma

A visitor’s center designed for a historical stone dolmen. The design is, as the opposite of the existing, a linear and modularized space.

Divided by a single surface, the side facing the monument is for public use; the other side is for administrative and research uses.

This design discusses the co-existing condition of the old and the new, halves and one.

01

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CONCEPTUAL SKETCHES

Spatial experience and site correspondence

Finding the “opposite“

MODEL PHOTOS

Space A&B

Concept model: halves and one

JIN 02

SITE PLAN Traffic approaches the site from the north. The building hangs over the main road and divides the view and emphasizes the two halves, left and right, emptiness and fullness.

building model fabricated in modules 03 JIN

WALL SECTION - NORTH RAMP

APPROACHING VIEW FROM THE NORTH

SOUTH ELEVATION

wall section key view

JIN 04

SECTION A-A’

FLOOR PLANS

05 JIN

building model north side

JIN 06

THE 19TH HAJJAR COMPETITION THE 19TH H THE ELEMENT HOUSE

E L E M E N T H O U S E

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY THE PENNSYLVA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE DEPARTME

PSU 2020 Spring, 10 days Hajjar Competition First Place State College, PA A house to experience the seasons and natural elements.

SPRING AIR breeze freshness ...

1F PLAN

SPRING SUMMER WATER rain moisture outdoor ...

FALL

FALL

EARTH

EARTH

plants colors plants ...

colors ...

SUMMER WATER rain moisture outdoor ...

GF PLAN

07 JIN

SUMMER

SUMMER

WATER

WATER

rain moisture outdoor ...

rain moisture outdoor ...

AIR breeze freshness ...

THE 19TH HAJJAR COMPETITION THE ELEMENT HOUSE SPRING

SUMMER

AIR

WATER

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY breeze freshness DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE ...

rain moisture outdoor ...

FALL

EARTH SUMMER

HAJJAR COMPETITION WATER THE ELEMENT HOUSE rain moisture outdoor ...

ANIA STATE UNIVERSITY ENT OF ARCHITECTURE

plants colors ...

SPRING AIR breeze freshness ...

SPRING

SUMMER SUMMER

AIR

WATER WATER

FALL

breeze freshness ...

rain rain moisture moisture outdoor ... outdoor

EARTH plants colors ...

WINTER

WINTER

WINTER

FIRE

FIRE warmth gathering enclosure ...

warmth gathering enclosure ...

...

FIRE FALL EARTH

warmth gathering enclosure ...

plants colors ...

WINTER

FALL

FIRE

EARTH

warmth gathering enclosure ...

plants colors ...

WINTER

FALL

FIRE

EARTH

warmth gathering

plants colors

JIN 08

Baseline:

Zoning Map, Borough of State College, PA

09 JIN

U R B LIVING

A N ROOM

PSU 2020 Fall, 12 weeks Directed Research Studio / State College, PA Prof. Darla Lindberg The intention of Urban Living Room is to create a mixed-use public space that puts together the missing infrastructures and makes use of the existing ones.

The design features built-in public programs that bring in rural-ness for a healthy lifestyle. The baseline is walkability: accessibility in 10-minute of walking.

Programs are site-specific; it identifies and complements the local-level needs and aims to use the existing infrastructures in multiple ways.

Design logic see “Design Strategy Roadmap“ on the next page.

JIN 10

0.

DEZONE BASELINE: DESIRED QUALITIES RURAL-ness:

1.

● ● ● ● ●

close to nature, fresh food, dirt... loosely specified program types know the seasons and timing in nature walkable neighborhoods / ideal proximity ... ...

SITE ANALYSIS: HOW FAR FROM THE IDEAL

2.

POTENTIALS OF SHARING INFRAS

EXISTING CONDITION

selected programs that share the existing infrast use of them in multiple w

analyze the existing quality and resident groups of a neighborhood

MISSING QUALITIES

MULTI-USE

identify preferred but missing elements in a walkable circle

PROXIMITY analyze existing geographic relationships that will lead to a programming process with hierarchy

LOCATIONS locate possible opportunities to introduce the urban living rooms and break the dead zones

DESIGN STRATEGY ROADMAP 11

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PROGRAM SELEC SITE-SPECIFIC LIV

more open-ended and spaces with built-in flexib

3.

DESIGN POSSIBIL PRECEDENT STUD

two possible meas of pro spatial qualities that can used

● inside-out: flexibility ● outside-in: boundarie

5.

SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

can potentially tructure and make ways

less-specified bility

LITIES: DY

ogramming / n possibly be

es

delivery system: USPS+food bank storage&circulation: community kitchen+farmers’ market study room: students+local library clubs... activity space: church performance+student club+lectures... garden: community gardening classes+community kitchen covered outdoor space: local farmers’ market ... ...

QUALITIES

CTION: VING ROOMS

STRUCTURES

FORMAL EXPRESSION: POTENTIAL FUNCTIONS

4.

● ● ● ● ● ●

engage nature into education advocate sharing and communal activities enhance efficiency of existing infrasture cooking with fresh produce proximity to social support - food bank, community class... ... ...

DESIGN STRATEGY: LANGUAGE-USE & SYSTEM THE “BARNS” to capture and bring the essense of the rural-ness back to the urban, the metaphor of farmers’ barns is the origin of the design language; different types of barn profiles are tied with practical meanings in farm life in the urban context, product and implements stored in the “barns” are replaced by digital equipments, knowledge in general, and immaterial activities & experiences

SYSTEM based on the required spatial quality of selected programs, generate forms that accomodate different usages ● ● ● ●

roof lines: planning & implied spaces connections: structure & boundaries infills: usages adjustments

JIN 12

13

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Design Possibilities

Inside-out

Confined site Boundaries Using - “what can happen?“

Modularity Flexibility Planning - “what is needed?“

Each living room should be site-specific: choose missing pieces in a community and make use of the existing infrastructure.

... ...

AC

Outside-in

Based on the idea of the urban living room, depending on the site, the living room can be modular, growing inside-out, or can be a block of designated land, growing outside-in.

ITY / LEISURE TIV ...

LEARN IN G

Site Analysis Site: State College, PA

STITUTION ... / IN

... ...

E ...

VIC R E

LIVIN G

/S

The original building on site is a Post Office. The proposal suggests that multiple public spaces and infrastructures can be integrated and shared.

Specific Expression ... ...

... ...

... ...

CI V

...

For example, storage and the existing USPS circulation can be shared for food and package delivery; a community kitchen can be used for the food bank and food tasting festivals hosted by the church across the street...

IC

TU / FO OD / NA

RE

Aerial View of Site

JIN 14

FORM/QUALITY/RULE FORM/QUALITY/RULE -based -baseddesign design

ROOF ROOFLINES LINES

POCHE POCHE

MODULE MODULEROOF ROOFSTYLE STYLE

CONNECTION CONNECTION

PITCHED PITCHED VOID VOID

(A) (A)

(i)(i)

(B) (B)

(ii)(ii)

(C) (C)

(iii) (iii)

(D) (D)

(iv) (iv)

(E) (E)

(v) (v)

FLAT FLAT SERVICES SERVICES

OPEN OPEN OUTDOOR OUTDOOR

LINEAR LINEAR GATHER? GATHER?

iNTIMATE iNTIMATE SOLITUDE SOLITUDE

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FLEXIBLES

SPACE

INFILL

POSSIBILITIES

(a)

(b1)

A-iv

(b2)

B-b1 B-b2-ii

A-d-i C-v E-e-v

B-b1

B-b1-b2-i-ii

Design Language/Formula

(c)

C-c-i-iv

C-v-i

This chart shows implications of different rooflines, sizes, and openness. Each possibility corresponds to certain spatial experiences and determines the use of the module.

To get the site-specific final form, different combinations of elements can suffice different local programs. The result is open-ended.

(d)

D-b1-b2-d-i

D-d-i D-e-v

(e)

A-E-a-e-i-iii

A-E-b2-ii

JIN 16

First Floor Plan

Entrance View 17

JIN

S

Ground Floor Plan

Study Space

Market Space JIN 18

T H

R E O U S

E E

2020 May - June, 5 weeks Château de Vibrac, France Team Member: Natalie Walter (Renderings), Jonathan Wong (3D Model), Xi Jin (Illustration)

A tree house design that meditates on living inside and outside. The design aims to challenge the traditional tree house trope, one of isolation and solitude, by introducing elements of growth. These elements provide the potential for a single tree house module to aggregate, transform, and connect to form an entire network and community.

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JIN 20

NEW MEDIA CITY PSU 2019 Fall - 2020 Spring, 7 months Comprehensive Studio / Harlem, NY Prof. Eric Sutherland

Locating in a neighborhood with rich theatrical culture in Harlem, it is a space in which various of art mediums can be exhibited and collaborated.

The main challenges are: 1) to fit many programs with a wide range of sizes into a very limited site; and 2) to create rich spatial experience on a boxy corner site.

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DESIGN LANGUAGE: In my interpretation, media or medium is the boundary between people, and it forms how we communicate.

Experiences and implications with different layers and boundaries can be organized as diagrams.

FLEXIBLE LAB F4

What is “new media”?

What is “media“?

If the media is the extension of us, how can the ever-changing extension influence our interaction?

In this project, I try to explore this relationship by building in flexibility and stability. It allows the building to evolve with the changing of media.

FLEXIBLE INFILL INSTANCES

JIN 22

125TH ST. ELEVATION The facades are to respond the rhythm of the adjacent buildings in the block.

SITE PLAN

The basic grid is inherited from the historic street pattern, and the pattern is dissolved by programs and circulation.

Communication and activities between people are the flexibility that breaks through the rigidity of the grid.

23 JIN

5TH AVE. ELEVATION

ROOF SECTION

SECTION ACROSS THE GRAIN

JIN 24

VIEW IN FLEX. PERFORMANCE SPACE F3 FLOOR PLAN Flexible Performance space, in plan, is a invisible box in which artists can collaborate, communicate, and draw attentions from the passing audience.

STRUCTURAL DIAGRAM: The spatial strategy used is separating required programs as fixed and flexible.

Programs, HVAC, and structure are all organized in one scheme.

The four major fixed / most technically demanding programs are volumes embedded in the structural grid. Flexible spaces, programs such as Artist Studios, Labs, and other supporting spaces, are to happen based on needs among the 5ft flexible grid.

F2 FLOOR PLAN 25 JIN 1/8”=1’

0 1

5

10

20

F3 FLOOR PLAN 1/8”=1’

JIN 26

SECTION ALONG THE GRAIN

Flexible Performance Space and its balcony feature the visual connection on F2 and F3. Various sizes of space provide a wide range of working atmosphere for the collaborators.

27 JIN

FLEXIBILITY

F2 FLOOR PLAN

SCREENING

LECTURE

PERFORMANCE

CAFE

0 1

5

10

20

F2 FLOOR PLAN 1/8”=1’

0 1

5

10

20

VIEW IN FLEX. PERFORMANCE SPACE

JIN 28

ACOUSTIC DESIGN The Performance Theater is a traditional theater for theatrical, instrumental performances, and film. As one of the four fixed spaces, the interior finish of the theater, lighting, and structure complies with the basic grain of the building, running East-West.

Mechanical system of the performance theater and surrounding spaces are zoned as one, supplied by an AHU in the basement.

29 JIN

PANEL DIRECTION

ACOUSTIC PANELS

WOOD PANELS

ABSTRACTED VOLUME

JIN 30

CITY

COLLAGE

PSU 2021 Fall, 12 weeks Directed Research Studio / Prof.

Yasmine Abbas Paris, France Based on ideas from surrealist artworks, the situationists, and literature, I meditated on what I found as the most interesting part of architecture: people and their lives.

What if two pieces of urban fabrics are swapped? What if two neighborhoods that are used to be away from each other are now next to each other? What would people do?...

This is a project of anti-boredom; it is to say that Paris should be a playground of imagination, mingling, and encounters.

31

JIN

Two half-courtyards are joined together as one; activity and events happen upon the intervention.

URBAN GRAIN REPRESENTATION This model conceptualizes how different urban analysis (by region, by area, ) change our vision; from different filters, we can get different sizes of grain in an urban context.

REALITY

LAYERS OF GRAINS

left: VIEW FINDER Use the shapes of the original Situationist map to cut and mismatch pieces of urban fabric.

below: MISMATCH OF FORMS Abstracted urban fabrics with pieces cut out and mismatched.

This set of models discusses different formal joints that can appear after cutting and swapping.

JIN 32

Precedents from early surrealist and situationist practices

Marcel Mariën, 1940 “Peace During Wartime”

Marcel Mariën, 1939 “In Search of a Native City”

Guy Debord, 1957 “Peace During Wartime”

Georges Perec, 1978 “Life: A User’s Manual” 33 JIN

Marcel Mariën Early map collage In 1939, Avant-garde Belgian artist Marcel Marien had put thoughts into mapping in a surrealist way. He collaged a fragment of the Swiss Alps on a map of Europe. The next year, 1940, in the mist of WWII, he collaged a peaceful countryside view with women and kids on a piece of German topographic map “Peace During Wartime“.

what they did, where they were going...This collection of details became his way of telling a story, which demonstrates his sensitivity as an observer.

The collaged maps feature their visual discontinuity - the contrast between different cartographic textures; while, the fact that they appear in one image makes completely different experiences connected.

Guy Debord Situationist map In 1957, Guy Debord created a series of psycho-geographic maps. “The Naked City“ was one of them. He cut pieces of Paris map based on his psychological perception and connected them with arrows that symbolize crossroads and psycho-geographical slopes.

Through mapping, the reality is distorted. The map discarded what is geographically correct and fully shows the role of the map creator in the city: a meaderer. It emphasizes the finest grain in the city: individual experiences.

Georges Perec Bits-and-piece storytelling French novelist Georges Perec, in his books, “an attempt at exhausting a place in Paris” and “Life: A User’s Manual“, depicted a world full of negligible details in life. He sat down and described everything he saw as detailed as possible: colors, smells, numbers of people,

Project Method and Intention In this project, I chose to collage pieces of Paris. This operation brings people who used to be far away from each other together.

To find the stories, I zoomed in and looked at the seams/connections of the cut.

Different spatial conditions apprear, and their configurations have corresponding interventions to let impossible encounters happen: Carousel, aquarium, movie screening, jogging track... And the story can be surreal, funny, awkward...in this what-if scenario, these are all interesting stories to tell.

It is a comment on the existing condition: if social interaction happens among the counterparts, what if they are mismatched and different from normal?

JIN 34

Operations

35 JIN

Introducing New Boundaries Outline of The Naked City (1957) Collage with Contemporary Urban Fabric

Cutting Pieces New Boundaries and Intersections

Alley

nd Isla

Swapping Fabrics Extended Spaces and New Conditions

Yard

ket Poc

all W

JIN 36

URBAN STORY For each condition, I looked into the program of each building around the sites and imagined how would people meet and interact. Then I composed a little story of a particular person living in the space. The interventions, such as carousel, aquarium, jogging track..., are to facilitate a new way of interacting These moments, feelings, colors, thoughts to ourselves...are happening in the city everyday. They are the finest grain of the city and what make up an urban story.

Island

Courtyard

Pocket

37 JIN

Alley

Wall

JIN 38

THE WALL SCENARIO Models and site plan This specific wall condition is the conjunction of Rue Crillon, Blvd Morland, Rule Saint-Nicholas, and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine.

Black and white respectively show the two sides of neighborhood.

The original building in the middle was cut and left only a facade.

Two sides of people occupies and making connections through the left-over facade. The intervention also expands into the interior space and influences the way of living.

SITE

Stitching through the Third Space

39 JIN

WALL SITE MODEL: looking from two ends of the wall CONNECTION MODEL: possible connections

JIN 40

Wall Number 15 on Rue Saint-Nicholas, is a mystery to Victoire.

Her new neighbor on the other side of the wall.

Windows shut, doors closed.

But there are lots of plants on the balcony, so there must be people living.

41

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She wishes that it is a gift store.

She likes shopping for artist-made potteries, For her own little collection on her bookshelf, or for holiday seasons.

Or it would be nice to have a Cantonese restaurant, For a cup of hot noodle soup in deep autumn.

URBAN MISMATCH: STAMPS & POSTCARDS (1:15000) Traveling with pieces of Paris: the original Naked City (1957) map pieces.

Postcards of other cities: Vienna, Lagos, Washington D.C...

It is a statement that claims that, if our minds allow us, we can go to anywhere and have any fantasy encounters.

JIN 42

SENTINEL LANDS Design Research directed by Prof. Laia Celma & Pep Aviles Exhibition co-curator & photographer: Cynthia White The ongoing underground mine fire all over the world are having a huge impact on not only the local people, but the lands, and the atmosphere, releasing a great amount of heat and Green House Gases but having been neglected for decades. This project draws attention to this “invisible“ issue and the “vertical” impacts to the environment in multiple scales, from micro-biology, geography, to the atmosphere.

The key design is an artifact placed on a borehole at Centralia, PA (left photo). It visualizes the atmospheric data from recent decades and symbolizes the breathes of the earth.

I joined the design team in the summer of 2020 and worked on drawings, models, and exhibition design & fabrication. The exhibition is open from Janurary to March, 2022, at Penn State Rouse Gallery.

43 JIN

Installation Mock-up 2021 Fall Photo Credit: Cynthia White

Centralia Plan Mine fire estimation and borehole locations

Centralia Plan Underground Mining tunnels and topography

JIN 44

Mine Tunnel Model Mock-up 3D model and fabrication: Xi Jin & Daniel Lopatka 2021 Summer The coal mines at center Centralia has 7 different veins with more sub-veins.

To follow the theme of the research, we decided to cut a cylindrical section of the veins. This sectional exploded mine tunnel model helps visualize the geological structure at Centralia. Photos below show the process of drawing, 3D modeling, connection design, fabrication, and assembly.

Challenges are to 1) deal with old drawings and find proper information, 2) work with an unfamiliar modeling material and fabrication tool, and 3) design connections for hanging this heavy model.

Process

Testing the hanging details with Daniel

45 JIN

Second Geological Survey, J.P.Lesley, 1884

Model of all veins installed in gallery

The team designed and fabricated the interior of the exhibition space, including the wooden frame structure, stools, tables, model stands, and lables.

Daniel and I were in charge of the design and fabrication of all furnitures.

JIN 46

Column Mock-up model fabrication and connection design: Xi Jin 2021 Fall

Top Wiring Detail

LED Strip Attached to Aluminum Tube

Translucent column and reflective steel cladding blending in the surrounding

47 JIN

On-site Test at Centralia, 2022 Spring

JIN 48

TECHNIQUE EXPLORATION

MINIMALIST SEMINAR PSU 2019 Spring Prof. Darla Lindberg In this drawing project, I try to think through drawing process using minimalist design system to celebrate the nature of a material and explore texture. The rule is using the edges of Conte Crayon, starting from the topleft conner of the paper, and drawing non-stop. Different effects appear due to the layering of strokes which smudge with each other. With only one material, this procedure created an abstract drawing style full of variations of textures.

Drawing process video: https://youtu. be/SwiWbg-2CpU

COMPOSITIONS

49 JIN

“Invisible Inside” Corbelletti Design Competition 2019/Second Place PSU 2019 Fall

4 days

24”*36”

Conté Crayon

Seven interior and exterior views of the Stuckeman Family Building are combined.

JIN 50

XI

JIN

2017 2021 Selected Works

B. Arch ‘22 Penn State University

51

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