Yafei Li selected works 2019-2025 master of architecture ll’26 harvard gsd
THINKING ABOUT SHOPPING
Rethinking about retail experience STU 1305 Studio
Open Air Mining Museum Along Norwegian Scenic Route STU 1407 Studio
form and human interaction.
Technology, Environment, Human ARCH 501 Degree Project
WINDING BOUNDARIES
Interactive Art Space for Community ARCH 202 Studio PUZZLE? PUZZLE!
form and human interaction.
KIN-BASHING WHAT’S IN PARK?
Campus Health Care for Students and Community ARCH 402 Studio Archived
ANTARCTICA CREVASSE GENEBANK
Imagination of future humanity ARCH 401 Studio Post-COVID artist live-work residential building ARCH 301 Studio Archived Revit Sample
Park Library Connecting Community to Nature ARCH 403 Studio
form and human interaction.
form and human interaction.
material and perception. material and perception. environment and technology. environment and technology.
From my trip to Taipei, one thing that interested me was the connection points between the wet market and the open alleys. They are like breaking spots that segment the continuous long market and present a city view to the market experience every time it cuts.
With this initial idea, this project wants to explore a curated shopping space that transforms shopping from a passive to an active experience.
Thinking about a normal buying space, the one with endless shelves. When people walk and buy in this scenario, they are actually not thinking about the items that they are grabbing from the shelves but other things that are happening in their lives.
On the contrary, in an open display space, objects are staged, and the view is framed, which grabs people’s attention when walking through.
The linear buying space gives a compression feeling while the open-seeing space provides an expansion feeling, both because of the arrangement of the space and also the information density. The connection spots, between these two spaces then have a differential pressure in this short circuit moment that both grabs people’s eye and influences their movement.
Rethinking About Retail Experience
STU 1305 Studio Individual Work
FA 2024
Instructor: Ron Witte
Stone Panel
It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide. It is the excavated stone of this mining site.
Metal Coating
The manufactured product from Ilmenite from the site. It is commonly used as a pigment.
Structure Detail
Stone panels being hung on the white structure.
Axonometric Diagram
The curated movement along the space provides constantly changing views composed of the scenic site, the rock beneath, and the Ilmenite panels framing the space.
1. Light
2. Structural Column
3. Aluminum Panel with TDC [Titanium Dioxide Coating]
4. Metal Mesh
5. Stair
6. Steel Girder with TDC
7. Steel Beam with TDC
8. Handrail
9. Ilmenite Panel
10. Steel Hinge
The building intersects with the topography multiple times at different scales, resulting in different human movements and experiences.
Starting from the second semester of my college life, moved into a studio apartment. The most disturbing aspect of living in a studio is that the kitchen and bedding areas are in the same space without division. When we are assigned to design an artist’s apartment, this becomes the project’s driving factor.
The project provides a live-work environment for students and young art and design professionals to live, work, and interact with the community in the building. There are two to three offices on each floor and two studio spaces.
Units are reorganized to position the wet wall in the center and arrange other functional spaces around it. The bathroom and kitchen are attached to the wet wall, naturally dividing the room into several spaces.
Bedrooms are near the window, whereas the kitchens face the interior common space. The wall between the kitchen and common area is opened with louvers and sliding doors, forming a larger dining area for residents to interact and have meals together. Two vertical light wells traveling through the building bring light to the common areas and reduce energy consumption.
This project explores ways to challenge the current unit design and provide artists with a unique living experience after the pandemic.
Post-COVID artist live-work residential building ARCH 301 Studio Group Work with Aura Wang [All drawings Included are individual] FA 2021
Instructor: Andrew Lyon
Unit Type Diagram
Units are reorganized to position the wet wall in the center and arrange other functional spaces around it. The bathroom and kitchen are attached to the wet wall, naturally dividing the room into several spaces.
Elements Diagram
KIN-BASHING
Kitbashing is a design strategy when pushing kits from multiple collections to construct a new body. This practice always keeps the way each kit looks and scales them to fit into the new design. The problem with kitbashing is this practice only sticks things together but does not merge, evolve, connect, or interact with each apart, which further pushes the harsh eco-colonization of privileged people to the indigenous land with beautiful natural scenes. So we propose a kin-bashing method that after the kitbashing steps, we will let components from two sides merge and collaborate, which constructs a space where travelers are not merely invading the indigenous land as an alien but really contacting, working, and interacting with the indigenous population.
B
Rethinking About Healthcare Center
ARCH 402 Studio Individual Work SP 2023
Instructor: Abigail Coover
Form Study
The gallery space penetrated out to the facade and informed the internal space.
Creating a flexible space by cutting, offsetting, rotating, and filleting walls.
The project is a genebank located in Antarctica, experimenting with how to take advantage of the environmental conditions to freeze the samples and construct a livable space for researchers using less energy.
The project includes a biosample bank, a data center for virtual information, and laboratories for researchers to conduct experiments with these resources. The excess energy generated from the data center will be transported by water to the residential space above ground. The water cycle in the building starts with melting snow with heat, and the water flows through the building to bring energy from one place to another.
Starting with a form study of how we use crevasses in the natural world to generate energy, such as a dam, and position the functional spaces for humans along the power generating group.
The lab and living space is located near the surface, allowing natural light to enter the dormitory area. In comparison, the storages controlled by automatic robots are located deeper into the ice.
Imagination of future humanity
ARCH 401 Studio Individual Work FA 2022
Instructor: Jason Lee
Data From: 1. Trystan Surawy-Stepney et al., “Mapping Antarctic Crevasses and Their Evolution with Deep Learning Applied to Satellite Radar Imagery,” EGU, March 31, 2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-4
2. Peter T. Fretwell et al., “Bedmap2: Improved Ice Bed, Surface and Thickness Datasets for Antarctica,” The Cryosphere 7, no. 1 (February 28, 2013): 375–93, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-375-2013.
Crevasse Image From: 1. Antarctica, Ski. “Ski Antarctica.” Ski Antarctica, n.d. https://ski-antarctica.com/safety-%26-training.
Vertical Distribution of Programs and Temperatures
Bacteria
Space: Living and working spaces
Space: Feeding living and working use
Fungi; Plant Viruses; Animal Viruses; DNA; RNA; Protein; Serum; Tissues
BIO-sample Bank: Physical storage of bio-information
DATA Center: Digital storage of bio-information
Decide Site Crevasse Location Based on:
-Crevasse Distribution
-Surface Elevation
-Ice Sheet Depth
Using different materials and methods to test the idea of crevice, exploring how a crevice could provide different spatial relationships and scenarios. Horizontal crevice; vertical crevice; space between extrusions...
The air is distributed to the underground working spaces through shafts. Programs
A - Dorm
B - Research Lab
C - Research Lab
D - Mechanical Space
E - Sample Bank
Render - Frame 1
A robotic arm picking up sample cases from sample storage.
Render - Frame 1
Sample case being hanged up to the track by a robotic arm.
Render - Frame 3
Sample case climbing up transporting track heading toward research lab.
