Undergraduate Design Portfolio - Yangtian Yan - 2020

筑 构 construct ‘17- ‘20

Archive of Serendipity arch-312 fall 2018 3 weeks critic: Nicholas Quiring The dust lying on the cover of a journal from the 11th century, the scratch on the bottom of an Olivette typewriter, the wrinkles of an old fashion magazine, by nature, the residues of history give archival spaces an identity to be respected.

Nonetheless, the solemnity of archival spaces can be pressuring to some young curious. Sentsive to light, tempreture and the density of visitors, traditional archives guards itself with both formal architectural languages and special room conditions; they are usually enclosed and weatherized.

Therefore, the program can be considered as intentionally 'inaccessible'. Yet, this proposal seeks to discuss the possiblity of combining traditional archives with the characteristics of playgrounds which is located on the other end of the spectrum. To tackle the problem of constructing an archive which is fun and welcoming, the proposal is envisioned as an archival space of books as well as architectural experiences, in which the weight of history can coexist with space in a whimsical manner.

Situating at the center of the central campus at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, the archive is sandwiched between the Bell Hotel (4 levels) in Ann Arbor and the Thayer Parking Structure (7 levels); by defult, the limited dimensions of the site already take away the north, south, and west facade. Nonetheless, the limitation is deemed as an opportunity for a site-specific archive to exist. Therefore, the building is designed to be programmatically and spatially interacting with the adjacent surroudings.

an urban infill site

back of the archive

Bookshleves are placed into the ‘core’ of the archive, allowing visitors to access knowledge without formally entering a scholarly space.

ground entrance to the archive viewed from the street

Windows are placed right against the exterior of the adjacent buildings, rendering the its immediate surrouding as the ‘skin’ of the archive.

FLOOR 01

FLOOR 02

FLOOR 03

_entrance to the auditorium viewed from the parking

The auditorium can be accessed from the top level of the parking structure, allowing it be more accessible to guests and guest speakers, who are likely to arrive in vechicles.

FLOOR 04

FLOOR 05

FLOOR 06

3-ply chipboard was chosen as the sole material to wipe out the existence of materiality so that viewers could focus on the general form of the model and navigate through space more easily. The sectional model was also an exploration of the potential of chipboard, which as a material, is both incredibly rigid and versatile.

St. Benedict Chapel arch-202 winter 2017 5 weeks critic: Dawn Gilpin A great small piece of poetry is simple in structure but deep in meaning. Peter Zumthor catches his own rhythm in architecture. His buildings are usually small in scale and simple in structure but poetically narrative. The human-scale, wooden structure above is St Benedict Chapel in Sumvitg, Graubünden, Switzerland by him.

Minimalism in the St. Benedict Chapel comes unintentionally because of his deep respect for nature. He realizes that nowadays, architects usually tend to modify the nature of materials and adapt it to their designs. Nonetheless, he is a poet who knows the language of nature really well; he treats those raw materials as his letters and uses them to write his own poetry—space.

In fact, he is not so much constructing a new space as finding the existing beauty of a space and shows it as the form of architecture. St Benedict Chapel had always been there before the avalanche crushed the old church. The light, the larch wood and even the spirit of hope are there all the time. Peter Zumthor, as a poetic architect, saw them before everyone else and showed his vision by using architecture. Therefore, the St. Benedict chapel is always minimal no matter how detailed it is because being the nature itself, it just naturally blends into the background.

Measured by hand and from merely a plan and a longitudinal section, a hybrid drawing of plan, section and axonometric portrays the monolithity of the chapel.

plan: field note

section: field note

Maison Bordeaux- Rem Koolhaas, OMA arch-218 winter 2018 2 weeks critic: Michael Jefferson in collab w/ Senhao Wang For the precedent study, we were asked to study and analyze the Maison Bordeaux, designed by Rem Koolhaas from Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). The house sits on top of a cape-like hill in the french city of Bordeaux, overlooking the entire city. “A house is a machine for living.” This house is Koolhaas’ modern response to the vision first proposed by Le Corbusier in the early 20th century. The purpose of this exercise was to three-dimensionalize “space” merely from two-dimenional drawings such as plans, sections and elevations. Therefore, aid with found drawings and photographies, we reconstructed the Maison Bordeaux house.

White Tunnel arch-312 fall 2018 4 weeks critic: Nicholas Quiring <White Tunnel> “A sense of whiteness is brought to the space by the simplicity of the spatial layout.

Warm light pours into the space through a narrow opening, illuminating half of the room, whereas the beauty of light resides in the shadow. Surprisingly, as intangible as it seems, the orange light keeps travelling between blackness and whiteness, until it finally falls out of the space and reaches the outside.”

The first part of the exercise seeks to translate a two dimensional representation, painting <Sunlit Interior> by Edouard Vuillard to a three dimensional sculpture. The attempt aims to take in one prominent spatial feature of the patining---the window, to construct a view apparatus with an aperture which captures and tunnels light, reflecting the general tranquil atmosphere of the painting.

The second half of the exercise challenges the student’s ability to spatially imagine the volume of the inverse of the sculpture. Here, in order to retain the sepearation of the volumes, wooden rods were deployed as structural joints.

front view

penetration (light)

Warm colors proceed in space.

Cool colors recede in space.

back view

excavation (cool color)

projection (warm & cool color)

Proceeding in space creates tension.

Receding in space creates void.

abstract diagram of the room

models in parallel 3-ply chipboard was chosen as the sole material to wipe out the existence of materiality so that viewers could focus on the general form of the model and navigate through space more easily.

Trapped Flying Machine self-initiated summer 2017 3 weeks Air is gentle and soft; human breathes off it, plane flies off it, and nature is soaked in it.

Yet, air, in most cases, is invisible and intangible. Therefore, while it’s seen as a material without which lives on earth cannot survive, air renders itself as immaterial; the immateriality of which makes air incredibly hard to tame. While air as a source of energy has been stuidied in various angles, <(trapped) flying machine> tackles the problem from the pespective of gravity.

Air doesn’t live without gravity; gravity of the Earth holds the atmosphere and air to ground level.

This speculation on singlecopter is envisioned as a propeller capped with a rotating piece of black walnut for visual effecrt.

The propeller is powered by a 3V cell battery, reaching 1200 turns per minute. Nonetheless, the propulsion isn’t strong enough to counter the weight of the body, only allowing the machine to be in the air less than a second. Sadly, It now serves as a dysfunctional fan on my desktop.

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mode 01

parts

mode 02

parts

(un)Useless Machine v1.0 “Untitled” funded by ArtsEngine at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor self-initiated fall 2017-spring 2018 14 weeks [(un)Useless Machine] is a series of gadgets with aesthetically useful yet practically useless functions; the un-uselessness is embodied with three dimensional spatial collages of useful parts fetched from daily life and each series interprets the prompt differently. In general, the project seeks to imagine the aesthetic possibilities of some underrepresented daily objects.

The first version of the series takes the angle of a human's five common senses, the senses being smell, sight, touch, sound and time (in replace of 'taste'). The machine has two general layers.

Inspired by the traditional wooden puzzle, “ 魯班鎖 ”, an old Chinese Joinery technique, the first layer is a self-holding metal lock which if assembled in a certain sequence, it requires no screws or nails to stay compactly together. Then, the second layer is composed of mechanisms that are, in general, mechanically interactive and can response to the five senses.

Lastly, the first layer, as the vessel, is interlocked with the second layer, creating a compact machine at the size of an adult's hand.

exploded axon

mode 01

isometric drawings The idea of making a useless machine first came to me during my everyday commuting from the north campus down to central after midnight. I enjoyed sitting alone in the back of the bus; the tranquility magnified my senses towards the surroundings.

process of assembly

study on joints

mode 02

The making of the object first took place in the realm of digital tools. In the period of 2 months, after around 10 drafts, the model and its parts grew, evolved, and eventually took shape.

parts knolled The parts were modeled digitally and then scheduled to be 3d-printed. Since each 3d printer has its limits, the parameters had influenced the dimensions of parts to some extent.

parts

A

B

1

2

The top ser ves as a tea box, providing aroma.

The lever system will be placed within the part, allowing the thumb to interact with.

The part provides a horizontal force to part c&d, holding them together.

The part provides a horizontal force to part a&b, holding them together.

C

D

3

4

The sink are at the top resembles the miniature of a roof garden.

A socket is embedded in the part, enabling the placement of an E12 light bulb.

When being placed in, it locks 1 & 2 together.

The keystone of the entire puzzle, producing vertical force.

programs

Tea

Mirror

Plant

A tea storage space designed to counter the strong metallic scent of the parts.

A mirror that reminds the user of always being aware of the presence of oneself.

A roof garden in the midst of all the metal parts.

Ladder on Wall

Tunnel

Light Bulb

(xo+a)^2 + (yo - b)^2 = L^2 >> a = sqrt(L^2 - (yo-b)^2) - x0.

A path that allows the matal ball to trvael 2 and 3 dimentionally.

Connected to a hand-crank generator, an incandecent light bulb that provides an interactive visual response.

disassembly process

(un)Useless Mahine v1.0 Travel Edition self-initiated spring 2018 3 weeks The second iteration of the (un)useless machine v1.0 focues more on the portability of the gadgets; the density of the alloy was not taken into account in the design of the frist version.

Therefore, only a few mechanisms from the previous versions are placed in the travel edition, making the design light yet compact. Selected mechanisms are: 1. 3V Incandescent Light Bulb w/ hand crank generator 2. Tea Storage w/ Burlap Cover 3. Mirror 4. A Piece of Black Walnut The first version of the series takes the angle of a human's five common senses, the senses being smell, sight, touch, sound and time (in replace of 'taste'). The machine has two general layers.

Inspired by the traditional wooden puzzle, “ 魯班鎖 ”, an old Chinese Joinery technique, the first layer is a self-holding metal lock which if assembled in a certain sequence, it requires no screws or nails to stay compactly together. Then, the second layer is composed of mechanisms that are, in general, mechanically interactive and can response to the five senses.

Lastly, the first layer, as the vessel, is interlocked with the second layer, creating a compact machine at the size of an adult's hand.

exploded axon

front

back

(un)Useless Machine v2.0 “A Piece of the Sun” self-initiated summer 2019-fall 2019 10 weeks “Light-weighted and friendly, it’s a machine crafted with two hands. Heat dances with light, flowing through its body unhurriedly; the interwoven of the two contains enormous energy, which gives birth to sparks of electricity and summons breeze.

Unshackle your mind, inhale carefully; your sensitivity may walk you to an awakening forest after the passage of heavy rain. Lastly, this one belongs to you only; it’s an architecture of smallness on your palm it sits.” (un)useless machine_v2.0, also named as “a piece of the sun”, aims to bring daily life objects with relations to solar engergy/ heat together. A miniature of vase as the temporary display of plants, a tiny windmill powered by a solar cell, three candles for generating atmospheric fog, an abstract symbol of the sun which is only recognizable from a certain angle, a sun dial that doesn’t operate on the rough surface of the rock, and a solar filter for directly observing the Sun, these elements are selected and re-constructed into an ornamental and optical device.

Imagined as an analogue apparatus, the gadget is intended to be interactive and portable.

top view

elevation

The object has the ideal size to be held by an adult's right hand. The rock is sculpted into a natrual form and serves as the vessel for the mechinized parts.

(a)logical composition 01

(a)logical composition 02

isometric drawing SW

Isometric drawing SE

isometric drawing NE

Isometric drawing NW

Adaptive Community Library self-initiated winter 2019 3 weeks in collab w/ Muzi Li & Yanchu Liu China has gained the momentum of economic growth for a few decades, Yet, the improvement of living conditions has yet to reach most rural regions; kids in the impoverished area are still lacking in educational resources. Therefore, in response to inaccessibility to tangible and virtual knowledge in villages in Gansu Province, a proposal for a transportable and adaptive community library has come to light.

The design of an adaptive community book station aims to provide a mode of solution for the current lack of educational resource access in rural impoverished regions of China; a proposal with its spatial flexibility and material temporality, renders itself “siteless” and therefore will be able to be deployed in various cultural and geographic contexts across the nation.

The design is born out of the belief that architecture can be practiced as a positive means in tangible format; little to no conceptual goal was intended in the design process. On the other hand, the proposal seeks to use architecture as a spatial solution for providing concrete experience to students, hoping to bring the local community with some joy and convenience.

circulation of books

City of Guyuan

Wanzhang Village

top view-mode 01

top view-mode 02

The book station is equipped with one projector and two speakers; both function only in mode 1. In mode 2, the projector is slid to one end and the speakers will be stored on the sunk platform of the second floor, covered by PVC vinyl.

mode 1-“looking from the classrom”

mode 1-“looking from the roof ”

The book station functions as an outdoor community cinema at night; providing students with visual and audio information when the lights around the campus are down. The second level of the station serves as a covered platform that allows students to enjoy movies when the sky is raining.

step 01

step 02

front view-mode 01

front view-mode 02

The second floor of the book station operates on a simple lever system; when the floor is not being used, it can sink down half a level and function as storage space. Furthermore, a three-level bench is attached to the bottom of the second level; it folds into a single level in mode 2 and expands back to three levels in mode 1.

step 03

step 04

mode 01-“looking through the gate”

mode 02-“looking at the book station”

The PVC vinyl layer for the second level will be stretched to create a covered space; the tension which stretches the vinyl is provided by the four cables attached to each corner of the sheet.

step 05

step 06

side view-mode 01

side view-mode 02

In mode 01, the bookshelves are rotated to the side, allowing both the projector to be functioning and books to be accessible. In mode 02, when the book station closes, the bookshelves are rotated back to the core and the projecting curtain will cover the books from corrosive elements in the environment.

step 07

step 08

Path of Water arch-322 winter 2018 2 weeks critic: Liz Galvez Nature is complex and dynamic. When placed in the wilderness, humans are inclined to search for guidance; we are eager for following a path to untie the knot of our bewilderment.

Therefore, construction of excavating into and piling up the ground started to take place, a centuries-long endeavor of humans in redefining nature. Nonetheless, instead of being placed as an intrusive route in nature with a mathematical and engineering manner, the proposed path aims in conversing with the natural surrounding from the point of view of the water. Thus, utilizing the method of cutting and filling, the path explores how water would travel through the topography, hoping to provide travelers with more engaging sensoryexperiences and greater ease for their minds.

plan & section of constructred landscape

stacked model of constructred landscape w/ path highlighted

(im)Material Boathouse arch-322 winter 2019 10 weeks critic: Elizabeth Galvez The world is built upon materials and our comfort relies on the solidity and stability of architecture (Hill, 02). Yet, one might perceive an architectural experience as immaterial in which space isn’t directly represented by conventional structural elements. To construct an architecture of immaterial, one need not to design, but to equip with the sensibility of imagining the “primitive hut” with elements in nature. For instance, at core, a window is “an opening surrounded by non-transparent obstacles”, a column is “a vertical volume that divides space but still allows one to travel freely”, a roof is “a shelter that protects one from various weather conditions”, a wall is “a visual and thermal barrier”, and etc.

As I was walking into the site of the Bandemer Park, an oak tree behind a fog stroke me as a “building”. The fog rasterized the image of the tree, acting as a visual screen. The tree trunk supported he thick canopy, separating space without impeding circulation. The sunlight shined through the gaps between the overlapping of leaves; all spoke to me as an overwhelming architectural experience In sum, the project aims to explore the presence of immateriality in architecture by identifying the fundamental traits of the common architectural elements in nature. The study of the immateriality of architecture grants me an opportunity to widen my understanding towards architecture. A boathouse envisioned with planning the layout of trees and creating fog is an architecture that grows, that responses to time and the change in weather. The immateriality of the boathouse allows the program to be invisible, yet nature around it still gravitates towards the strong presence of architecture.

mode 01 “default”

mode 02 “densification”

mode 03 “clearing”

site “current”

plans

sauna

pool

storage

cafe

toilet

admin

room

sprinkler

sauna

pool

storage

cafe

room

sprinkler

toilet

admin

sections

water

person (s)

tree

mech

rain

path

air

truss

fog

The proposal was first envisioned with a series of vignettes of abstract programming, with the aim of estabilishing the hierarchy of trees, boats, and programs. The circulation of air, drop of rain, trace of fog, and locations of water are introduced as architectural elements in the design of the boathouse.

site plan (abstract)

types of transportation

storage zone

model 1/16”=1’

/departure zone

model 1/16”=1’

/privacy zone

model 1/16”=1’

site “50 yrs”

storage unit

lock (mode 01) rope lock (mode 02) glass hook rope glass support frame rope frame

8.5’

8.2’

4.3’ 43’ 51’

door

_frame

rope

glass

The storage unit is made out of mostly glass and minimally steel, allowing for light and sight to go through. Starting as a transparent container, the unit will be gradually filled with boats and equipments, becoming less transparent.

sauna unit

roof openings joints curtain handle handle stove base track

9.3’

6.2’

3.1’

3.1’

8.3’

5.5’ 5.0’

wall/ seat

3.6’

openings

1.9’

2.5’

stove

6.6’

1.9’

track

The sauna unit aims for creating spatial adaptability; multiple units are placed on a track and each one can be easily integrated to one and another, forming a larger space. When two units are integrated together, the walls can be transformed into a bench for sitting and relaxing.

showering unit

mirror mister faucet rail curtain mirror floor hanger

wood

8.3’

8.1’

4.3’

2.2’

2.5’ 4.7’

4.7’

4.3’

door

curtain

faucets

hangers

The showering unit has an immaterial “roof ”; there, in fact, is not physical roof covering the inside. Instead, there are nozzles around the rim of the top of the structure, emiting hot steam to the center. When the sky is dropping cold rain, (ideally) the hot steam will block the rain and therefore create a mist “roof ”.

lockers room

wood _tree _frame

_bench _net

_vacuum _chamber _mirror

33’

10.1’

4.3’

5.6’

5.6’

4.5’

net & frame

bench

vacuum

door

The lockers room unit also challenges the idea of an immaterial “roof ”. Firstly, each unit will be placed around a tree and nets are installed around the rim of the roof, catching the fallen leaves from the tree. Therefore, as more and more leaves falling onto the net, a “roof ” densly populated with leaves is created.

Earth Rooms in Chile arch-409 spring 2019 critic: Elizabeth Galvez in collab w/ Austin Kronig To explore Chile is to dare to travel to the end of the world — to encounter nature on a massive scale and to perhaps glimpse at its genesis. Stretching over 4,270 km (2,670 miles) south to north, Chile spans many latitudes and geographies, extending from antarctica to the desert. Bordered by the South Pacific Ocean on the west and the high Andean mountain range to the east, Chile occupies a privileged location.

Geographically and topographically, Chile evokes visions of glaciers, windswept dunes and peaks, forests, lakes, fjords, and active volcanoes — with soils likened to Mars and skies idyllic for astronomical observation, from the Milky Way to Magellanic Clouds.

At a time when life on earth is under threat (in a perilous crisis, think climate change), our journey through Chile feels precious and almost sacred, adding a reverence and ephemeral sensibility. We read about the degradation and instability of our environments. To visit Chile paints a starker picture. These are places not simply to be discovered (as Magellan did) they are reminders of our orientation to the cosmos.

Climatically, Chile sees wild swings and shifts in temperature, ranging from hot, cold, wet, arid and in-between. For a travel studio interested in uncovering responses to these dramatic climatic conditions, we must first ask what is climate and then distinguish between weather and climate. We routinely perceive differences in weather but how do we perceive permutations in climate?

We know that weather corresponds to the daily fluctuation in the atmosphere, a combination of temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, visibility, and wind. Climate on the other hand takes a much longer-term disposition to weather. Whereas weather reflects the everyday environment, climate is statistically aggregated and averaged over a longer period of time. In this way, climate is intangible and invisible to us.

It is unpredictable and impossible to fully command. How then is it possible to perceive and understand fluxes in climate in a place like Chile where arctic, maritime, and an continental climates converge? Beyond the instruments of science, it requires sparks of the imagination. catalog earth rooms

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Order of Operations: an official guide to making earth rooms on site

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1/ Field Going to the wilderness with our hiking boots, we are open to all types of adventures awaiting.

2/ Container Observing our surroudings, we look for naturally formed containers, whose typology is close to pits or ditches 3/ Human Senses Using our sensibility, we analyze the enviornment; we attempt to understand the different layers and compositions.

4/ Site Unearthing the earth, we search for materials on site; for not damaging the ecology, we only borrow from nature.

5/ Contained With the materials acquired in situ, working with the natural forces, we fill the room with its surroudings.

6/ Landscape As a model living under climates, it will eventually become part of the continuous lanscape.

map of Chile

frame rocks

frame

firepace

pod

lever pulleys lock rock as door top view

elevation

The first earth room is a shelter for travelers scattered around the southern part of Chile; it's composed of three layers, rocks, dome frame, and trees. The rocks are supported by and connected with metal pods. The saplings are bended and attached to the frame, functioning as the outside layer. As time passes, the trees will be covered with leaves and mosses, further sheltering the interior.

SOUTH Puerto Natales

earth room 03

Moss&Air Situated across the gulf from Puerto Natales, the peninsula amazed us with its biodiversity; moss populates the land and animals roam freely; the relatively remote location of the region protects the site from industrial pollution. Furthermore, with the low elevation and temperature, the site preserves a healthy habitat where life prospers.

As informed by our local guides, we found out that moss and fungus here on the island are intermediate signifiers for air pollution.

Moreover, the extensive use of charcoal had drawn our attention to its vicious impact on the atmosphere. Therefore, as a spontaneous response to our dumping of left ashes, we constructed the third earth room by unearthing moss and mud on site, creating a void of awareness of environmental problems by filling a physical void in nature.

act 01

act 02

act 03

Puerto Natales, 51.69 S 72.64 W

act 04

plants

support

frame

gutter snow

faucet door

top view

elevation

The second earth room is a bathhouse on top of a natural hot spring located in the mountain range of the central part of Chile; it's composed of three layers, hot spring, dome frame, and bricks. The natural hot spring can be found in mountainous area. The frame is mounted with a gutter system which takes the melted water from snow accumulated on the top and pours it out as water curtain in the front; the water curtain will serve as the space divider between interior and exterior.

CENTRAL San Jose de Maipo

earth room-06

Snow&Heat Situated in the heart of the Andes, while merely a few hours drive away from the metropolis, San Jose de Maipo surrounds itself with spectacular mountain ranges. Both the scene and the hike took us out of breath, so we agreed to cease preceding and rest, which drew our attention to the surroundings.

The small plateau consisted of several ponds, under which later we discovered hot springs. Therefore, in magnifying the natural phenomenon, we collected chunks of snowballs around the site to fill the “room”. As a result of the temperature difference between snow and the heat coming from beneath, the constructed density of the “room” eventually faded away as the snowballs were absorbed by the heat to become part of the landscape.

act 01

act 01

act 01

Calle Sendero El Morado, 33.82 S 70.00 W

act 01

Textile Recycling Center and Designer’s Hub arch-432 fall 2019 critic: Laida Aguirre in collab w/ Jacob Pyles An average American throws away aprox. 80lbs of clothes per year, and 85% of this ends up in landfills; Chicago alone, produces aprox. 217.28 millions of pounds of thrown clothing thrown per year and less than 10% of the abandoned items are recycled each year. Therefore, being concerned with the rate of how fast fast fashion is consuming our lands, a proposal which aims to collect as much as the textile waste, is envisioned to rethink the material circulation among recycling factory, art studio, and runway show.

The Textile Recycling Center and Designer’s Creative Hub is a series of theatrical stages which, with the aid of mechanically and spatially adaptive spaces, architecturally renders the production process from recycled textile to designed goods. Nonetheless, rather than function merely as a recycling center to mitigate the pollution of textile waste, the proposal provides Chicago textile artists with raw textile materials and flexible studio units, and hosting seasonal showcases/ runway shows in the setting of a densely industrial space.

While the proposal is more thought out as a model of solution rather a site-specific design, the site is located amongst abandoned factories in northern Chicago.

perspective from the Northern Chicago River

perspective from the back

perspective from the side

The general parti of the design is structured as three layers: the “core”, the shed, and the roof. The “core” is a three floors, weatherized space, fulfilling the programmatic requirements of a recycling center (1st floor), collaborative studio environment (2nd floor), and an urban shopping area (3rd floor). The shed provides structural support for the two levels of catwalks, and creates circulations on the periphery of the building. Lastly, the roof shelters the entire open air environment; the openness creates opportunities for public events and public parking.

catalog re-decorated herman miller

Bussiness Model The recycling center collects thrown-away textile items from the Great Chicago region, as well as broken/ unwanted furniture; the materials will then be re-distributed to textile artists in residence, allowing to be re-appropriated and brought back to the public as new commodity. Artists are given the autonomy to redecorate the furniture in any ways. Then, audience will be invited to attend the monthly showcase of this new line of furniture.

precedent study: Hill House Box-Carmody Groarke Chameleon House-Anderson Anderson Architecture

View through the catwalks at the front of the shed structure_ the parallel relationship between the catwalks and the site allows the user to travel on the periphery of the site and to enjoy uninterrupted view to the waterfront.

An open air plaza outside of the studio space on the second floor_the platform is suspended by columns and sheltered by the shed from above, creating a space for outdoor public activities.

core front The second floor of the recycling center is dedicated to textile artists as studio spaces; it will be structurally supported by columns so that the first floor can be enclosed with glasses. The transparency of the first floor therefore enables the “core” to be seen as floating.

shed front The slope on the top of the shed is created by the decremental heights of each horizonal truss. The trusses also cradle the second level of the catwalks. Structurally, the elevator shafts at the center of the “core” function as support to the shed.

roof front The “core”, as a weatherized space, is sheltered by the roof; the completely open air environment is seen as another degree of encloseness, allowing outdoor public events to happen. The flat terrain in front of the roof is dedicated for HVAC programs.

View at the Ramp in the back of the recycling center_the ramp has the slope of 1:12, allowing artists to easily transport textile supplies to the studio spaces on the second floor.

View from above the recycling center_A rectangular opening is puntured above the urban shopping area on the third floor, bringing in natural lighting. The puncture also reveals the truss system underneath the roof.

core back The second floor of the recycling center is dedicated to textile artists as studio spaces; it will be structurally supported by columns so that the first floor can be enclosed with glasses. The transparency of the first floor therefore enables the “core” to be seen as floating.

shed back The slope on the top of the shed is created by the decremental heights of each horizonal truss. The trusses also cradle the second level of the catwalks. Structurally, the elevator shafts at the center of the “core” function as support to the shed.

roof back The “core”, as a weatherized space, is sheltered by the roof; the completely open air environment is seen as another degree of encloseness, allowing outdoor public events to happen. The flat terrain in front of the roof is dedicated for HVAC programs.

working area

studio space

front view

front view

plan view

plan view

The machanized aspect of the spaces aims to exaimine architecture’s possibilities in hosting flexible spaces with dynamic spatial orders, human-scale adaptive mechanisms that answers to users’ various needs, and spatial installations that stimulate social interactions.

structural system model

tectonics 01

tectonics 02

hanging walls

mode 01 orthogonal

tectonics 03

rotating walls

mode 02 parallel

mode 03 mixed

Floor 01 recycling center

site plan

Floor 02 adaptive studio space

conveyor belt render The first floor is programmed as the production area for textile recycling; to follow along with the industrialization nature of production space, the area is equipped with mechanized parts, which allows for various spatial arrangements to happen. Secondly, the outdoor space surrounding the production space is separated into two general programs -- parking area and performance venue on the right, and loading & unloading and temporary storage space on the left.

studio spcae render The second floor is dedicated to the artists-in-residence; the studio spaces are flexible and mechanized as well. Different from a traditional studio, the storage of belongings is incorporated onto the wall; items are strapped onto the wall. Then, a vacuum machine that is also attached to the wall will suck out the air in a PVC vinyl layer which wraps around the items. Visually, this act will result in different wall profiles according to the specific tools and items that are stored on the wall.

Floor 03 urban shopping area

right wing of the shed

left wing of the shed

elevator shaft

The third floor is designed as an outdoor, open air space on the roof of the “core” structure. Along with the outdoor space which includes gallery spaces and catwalk stages, an indoor, well lit urban shopping area is placed at the far left of the floor.

moment of collapsing

un-staging model

The final plan drawing speculates on the moment of the shed structure collapsing. While the shed creates an airy outdoor space, as the drawing is showing, the strucutre is huge enough to cover the whole site after it collapsed.

Depth of Panels: A Quiet Revolution in our Homes arch-432 winter 2020 critic: Peter Yi Despite recent waves of technological advancement, modern architecture stubbornly demands static solutions, restricting the vision of architects to passive and unresponsive spaces. Consequently, the individual’s agency and ability to pursue freedom within architectural space has been limited.

As inhabitants, we live in the margins—in the modernist’s utopian dreams in which thinness of space is zealously pursued. While modern lifestyles have been marginalized into stagnation, various panels also occupy the physical margins of our rooms (i.e., walls, floors, and ceilings), though their presence recedes with the advancement of technology. Increasingly, the panels are perceived as two-dimensional elements despite their structure.

A quiet revolution must happen within the domestic environment—one directed by us, the inhabitants.

Depth of Panels, an architectural oxymoron, attempts to create spatial depth by operating on three of the thinnest panels in a typical domestic setting—the wall, the floor, and the ceiling.

Panels are inherently spatial but exist in buildings as units or modules. In many parametric or modular designs, the spatial volume is perceived as an accumulation of two-dimensional panels. In these instances, the panels, mere components of our physical space, have been reimagined as generators of spatial experience itself. This thesis consists of two parts: a physical model of architectural diagrams and speculations on the augmented experiences created through the assembly of panels.

The physical model, a desk assembled from 3/4” plywood panels, changes form as part of a spatially interactive installation. The structural design and adaptability of the desk seek to embody the quality of thinness observable in modern furniture.

WALL (margin) WINDOW (panel) FLUID WALLPAPER (depth)

Windows are the interface between interior room and outside surroundings; as a transparent material, windows allow our eyes to go through and perceive the depth of nature. Nonetheless, the first spatial retrofit, inspired by the mechanism of camera obscura, aims to transform window’s nature as spatial divider into a tunnel where the visible information of nature (natural scenery) can flood into the interior and be projected onto the wall as a wallpaper with fluid and constant motion. rendering of indoor 01

“depth that’s projected from nature to the tangible surfaces of our home”

[up]_plan view [down]_perspective

CEILING (margin) LIGHT DIFFUSER (panel) INDOOR RAINBOW (depth)

Ceiling, for long, has been mostly decorative. Nonetheless, in the era where “decroation is a sin”, such decrative presence has almost vanished as well; the commodification of ceiling tiles has slowly erased their three-dimensionality. Therefore, the second spatial retrofit aims to use the prism as an apparatus to create an optical phenomenon of rainbows in an indoor setting and the panel where such speculation takes place is the light diffuser commonly placed under large ceiling lights. rendering of indoor 02

“depth of natural color and ambience that’s reflected and refracted through the light diffuser panel.”

[up]_plan view [down]_perspective

FLOOR (margin) CARPET (panel) GROWING CARPET (depth)

Carpet is a soft material that has also been panelized. The sensual experience such as warmth and softness of the carpet panel inspired the third spatial add-on to adjust the static state of carpet to a growing form; it speculates on if the carpet was a nutritious farmland, how would the plants grown out of the carpet create spatial depth from the floor. rendering of indoor 03

“depth of dynamic volume that’s grown out of a carpet of soil and earth.”

[up]_plan view [down]_perspective

“color, clouds, and earth... these should be enough to free my mind...”

[up]_plan view [down]_perspective

Lastly, situated in the current COVID-19 circumstances, the project also adapted a new method of designing, which aimed to blur the boundary between physical modeling and the digital realm. As a result of the constraint of time in this semester, the thesis positions not as an end to itself but more as the beginning of a new academic endeavor...