Issuu

YIMING WANG

PORTFOLIO.

RESUME. Education Northeastern University - Boston, U.S. • Bachelor of Science in Architecture -- 2025

CONTENTS. 01

Blown Away

Ethiopian Evangelical Church

Museum of Emotions

Industrial Site Translation

Volcanic Horseman Retreat

Appendix

4-11

Rhode Island School of Design - Providence, U.S. • Master of Architecture -- 2027 (expected)

Experience IE University - Segovia, Spain • Architecture exchange -- 2022 HMFH Architects - Cambridge, U.S. • Internship -- 2022

Office Renovation Design for Remote Work Lexington Highschool Site Model Lexington Highschool Site Analysis

Grimshaw Architects - NYC, U.S. • Internship -- 2024

JFK Portal Airport Highway Installation 70 Mulberry Chinatown Community Center Horizon Juvenile Detention Center

Skills Software

Manual

Linguistic

Rhino Grasshopper Revit Twinmotion

3D Printing Woodworking Photography

Chinese English Spanish

References Alpha Arsano Iouyu Chen Tim Love

a.arsano@northeastern.edu iouyu.chen@grimshaw.global love@utiledesign.com

12-19

20-23

24-25

26-33

36-49

Brand WorldAnalysis Analysis Brand World

Blown Away Team: Yiming Wang Typology: Product Design Time: 2026 Settings: Studio - Prof. Marco Cimatti

Mood Board Mood Board Project Objective The goal of this project is to expand the Away product ecosystem by designing a travelspecific hair dryer. The challenge lies in translating the brand’s core values from travel accessories and luggage into the highly competitive personal appliance category.

Tactile

Ergonomic Ergonomic

Tactile

Brand Values

Seamless Travel

Community & Accesibility

Innovation & Growth

The more everyone travels, the better we all become. Transform traveling through products that inspire people to get away more.

Creating equitable access to the benefits of travel, ensuring their products and experiences are accessible to everyone.

Internally, the brand emphasizes creativity, curiosity, and speed, encouraging unconventional, "un-precious" ideas.

Stealthy

Experience Mapping & Process

Setup

Blow Dry

Storage

• cord clutter • unstable on counter

• heavy for extended use • unbalanced ergo

• out of sight • generic form

Optimize packing/setup

Shift center of gravity to the palm

Elevate 'counter' aesthetic

Design Opportunities 1. Seamlessness: Develop a “stealth” cord solution to optimize the setup and storage experience. 2. Community: Rethink the handle entirely to provide universal, comfortable ergonomics. 3. Innovation: Elevate the aesthetic with a premium, tactile form factor that users actively want to leave out on the counter.

Form Exploration & Ergonomics The primary objective of the form-finding phase was to eliminate the spacewasting footprint of the traditional “L-shaped” hairdryer. By moving from 2D sketches to rapid foam volumetric testing, the design evolved from complex folding mechanisms into a single, handle-free monolith. This approach drastically reduces the travel footprint while shifting the center of gravity directly into the user’s palm for superior control and reduced wrist fatigue.

Design Concept

Exhaust

Plug

Coil

Motor

Fan Front

Front

Left

Side

Top

Handle-Free Ergonomics By eliminating the traditional handle, the center of gravity rests directly in the palm, reducing wrist strain, offering ambidextrous control, and drastically minimizing the packing footprint. Exhaust orientation is controlled by a dial placed right at the user’s thumb.

Packability The compact, monolithic form slides effortlessly into packing cubes and carry-ons without awkward, space-wasting protrusions. 8

Retractable Plug

CMF & Market Tiering To ensure the product aligns with Away’s diverse consumer base, the materiality strategy is divided into two distinct market tiers: The Premium Edition: Positioned for the luxury traveler. It features a matte, anodized aluminum body for maximum durability, paired with a machined metal plug and a tangle-resistant braided cable. The Core Edition: Designed for lightweight accessibility. It retains the exact ergonomic silhouette but utilizes a high-quality polycarbonate body, colormatched plastic interface buttons, and a flexible rubber cable with a retractable plug mechanism.

Air Intake

Exhaust Direction Dial

Heat Control Button

Ethiopian Evangelical Church Team: Yiming Wang, Sara Ounijjar Mzali (Individual work only) Typology: Adaptive Reuse Time: 2024 Settings: Studio - Prof. Alpha Arsano

The project aims to revitalize an Ethiopian church which currently resides in a renovated auto shop. The design addresses the community members’ concern with natural lighting, noise, and drainage. A central atrium anchors the redesign, connecting entry to the relocated sanctuary nestled against natural rock formations. The sanctuary placement maximizes natural light while providing acoustic shelter, as an innovative sloped roof channels rainwater to reflection pools below. A new secondfloor addition activates the space for community programs while prayer spaces are enclosed with glass brick to offer diffused lighting, creating a sacred space that bridges tradition and future needs. 12

GROUND FLOOR

LOUNGE

2ND FLOOR

FELLOWSHIP

CLASSROOMS

ATRIUM

SANCTUARY

PV PANELS

COLLECTION TYPICAL RAIN DAY

TANK VOLUME

6800 GA 2850 GA

USAGE BATHROOM FLUSHING

ROW IRRIGATION

ATRIUM IRRIGATION

21.6 days of usage

2.4 days to ﬁll

180 GA 112 GA 22GA

Roof Drainage

Fellowship space with main staircase

Drainage Design The integrated drainage system harnesses both built and natural elements - the slanted roof works in concert with existing rock formations to guide stormwater into the reflection pools in between. This creates a 6,800-gallon reservoir system that sustains the building’s operations for up to three weeks for bathroom flushing and atrium irrigation while creating moments of spiritual reflection through water elements. Social Spaces The social spaces are designed for natural gathering and community building. The main staircase integration is a key feature - with 2-foot-deep treads that double as informal seating, it creates a natural amphitheater overlooking the fellowship area. This architectural move transforms a typical circulation element into an active social catalyst.

Upper floor lounge

The upper floor lounge space employs sophisticated environmental controls through its operable facade system. During summer months, the facade provides essential shading, while in winter it can be adjusted to increase solar gain and natural ventilation. This adaptive approach gives the users flexibility of environmental control, creating comfortable, light-filled gathering spaces that respond to seasonal changes. 17

Parametric Façade The street-facing parametric façade system merges Ethiopian cultural heritage with contemporary architectural expression. Inspired by the traditional Ethiopian painting “Defender of His Country,” the design translates historic mosaic patterns and cultural motifs into a dynamic, fragmented surface geometry. This interpretation creates a dialogue between traditional artistry and modern parametric design, resonating with community members who recognize their cultural heritage in its contemporary form. Religious symbolism is subtly woven throughout the façade’s details - a rhythmic “crack” pattern abstracts the form of a cross across the panels, while refined elements like door panel indentations and cross-shaped handles provide quieter references to the building’s sacred purpose. These layered details transform the façade from a simple building envelope into a meaningful cultural touchstone that both protects and proclaims the building’s identity. 18

Museum of Emotions Team: Yiming Wang, Roy Glick Typology: Institution

viewing

Time: 2024 Settings: Competition

This competition entry translates the duality of human emotions. Set in a dense forest, the cast-concrete structure operates as a double-helix pathway. One path—an open, sweeping ramp—facilitates positive, expansive states. The second—an enclosed, restrictive tube—forces a negative, isolating experience where way finding is obscured and the user’s line of sight is strictly limited to the immediate path ahead.

Viewing Deck

Parametric Generation To resolve the complex geometry of the converging pathways, the structure was entirely generated using Grasshopper. The script mathematically controlled the sloping tolerances, the intersection of the sweeping curves, and the weaving width of the intersecting concrete shells, ensuring a seamless aesthetic transition from the ground to the observation deck.

The Convergence Crucially, these two pathways continuously intertwine, illustrating that opposing emotional states do not exist independently. The physical journey culminates at a shared summit: a circular observation deck with a central glass floor. Here, users from both paths converge, allowing them to look back down through the core of the structure and perceive the entire, intertwined journey as a single unified system.

Industrial Site -- Translation Team: Yiming Wang Typology: Representation Time: 2025 Settings: Studio - Prof. Mae Dessauvage

This project challenges conventional representation by blending plan and elevation into a single, hybrid drawing. By shifting the orientation away from a traditional street-side view, it reveals a hidden “pocket space”—an active, intimate courtyard nestled within the heavy industrial complex that would otherwise go unnoticed. The 2D/3D Theater Model Mirroring the drawing’s hybrid nature, the physical model acts as a translation of dimensions. Constructed as a perspective theater box, the primary architectural facades are built in full 3D relief, while secondary elements like the central tree and distant landscape remain flat 2D planes. This forces a specific, curated perspective of the courtyard’s activity and industrial contrasts. Analog Lens The styling of the physical model deliberately incorporates a vintage camera and lighter. These objects ground the model, emphasizing how the industrial building has endured through time. Just as a camera shifts lenses to reframe reality, this theater model acts as an analog documentation of the site itself—shifting the viewer’s lens to uncover the hybrid nature of the space.

Volcanic Horseman Retreat Team: Yiming Wang, Roy Glick, Jacob Noznesky (Groupwork marked *) Typology: Mixed-use Time: 2024

Nestled within an ancient Icelandic crater, this 1,600m² equestrian facility reimagines the historic relationship between Iceland’s horses and its volcanic landscape. The design carefully integrates into the caldera while preserving its natural walls, creating a contemporary shelter that echoes the site’s traditional use as a horse refuge. Hut Section

Settings: Competition

Stable

Communal

Hut Plan

Grazing

Huts

Landscape Response The architecture employs removable structures and local materials, maintaining a low profile never exceeding 8 meters. Built partially into the crater, the design creates a seamless dialogue between built form and natural landscape, offering visitors an immersive experience of Iceland’s raw beauty while honoring the site’s geological and cultural heritage.

Wall Assembly The hut’s wall system draws conceptual and functional inspiration from its equestrian program through an innovative use of locally-sourced straw cladding. This material strategy serves multiple purposes: providing additional thermal insulation while creating a visual connection to traditional stable architecture. The assembly incorporates a unique contingency feature in emergency situations, the processed straw cladding could serve as supplementary feed for the horses, creating a building envelope that is both performative and potentially sustaining. The use of local straw reduces transportation costs and environmental impact while supporting regional agricultural practices.

Straw

Wood Veneer

Waterproof Membrane

Insulation

Wood Plank

Plaster

Gypsum Wallboard

Insulation

Hut Interior View

COMMUNITY SPACE

RESTROOM

FOODCOURT

SHOP

COMMUNAL HALL

PV PANELS

FIRE PLACES

*Drawing produced in collaboration. Personal contribution: 3d model, furniture layout

SEATING THROUGHOUT

CLERESTORY

Communal Fire Place

Hut

Program Integration The retreat centers around a 700m² stable housing 50 Icelandic horses, complemented by a 150m² communal gathering space with traditional fireplaces. Supporting amenities include a 50-cover restaurant (150m²), equestrian shop (50m²), children’s play area (50m²), and varied accommodation offering 20 double rooms and 10 single rooms.

Stable

Site

Appendix. yimingw27@gmail.com +1 857 265 4676 +86 18967110926

CONTACTS.

Interlinked Team: Yiming Wang Typology: Housing Time: 2022 Settings: Studio - Prof. Tim Love

A modular housing design that responds to the diverse living patterns of graduate students and public tenants. The project employs a systematic yet flexible approach through repeating modules, each carefully configured to maximize spatial efficiency and adaptability. Each module organizes around a central egress stair core connecting the first three floors, while fourth-floor units are accessed through internal stairs from the third level. The design creates a distinctive spatial hierarchy: streetfacing units follow traditional apartment layouts, while rear units adopt a more communal, dormitory-inspired approach. An innovative circulation spine between units enables the interconnection of rear spaces, creating the possibility for larger combined units as needs evolve.

Ground Floor

7 Individual Units

Upper & Lower Units Combined

Parallel Units Combined

Freestyle Combined

2nd Floor

Unit Composition & Flexibility The typical module differentiates between street-facing and rear units. Street-side apartments offer traditional two-bedroom layouts, while back units feature duplex configurations with interconnected corridors that enable combination into larger four-plus bedroom units. This adaptability accommodates both individual student living and family occupancy. Outdoor Living Strategy Each unit type integrates dedicated outdoor space: ground-floor units connect to front gardens and private rear yards accessed via bamboo walkways, secondfloor units feature balconies, and upper-level street-side units include terraces. The massing incorporates light wells at both ends, while a half-level shift between adjacent units ensures privacy and aligns with egress requirements.

3rd Floor

4th Floor

Natural Illumination Despite tight urban conditions, the design prioritizes natural light through strategically placed skylights in ground-floor units and upper-level bedrooms. This approach, combined with the light well strategy, ensures bright, livable spaces throughout the complex.

Street View

Typical Bedroom View

Backyard View

Segovia Pavilion Team: Yiming Wang, Jacob Noznesky, Arseniy Petrov (Groupwork marked *) Typology: Installation Time: 2022

Case Study: SAIE Pavilion

Settings: Studio - Prof. Maxon Higbee

A wooden observation and art pavilion that activates Plaza Jardín de Mauricio Fromkes through elevated drawing spaces. Taking cues from the SAIE pavilion’s structural language, the design features a series of elevated “pods” oriented at varying heights to frame unique perspectives of Segovia’s historic landscape. This layered viewing strategy transforms artists’ relationship with the city, offering new vantage points for artistic documentation and contemplation. The pavilion’s base is articulated through tree-like structural elements that echo the site’s vegetation while creating intimate gathering spaces below. This design approach honors both the park’s namesake - American painter Mauricio Fromkes - and its artistic heritage, while providing a contemporary platform for artistic engagement with the urban context. The result is a dynamic public space that serves both as observation deck and creative incubator.

*Drawing produced in collaboration. Personal contribution: 3d model, lineweight adjustment

POD EXPERIENCE BUILT CONTEXT Neighboring Buildings Streets and Sidewalks

BUILT CONTEXT

5.6 m

PUBLIC

TOPIARY CONNECTION

TOPIARY CONNECTION Emulation of Poplar Trees Hedges

ELEVATION CHANGE

ELEVATION CHANGE Retaining Wall Slope, Points of Connection

SEMI-PRIVATE

PRIVATE

SITE BREAKDOWN SITE BREAKDOWN

CIRCULATION

te)

iva

tis

Pr d(

a lkw

te)

iva

r iP

c) bli

t (S

res Fo

u iP

*Model produced in collaboration