Yumin Zhang's portfolio 2022 by Yumin Zhang

Yumin Zhang www.linkedin. com/in/ yumin-zhangarch

Portfolio Sci-arc 2018-2022

YUMIN ZHANG Los Angeles,CA (213)547-6347 yumin.zhang.arch@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/in/yumin-zhang-arch EDUCATION Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) Bachelor of Architecture, April 2023 (expected)

WORK EXPERIENCE Guangzhou Urban Planning & Design Research Institute – Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Intern, May - August 2021

Southern California Institute of Architecture – Los Angeles, California Digital Technology Assistant, September - Decenber 2019

PROFICIENCIES Rhino AutoCAD Grasshopper Zbrush Keyshot Vray Blender Zephyr Agisoft Photoshop Illustrator InDesign After Effect Premier Mandarin & Cantonese Chinese

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Komorebi Courtyard

From Tender Towers to La Plume Tower 12 Tender Towers

Roofscape Screens

Tectonics

With Lines

Poetic Imagery

A Memorial as a Sign

The Death of the “Secundrabagh“

KOMOREBI COURTYARD 4A Design Studio Fall 2021 DS 1040: Position Instructor: Tom Wiscombe Partner: Khanh Nguyen

FROM TENDER TOWERS TO LA PLUME TOWER Design Development Fall 2021 AS 3040 Instructor: Scott Uriu, Pavel Getov Team: Anqi Wang, Brandon Bown, Chris Gonzales, Dalya Bukhamseen, Khanh, Nguyen, Kimmy Van, Salih Albarrak, Yongjie Qi, Yuntung “Eunice“ Liu Animated presentation: https://indd.adobe.com/ view/9d3c9dcc-2c7d-4763-b805-26e0f9155765

December 7, 2021

CONCRETE TOWER CORE HSS8x8x1/2" STEEL BRACE FRAME

HSS8x8x1/2" STEEL CROSS BRACING 1" THICK STEEL GUSSET PLATE CONTINUOUSLY WELDED

1" THICK BENT STEEL PLATE EA. SIDE

CONCRETE TOWER CORE CONCRETE SHEAR WALL

CONCRETE STRUCTURE PLAN

CONCRETE STR

RUCTURE ELEVATION

STEEL TOWER ROOF STRUCTURE

STEEL SHEAR WALL BRACING

CONCRETE SHEAR WALL

CONCRETE TOWER CORE

CONCRETE BASE

December 7, 2021

CONCRETE STRUCTURAL SLAB

NTS _ of 29

CONCRETE STRUCTURAL SLAB

STRUCTURE: CONCRETE

CONCRETE STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

CONCRETE TOWER CORE

TOWER TIE STEEL TUBE BRACING

TOWER TIE BASE STRUCTURE PLAN

CONCRETE TOWER CORE TOWER TIE STEEL TUBE BRACING

TOWER TIE BASE STRUCTURE ELEVATION

CONCRETE TOWER CORE 1" THICK BENT STEEL PLATE HSS8x8x1/2" STEEL BRACE FRAME

1" THICK STEEL GUSSET PLATE CONTINUOUSLY WELDED

HSS8x8x1/2" STEEL CROSS BRACING

CONCRETE TOWER CORE

TOWER TIE BASE STRUCTURE DETAIL

TOWER TIE STEEL TUBE BRACING

December 7, 2021 NTS _ of 10

CONCRETE TOWER CORE BASE

TOWER TIE BASE STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

STRUCTURE: BASE

STEEL BRACING CONCRETE DECK

CONCRETE CORE STEEL FRAMING

PLUME

TOWER

AS 3040 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT FALL 2021 INSTRUCTORS: Scott Uriu Pavel Getov CONSULTANTS: Matthew Melnyk Jamey Lyzun MEMBERS: Anqi Wang Brandon Bown Chris Gonzales Dalya Bukhamseen Khanh Nguyen Kimmy Van Salih Albarrak Yongjie Qi Yumin Zhang Yuntung (Eunice) Liu

PENCIL TOWERS CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES

DATE:

December 6, 2021

SCALE:

NTS

SHEET:

_ 0F 10

SHEET NAME:

SECONDAEY STRUCTURE

PERFORATED LIGHT GAUGE STEEL PANEL FACADE PANEL; SUPPORT STRUCTURE

PLUME

FACADE BAR

TOWER

ANCHOR WATER RESISTANT MEMBRANE MINERAL

HORIZONTAL SECTION (B) (PLAN)

GYPSUM BOARD RIGID INSULATION + LIGHT GAUGE STEEL GYPSUM

PENCIL TOWERS CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES

DATE: SCALE:

NTS

SHEET:

_ 0F 10

SHEET NAME:

FACADE DETAIL/PLAN & SECTION 3D

A18

SECTION (A)

LIGHT GAUGE STEEL INSULATION GYPSUM RIGID GYPSUM BOARD MINERAL

PLUME

TOWER

WATER RESISTANT MEMBRANE SCREWS REINFORCED CONCRETE FLOOR ANCHOR FACADE BAR FACADE PANEL; SUPPORT STRUCTURE PERFORATED LIGHT GAUGE STEEL PANEL

AS 3040 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT FALL 2021 INSTRUCTORS: Scott Uriu Pavel Getov CONSULTANTS: Matthew Melnyk Jamey Lyzun

Perforated Light gauge panels are attached to a syﬆem consiﬆing of facde panel support ﬆructure spaced 5’ feet apart vertically which is connected to the facade with a facade bar attached to an anchor.

MEMBERS: Anqi Wang Brandon Bown Chris Gonzales Dalya Bukhamseen Khanh Nguyen Kimmy Van Salih Albarrak Yongjie Qi Yumin Zhang Yuntung (Eunice) Liu

Using bolts to connect the the facade panel support ﬆructure to the facade bar, the perforated light gauge ﬆeel panels are mounted to the support ﬆructure using bolts.

LIGHT GAUGE STEEL INSULATION GYPSUM RIGID GYPSUM BOARD MINERAL

PENCIL TOWERS CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES

WATER RESISTANT MEMBRANE SCREWS REINFORCED CONCRETE FLOOR ANCHOR FACADE BAR

DATE: SCALE:

NTS

SHEET:

_ 0F 10

SHEET NAME:

FACADE PANEL; SUPPORT STRUCTURE PERFORATED LIGHT GAUGE STEEL PANEL

FACADE SYSTEM INSTALLATION

A19

ROOF:

370.85 ft

LEVEL 32: 361.33 ft LEVEL 31: 351.81 ft LEVEL 30: 342.30 ft

TOP TRUSSES

STEEL FRAME

CONCRETE SLAB

LEVEL 29: 332.78 ft LEVEL 28: 323.27 ft LEVEL 27: 313.75 ft

PLUME

TOWER

LEVEL 26: 304.23 ft LEVEL 25: 292.01 ft LEVEL 24: 282.19 ft LEVEL 23: 272.37 ft LEVEL 22: 262.55 ft LEVEL 21: 252.73 ft LEVEL 20: 242.91 ft LEVEL 19: 233.09 ft LEVEL 18: 223.27 ft LEVEL 17: 213.45 ft

CONCRETE CORE

LEVEL 16: 203.63 ft LEVEL 15: 193.81 ft LEVEL 14: 183.99 ft LEVEL 13: 174.17 ft LEVEL 12: 164.35 ft

LEVEL 11: 154.54 ft LEVEL 10: 144.71 ft LEVEL 09: 134.89 ft LEVEL 08: 125.07 ft LEVEL 07: 115.25 ft

PENCIL TOWERS CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES

LEVEL 06: 105.43 ft STEEL TOWER TIE BASE

LEVEL 05: 95.61 ft LEVEL 04: 85.79 ft LEVEL 03: 75.97 ft LEVEL 02: 66.16 ft LEVEL 01: 56.33 ft

CONCRETE BASE

DATE:

September 21, 2021

SCALE:

NTS

SHEET:

_ 0F 10

PODIUM: 36.29 ft SHEET NAME:

CONCRETE STRUCTURAL SLAB

Structure Section GROUND: 0 ft

TO PUBLIC WAY

LEVEL 35:

0 sf

LEVEL 34:

0 sf

LEVEL 33:

352 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 2

LEVEL 32:

708 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 4

LEVEL 31: 1,056 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 6 LEVEL 30: 2,124 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 11 LEVEL 29: 1,408 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 28: 2,832 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 15 LEVEL 27: 1,408 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 26: 2,124 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 11 LEVEL 25: 1,408 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 24: 2,832 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 15 LEVEL 23: 1,232 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 7

LEVEL 22: 2,478 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 13 LEVEL 21:

PODIUM EGRESS PLAN

704 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 4

LEVEL 20: 1,416 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 19:

880 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 5

LEVEL 18: 1,770 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 9 LEVEL 17:

880 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 5

LEVEL 16: 1,770 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 9 LEVEL 15: 1,232 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 7 LEVEL 14: 2,478 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200 OCC. LOAD: 13 LEVEL 13: 1,408 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 12: 2,832 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 15 LEVEL 11: 1,584 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 10: 3,186 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 16 LEVEL 09: 1,584 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 08: 3,186 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 16 LEVEL 07: 1,584 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 8 LEVEL 06: 3,186 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 16 LEVEL 05:

880 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 5

LEVEL 04: 1,770 sf, OCC. TYPE: R 1:200, OCC. LOAD: 9 LEVEL 03: 5,829 sf, OCC. TYPE: M 1:60, OCC. LOAD: 98

TO PUBLIC WAY

LEVEL 02: 8,207 sf, OCC. TYPE: M 1:60, OCC. LOAD: 137 LEVEL 01: 14,147 sf, OCC. TYPE: M 1:60, OCC. LOAD: 236

TO PUBLIC WAY

GROUND EGRESS PLAN

December 7, 2021 NTS _ of 29

EGRESS DIAGRAMS

3RD FLOOR MERCANTILE 98 OCCUPANTS x 0.3: 29.4" MIN.

4 THIRD FL. PODIUM EGRESS STAIRS

EGRESS DIAGRAM

2ND FLOOR MERCANTILE: 137 OCCUPANTS x 0.3: 41.1" MIN.

2ND FL. PODIUM EGRESS STAIRS

R-2: RESIDENTIAL MULTI-FAMILY M: MERCANTILE, OPEN MARKET

3 HOUR

1 HOUR

NON-RATED

WALL TYPES

4 CONSTRUCTION /OCCUPANCY CHARTS

December 7, 2021 NTS _ of 29

FIRE SEPERATION CONST. TYPE

FIRE DETAILS

3 FIRE SPRINKLER PLAN

FIRE SEPERATION DIAGRAM

A10

TENDER TOWERS 3A Design Studio

Fall 2020 DS 1030: Assemblies I Instructor: Ramiro Diaz-Granados Partner: Anqi Wang Watch video: https://youtu.be/6cQ7J6lwcp8

The project explores an extreme possibility of the pencil tower typology. Ten pencil towers are combined in a bundle to produce densed yet porous and buildable via repetition massing. Feet and plinth connect flows from urban fabric and lift the towers slightly off ground. Being a miniature of downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers, it poses itself as a scene in the neighbourhood.

ROOFSCAPE SCREENS 3B Design Studio

Spring 2021 DS 1031: Assemblies II Instructor: Maxi Spina

The project means to provide an enclave campus partially packed with rental spaces for the GFS, a film school for disadvantaged teenagers. Taking advantage of the low requirements for natural lighting, a canopy of three interconneting and intersecting Dutch Gable Roofs coheres with the neighbourhood as well as unifies masses.

BIRDS VIEW

CHUNK OVERVIEW

Precedent Study: Brutal Variety Envelope System: Precast concrete wall with rotated windows

Tectonics CHUNK CUT VIEW

Tectonics & Materials AS3033 Shuo-Chieh Ho_Yuntung Liu_Yumin Zhang_Siyu You

Fall 2020 AS 3033 Instructors: Randy Jefferson & Maxi Spina Partners: Siyu You, Yun Tung Liu, Shuo Chieh Ho

This seminar focused on unpacking facade systems. Detailed drawings show components making up the systems. To advance understanding of the facades, tectonic system of one existing facade was adopted to another one regarding its formal qualities.

BIRDS VIEW

A2 - WINDOW DETAILS

Precedent Study: Brutal Variety Envelope System: Precast concrete wall with rotated windows

STEEL MULLION CASING STEEL MULLION INTERNAL CONNECTIONS PRESSURE GASKET PRIMARY SEALANT EPDM SETTING BLOCKS DRIL-FLEX FASTENER SEALANT

INSULATING GLASS UNIT STAINLESS STEEL THREADED REBAR @ 20” APART

LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS ANGLED MULLION CASING

2”x6” STEEL STUD @ 16”O.C. 5.5” FIBERGLASS BATT INSULATION

CONCRETE COLUMN

MEGAPANEL WINDOW CASING

A1 - WINDOW CONNECTION

STEEL MULLION CASING STEEL MULLION INTERNAL CONNECTIONS PRESSURE GASKET LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

ANGLED MULLION CASING

STEEL MULLION CASING

GYPSUM BOARD AND PLASYER

INSULATING GLASS UNIT STEEL MULLION INTERNAL CONNECTIONS PRESSURE GASKET EPDM SETTING BLOCKS SEALANT DRIL-FLEX FASTENER

STEEL MULLION WINDOW PROFILE VARIABLE GLASS OPACITY

PRIMARY SEALANT

ANGLED MULLION CASING

INSULATING GLASS UNIT LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

A2 - WINDOW DETAIL INDIVIDUAL MULLION ANGULATION COVER PLATE OVER ELECTRICAL AND HEATING COVER PLATE OVER HUNG FACADE ELEMENTS MEGAPANEL CLIP CONNECTION

TOOLED IN CHAMBER GASKET CONTINUOUS ALUM. PANEL SUPPORT WOOD FLOORING EPDM SETTING BLOCKS STEEL MULLION CASING SEALANT

SLEEPER CONCRETE FLOOR SLAB

STEEL MULLION INTERNAL CONNECTIONS PRESSURE GASKET PRIMARY SEALANT

STAINLESS STEEL THREADED REBAR @ 20” APART STEEL MULLION CASING

DOUBLE PANE GLASS WITH LOW-E COATING LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS INSULATING GLASS UNIT

A3 - WALL SECTION Tectonics & Materials AS3033 Shuo-Chieh Ho_Yuntung Liu_Yumin Zhang_Siyu You

BIRDS VIEW

LOW-E GLA

TOP MEGAP

ALU

GLAZING

PRESSU

ALUMIN

A2 - WALL-WINDOW CONNECTION

BOTTOM S

LOW-E GLA

Precedent Study: Brutal Variety Envelope System: Precast concrete wall with rotated windows

STEEL DEAD ALUMINUM FINISH SHOCK ABSORBER STEEL DEAD MEGAPANEL TOP 3” x 8” STEEL BEAM SPREADER BEAM TYP.[10’X4”X1/6”] ALUMINUM FINISH STEEL BRACKET ALUMINUM CAP 1/4” DRIL- FLEX FASTNERS 1/12” CM GRADE 5 BOLTS 2” x1/2” x1/4” THICK BENT STELL CLIP 5” LONG ALUMINIUM FINISH PLATE BRAKE FORMED ALUMINUM FLASHING ALUMINIUM FINISH PLATE

WOOD FLOORING SLEEPER

CONCRETE FLOOR SLAB STAINLESS STEEL THREADED REBAR @ 20” APART RADIANT HEAT PANEL COVER PLATE

AZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

RADIANT HEAT PANEL POURED-IN-PLACE EPOXY SMOKE SEALANT

PANEL STEEL FRAME

FIRE-SAFING INSULATION

UMINUM CAP

STEEL DEAD

G MOUNTING BRACKET

SHIM PACK THREADED ROD + NUT + WASHER

URE GASGET

NUM PROFILE

SHOCK ABSORBER

MEGAPANEL STEEL FRAME

STEEL DEAD SPREADER BEAM TYP.[10’X4”X1/6”]

AZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

0.5” GAUGE STEEL ANGLE ALUMINIUM FINISH PLATE ALUMINUM CAP

BOTTOM MEGAPANEL STEEL FRAME SEALANT LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

STEEL BRACKET

Tectonics & Materials AS3033 Shuo-Chieh Ho_Yuntung Liu_Yumin Zhang_Siyu You

BIRDS VIEW

A3 - WINDOW-WINDOW CONNECTION

Precedent Study: Brutal Variety Envelope System: Precast concrete wall with rotated windows

LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS INSLATING SPACER NAILS SEALANT ALUMINUM PROFILE AIR GAP PRESSURE GASKET TOP MEGAPANEL STEEL FRAME

LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

ALUMINUM CAP

TOP MEGAPANEL STEEL FRAME

ALUMINUM PROFILE

NAILS

PRESSURE GASKET

WOOD FLOORING SLEEPER

CONCRETE FLOOR SLAB

LOW-E GLAZED DOUBLE PANE GLASS

Tectonics & Materials AS3033 Shuo-Chieh Ho_Yuntung Liu_Yumin Zhang_Siyu You

WITH LINES

Visual Studies elective Fall 2020 Visual Studies: Diagraming architecture Instructor: Andrew Zago Partner: Jiaxin Zhao

POETIC IMAGERY Visual Studies elective

Fall 2020 Visual Studies: Beyond the Digital Instructor: Coy Howard

This visual studies seminar focused on image-making including photography, posters, and videos. By collecting and manipulating images from everyday life contents such as a garlic or a glance to the street, as well as architectural photos of well-known projects, we made an indirect path to the essence of the contents, rendering a poetic ambience. In this poetic world of images, clues are scattered to be found, information given but hidden behind veils, and beauty yet to be felt.

A Memorial as a Sign

Fall 2020 Architecture Theory HT2030: Instructor: Erik Ghenoiu

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice conveys meaning and emotion to visitors by producing a symbolic space inside of it while explicitly expressing itself to the pedestrian environment. The architects constructed a monument with texts instead of figures. In this project, public message is communicated in a way that involve more personal emotions, while still straight forward enough not to be distorted. It reveals how powerful architecture could be in a symbolic form. Such power is employed to stress on the long-lasting racial issue of current time with past, unaddressed, specific cases. It being built itself becomes an event attracting attention from its immediately neighborhood to around the country. More importantly, the existence of the building will pass the message onto the future generations. On the dimensions of time and space, architecture nails and ensures unchanging focus to the issue. Enclosed space of the memorial produces a sacred space by using identical form on structural and symbolic components. Gigantic block pillars hanging from the top remain the same appearance at the edges and in the middle, where they carry the weight of the top and rest of the building. When in the middle, their bottoms no longer touch the ground, but the top of a flat, vast space in which viewers walk.

pressed space for living. The space stretches through a long width and a longer length relatively to its height. The entrance, sides, top surface, and visible slot above the top surface of the space are packed with texts. These texts are location, names, and dates of victims of lynching. Text in this scenario carves into the surface of the building parts, making itself not only a silent record of history, but also a pronounced symbol of calling for peace and justice. Text and its visual impacts act on the space so closely and directly, that the space becomes a reception of the message communicated. The space turns into a symbol1. For the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, having this symbolic space as its primary pedestrian area besides the museum means prioritizing its message. The building guides and persuades the viewers to look at it when they are in the field and to look closer. Texts are engraved onto immediately surface to viewers on the blocks. so that they can read the texts when viewers are inside the memorial. The memorial communicates a message to visitors through text relief and overall gesture. When visitors walking in the field or the enclosed space, their movement of “viewing” talks back to the building, creating a conversation between the building and people2. The building asks for attention from the field it stands in as well as the space it squeezed out

The space under blocks is a metaphor of a com-

1Venturi, Venturi, Robert. Scott Brown, Denise. Izenour, Steven. Learning from Las Vegas, 9. The MIT Press, 2017. 2Barthes, Barthes, Roland. “Semiology and Urbanism.” Essay. In Architecture Culture 1943-1968, edited by Joan Ockman, 415. Rizzoli, 2007.

beneath. It asks for absolute attention and dominates spaces in and out of it1. The memorial means to bring back the past for people to remember. By creating a conversation of the past events documented on the blocks and the current visitors to the building, the past is talked into visitors’ mind with silent yet powerful signs. The texture of the memorial explicitly signs the brutal nature of its message carried. Texture of hanging bars produces a sign in two terms: seeing and touching. In term of seeing, the use of weathered metal produces uneven decay. Uneven decay indicates the length of time that past. The terrible history of lynching over enslaved African American people had last for a desperate long time, makes the torture they had more severe. Also, time has passed since the legacy, making it even more important to keep it in mind. Rusted color calmly recalls blood. In the open field adjacent to the building, a group of black metal statues reveal that rust signifies blood, tears, and sweats under the chains. Chains on the human figures are made of rusting iron. The rust roots from the chains and spread on the surface of the human figures, in the same way that blood, tears, and sweats flow over skin. As the texture is complex and detailed, it carries heavy emotional meanings. Rigid, metal nature of weathered panels brings strength to viewers. As the edge pillars are structurally supporting the building, the middle floating ones also act as solid when forming the space. All these senses bring feelings to visitors’ mind and stay in their memories. A person does not need to learn about tons of history to know how terrible life was for enslaved people, they only need to walk along these pillars. The architecture is going to pass the senses to them. Signs help public spaces to establish its message just like how commercial spaces advertising themselves. Commercial buildings communicate with sign often. Public spaces, for example, the highways, the parks, are taken for granted. The memorials, however, share an important similarity with commercial places unlike highways or parks do not. A memorial directs to certain ideas to memorize.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice asks people that live in or visit Montgomery, Alabama to remember Black people that used to live in and around this very place who experienced racial violence and injustice. The open circulation encourages visitors to linger around the memorial. The ground changes level and pulls away from the block pillars. Viewers walk underneath block pillars in some spots and passing through a forest of them in others. In both cases, they remain close enough to read the texts on the blocks, either from the bottom or from the side. The space above the heads exceed sense of viewers thus becomes another integer. An architecture could mean to function in terms of a sign, but it is always more than it. The ceiling of the memorial creates a suppressing atmosphere for the beneath space by sheltering lights. It also makes it possible for rows of pillars to float in the middle of air and present texts to pedestrians. These are its designed functions. However, the ceiling also shelters rains from above. It is its materiality that produces such side effect. It is also the materiality that makes possible for the building to stand long and have the power transcending time and space. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice building delivers itself as a symbol of a legacy to put certain senses into its visitors. To do that, the architects composite its massive form, compressive walking space, brutal texture, and lingering circulation, producing a naked piece of information that talks directly to viewers. Materiality of the building allows its power to last long, but the building is no longer only a collection of different materials but characterized as a sign to communicate message to people visiting it. It becomes a constant reminder of the legacy. That power transcends time to the contemporary discourse and keeps perform its strength against any forms of violence and injustice as a silent sign.

1Venturi, Robert. Scott Brown, Denise. Izenour, Steven. Learning from Las Vegas, 13. The MIT Press, 2017.

The Death of the “Secundrabagh” Spring 2019 History of Architecture and Urbanism HT 2024 Instructor: John Cooper

The life of the Secundrabagh was a short and thin one. Just like many other architecture pieces in its space and time-- a state of crowns, and the era of the colonizers-- the Secundrabagh did not last long. The power and desire of monarch gave it specular delicateness, but failed to protect it from the turbulence of history. The Revolt in 1857 damaged its structure, but the true death was spiritual. Inadequate war photographers, together with their sponsors, used sophistry and propaganda, overwrote the soul of the Secundrabagh. They disconnected the building from its origin, framed it into a manipulated binary gaze. Through the Sikandar Bagh is still “alive” today by standing alone, the Secundrabagh had been destroyed by distorting its perception. Nawabs - rulers of the region- had lived in places like Qaisarbagh(Fig.1) from early 1700 till 1856 when the last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, the owner and builder of Sikandar Bagh, was deposed by the British.1 The Qaisarbagh shared an identical style with the Secundrabagh, as they were both Royal gardens.2 The Secundrabagh was decorated with complicated elegant ornaments. Delicate engraving and patterns run in ribbons on top of both storeys. Between the ground and the second storey, four layers with different width add magnificence to the building. On the very top of the building, three stacking ribbons and one triangular decorative topping bring strong style to both the building and the image. The triangle topping has heavy lining on its edges. An oval with longer horizontal axis punches its way through the triangle right in the middle. Labor was put into the building, but there is no trace of the laborers. They never got the chance to leave their ideas of the

building they built. Buildings never had priority to be protected or preserved. Limited description of the royal palaces survived because they were exclusive. Few people were allowed to enter and experience them. When some of these buildings got ruined by firing of cannons, people eventually lost all possible way to know them.3 The Secundrabagh did not make it to the top list of buildings to preserve. Its lack of dome indicated a lack of knowledge of structure(Fig.2).4 It was not any of the works of the top builders, and did not mean to be the best. Not only the buildings were unprotected, their perception were too. The colonized subject were not assumed to be able to read the persuasion of the Colonial Gaze.5 But they were vulnerable to its power. Beato did not create his photos for the Indian people, but by creating illusions that have traces of reality, he made viewers alienate themselves from their own bodies. Therefore, the colonial gaze also penetrated into the “native”’s lives.6 Photography was the weapon. It provided a new way to sense the world to both the colonizer and the colonized. Chaudhary argues that how you sense the world defines how you interpret it. Such influence is durable in time. The visions of contemporary people are inevitably influenced by old photo, that is to say, by their point of view.7 Photography in the 19th century was still on an early stage, relatively rough and amateur. Photographers had not realized the whole use of their cameras. They could have tried to do something simple but end up doing something else at the same time

unintentionally. Photography is acute. It is a fast, easy way to capture moments. There was a book called People of India which tended to introduce the colonized Indian people to their colonizer, British people. Despite its limits, photography was still way more powerful and striking among other forms of presentation, for example, descriptive texts. 8 All these features made photography a powerful weapon to the minds, and at the same time, a new and uncontrolled one. Felice Beato was the photographer that took the very photo(Fig.3) that “murdered” the Secundrabagh. He was permitted to travel in Lucknow and its surrounding area started Mar 16, 1858 with several servants. He and his dealer, Henry Hering, saw photography as a technology to produce commercial products. To take photos here was just to earn money.9 Beato was considered as a war photographer because of frequent visits war areas. 10 However, he was not a reporter of the truth, due to the time he was in and his businessman nature.11 Beato arrived after the corpses were buried. So he ordered exhumation for more emotionally shocking effects. When his photos were exhibited in London, they were assumed to be taken just after the massacre. This series of images were always shown interspersed with generic colonial photos in albums sold in London.12Staging photographs was not unusual at that time. Photographers staged a girl who liked wearing white in “oliver coloured mud and fat” to produce photo for People of India.13

Fig.1 Felice Beato, The courtyards of the Qaisarbagh from the Roshan-uhdaula Kothi, six albumen prints,1858

Fig. 2 Madura, Mosque of ‘Ala al-din, Section, 2003

It is obvious that the photo was not taken right after the massacre because bodies do not become skeletons so quick.14 Beato framed the image in an unusual way, giving the audience a sense of insecure. He broke through some of the photography convention at the time.15 History of photography in India was almost as early as it was in Europe. Sepoy Revolt was one of the earliest events captured in which photographers Fig. 3 Beato, Felice and Hering, Henry British, Interior of Secundrabagh After the Massacre 1858 -1862

developed their skills.16 This photo bounds a near-square picture with a slightly longer horizontal axis. It appears to be a photo shot on the exterior of a two storey building, showing only one end of it. The camera angle inclines in a small angle, produces an unsettled horizon line that tilts on the right of the image. The ground plane appears to be a tilted rectangle, implying a relatively large open plaza in front of the building. Scale of scattered smaller objects on the ground suggest the depth: spherical objects, could be identified to be human skulls, which are closer to the camera, have larger scale in the picture than construction trash, which is further to the camera. One window among the construction trash has identical style with the window on the second floor. At the edge where the ground plane meets the building, four people and a horse stand or sit still. Their position could be roughly framed into a rectangle that tilts on the right, matching the building’s and the ground plane’s outline. Each human figure has slender proportion, matching the proportion of the columns. The image develops coherence in the self-repetition of shape. Noticeable, most shapes in this image have uneven outlines, producing an incomplete sense for the shapes. The top right corner of the building is trimmed, leaving uneven triangular fragments standing on top of the ornament. The doorway on the first storey has a wavy outline and a delta of trash pieces stacking by its feet. This image depicts an elegant, harmonic building being ruined while its broken segments scattering around the picture. It creates a subtle balance between perfection and destruction. There were two main sponsors of the photographer: the encourager and the audience. The encourager was the British authority. Documenting the Indian subcontinent with photography was strongly encouraged as well as controlled by the authority. The audience of the image was one easy to manipulate. British people had limited perspective on the issue; Anglo-Indian people were distanced from both England and Indian; Indian natives, on the

other hand, rarely had the power of speech. 19th century photographs of India had predictable subjects: landscape, buildings either standing or ruined,

native people either living or dead. Landscape does not die.17 These photo of India was popular in Britain. 18To let know is to set a view. The views of the British were set by one-sided stories.Harriet Tytler, an Anglo-Indian, see herself as a foreigner in India. She was scared by dead bodies. Her photography works shows an absence of event. There is only empty, unmarked buildings and landscape in her photos. She was always belated. On the other hand, Felice Beato as an Greek-Englishman, put far more involvement and dramatic effects into his photos.19 Indian man named Khan wrote to British authority asking to alter the description because his son denied to be seen as one of those people. Colonial gaze such as People of India that looks down at the colonized, sees them as animals makes Indians tend to distance from India.20Government not only governing territory and property, but people and their social network, their social position, their culture and customs. 21Chaudhary thought Khan shouldn’t have believe that People of India had the power to make persuasion. However, it is unreasonable to ask one person see things outside their time. The power of speech is rare. Khan did not have it, and he knew.22 In June 1857, Sepoys massacred AngloIndian civilians.23The massacre happened in Secundrabagh was extremely brutal and overly violent. British soldiers justified it as a revenge to the massacre of Anglo-Indians at Cawnpore.24Colonialism has a tendency of exterminating the colonized, the colonizer condemning the colonized.25 By doing so, the colonizers reduced guilt they bear. If the victims were silenced, who would accuse them anymore? If the victims were guilty, maybe the murderers were not? There is no way to deny that, in the first place, massacre is caused by

considering some other people as animals. British people were guided to be grateful to the Revolt because it- or its British-victory-ending - ensured British sovereignty and narrative in India, as well as threatening Indian natives, keeping them from doing it again.26After the massacre, the deaths of both sides were considered loss.27 By naming the Indians as its subjects, the British ensured its absolute power over the colonial.

Secundrabagh, a royal palace, was buried and hidden from sight. Fortunately, its delicate and unprotected beauty did not go away. However, part of its significance was covered by an invading narrative woven by the power of capital and monarch, to enforce a colonial gaze which jeopardize itself.

However, such moves were only covering up the real issues. Revolt was caused by multiple complex reasons emerging in a long period of time, but triggered by the fear of being polluted by grease of pig and cow that offend Hindu and Muslim laws. India was not benefited from its relationship with Britain. That motivated a large group of Indian people from distinct social classes to support the Revolt alike.28

Bibliography Chaudhary,Zahid R. Afterimage of Empire : Photography in Nineteenth-Century India(Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2012) Khorakiwala, Ateya Staging the Modern Ruin: Beato’s “Sikander Bagh, Lucknow”, 2018 Llewellyn-Jones, Rosie Lucknow : city of illusion(New York, Munich, Alkazi Collection of Photography ; Prestel, c2006) Shokoohy, Mehrdad Muslim Architecture of South India : The Sultanate of Ma’Bar and the Traditions of Maritime Settlers on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts(Florence: Routledge.2003) Zarzycka, Marta War photography, Grove Art Online, 11 Feb. 2013

Beato’s photo makes the eye need time to recognize deconstructed human bodies and buildings. Remaining native in his photo were hard to identify. Ben Lifson, critic and photographer, claims that in the image, skeletons are frieze on the ground, echoing with frieze on the building.29Were they relative of the rebel? Were they Sihk soldiers who stayed loyal to the British and fought with them? Do the viewers care?30 Showing the native implied governing this subcontinent after the massacre once more.31 Blurring the view took the evidence away from the image: it is not the first-handed truth; it only serves for one purpose-- to ensure the colonial gaze and its default discourse. The default discourse made by the West is a binary system in which the West is always privileged.32 The binary system overwrote its own narrative on top of its subject matter, erasing the fragile past of the site. As the story of Sepoy Revolt spread around, the original, unheard story of

Images Cited Beato, Felice and Hering, Henry British, Interior of Secundrabagh After the Massacre 1858 -1862 Beato,Felice The courtyards of the Qaisarbagh from the Roshan-uh-daula Kothi, six albumen prints,1858 Madura, Mosque of ‘Ala al-din, Section, 2003