Transcending Boundaries
Transcending Boundaries Zewei Feng Selected work from 2019-2021
The concept of transcending boundaries was raised by Professor Biao Xiang in University of Oxford in his book with same name. At this moment, we are all living in the times that everything is being developed rapidly. We are pushed to face and adapt the tremendously growing era in a passive manner that we have no time to spare for break and introspection. Technology brings us forward, but it also sets up voids that isolate our community. We take these given conveniences for granted but forgot how we come to this state. While we respect the trend that the times is progressing in a complicated but inevitable mode, conscious adjustment is necessary to keep this whole entity from moving too fast to lose its balance. Through architectural studies, we could replace the isolative vacuum with a resilient membrane that could always grow along with the development of the culture and society. As an architect, I want to become the moderator in our society to study and comprehend the rhythm of the times, attempting to promote and maintain the healthy organic ecology between humanity, nature, and communities.
Table of Content
1. House to the future
4.Flowing Storage
Excavate and evoke the developing value of modern precedent through architectural projection, juxtaposition, and superposition.
Updating the Risd material library to reactivate its potential as campus educational resource
2.The Formicary
5.Roots from Seeds
A Chinese Restaurant that accommodates Chinese immigrant employees
DIY cafe that brings the West End community closer
3.Nature at Ease
6. Escape within the city
Making use of a historic mill site to accommadate an affordable housing community program
Urban secret garden hidden in the shell of classical greek-style bank
7. Other Works
The study of Monsanto house derives from three major subjects: its cooperative motives, chronological evolution, and the temporal scope borders. Based on these attributes, a series of questions were raised: How did the purpose of time raised from cooperative institution achieve its form? How did the positioning confine its potential within a finite time span? How to break through its age boundary and make the conceptual and physical remainings of Monsanto house continuously live as an inspirational resource?
House to the Future INTAR-23ST-02 Time & Motion Screen Technology and the Reproduction of Modern Architectural Heritage Composer: Zewei Feng Instructor: Eduardo Duarte Duration: 8 Weeks Site: Monsanto House of the Future, Disneyland LA
Monsanto house was built in the 1950s as an attraction site in Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. The project was built as a concept, a prototype, cooperated by three institutions: the Monsanto company, Disney Imagineering, and MIT. It is a project with high contemporality, where plastic material was just invented after WWII. The great potentials this newborn material reveals triggered considerable expectation and enthusiasm at that time. Under such an attitude, the Monsanto house was designed to demonstrate the versatility of modern plastics as a house of the future.
Systematic deconstruction
20th century 1964 1968 21 century
Chronological Revolution
However, an avant-garde concept often possesses strong duality. The Monsanto house was born in a temporal historical context to uncover the possible future, while it is enslaved to its circumscribed contextuality, which doomed its final deconstruction. The project is designated to investigate principles of architectural reproduction in the context of cinematic techniques of montage, superimposition, and juxtaposition based on comprehensive research of this historical heritage site. Then based on the achievement above, the project will be led to the final phase, where I Invest how a virtual reproduction becomes projected onto an architectural screen. How a reproduction is more than a projection and more than the original version? 1
Dynamic and organic growing potential endowed by materiality
Cooperative Design
The new House of the future in Disney
Remained concrete base after demolition
Lego joint brand model of Monsanto house
The souvenir eidtion model of Monsanto house
The fantasy created by Disneyland The plastic materiality in objective reality The attributions associated with Monsanto house 2
The development of the concept and the traces of the historical context of the Monsanto house were elaborated by this architectural journey. The journey experience is presented in a form of a dream. It starts where one enters the house from its original entrance and gradually experiences the transformation of the interior structure. The path was split into two when it comes to the central vertical axis where it connects the existing house to its chronological past and the future. Finally when one comes out of the Monsanto from the parallel paths, one would realize the whole construction has already evolved into its new form where the historical sediment, the Monsanto house itself, as well as the futural envisioning were presented simultaneously as a closely-merged integral
The Cinematic Narratives
Future More Advanced Plastic
1.Enter (dream starts)
1 The superposition_Invasion of the future 2.Split
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Present Glass-reinforced Plastic
From hierarchical center to chronological axis The gathering of public functions marks the hierarchical center of the house. Through replacing the original bathroom space with a vertical stair circulation, it connects the relative present to the symbolized past and future from the top and bottom
Past Petroleum
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The growth of the fungus penetrates the original roof structure of the Monsanto house. Such overlapping relationships could be read as the invasion of the future to the present. While humans constantly searching for evolutionary approaches aiming to solve temporal problems, we are already exposed to the rough void that was taken away as the cost of technological and social development.
3.Transform
3.Transform
4.Down to the past
4.Up to the future
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5.Merge (dream ends)
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Rigid Modularity Casting from the rigid grid system of original Monsanto House
5. 4.
1 Living room
3. 2. 1.
2 Parents' bedroom
3 Kitchen & Bathroom
4 Children's bedroom
5 Eating place Organic Modularity Casting from assemblage of individual balloon
From rigid modular system to growing fungus 1
Sowing
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Variation
More Organic Merging Casting from the more organic waffle stuctures derived from digital fabrication
Juxtapositon & Superposition Superpositon of different layer in a chronological order, showing the gradual development of the system
Born from the rigid modularity, the fungus cluster of more organic modules respond to the call of more varied and personalized demand, adapting its scale and dimension to great varieties and constantly expanding into the larger assemblage. 5
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Breeding
Cinematic Projection In the end, the cluster of growing modules becomes the medium of exhibition. Through architectural projection, visitors enter this organic space and experience the chronological development of the concept and be able to rediscover the value and significance of plastics and the modular system as a prescient architectural practice. 6
The Formicary Intro to Interior Studies III: The roof over our heads: Housing design for social change Composer: Zewei Feng Instructor: Janet Stegman, Markus Berger Duration: 8 Weeks Site: PPAC garage, Providence.
From the early 20th century to the 1950s, Providence was once home to at least two Chinatowns, they were doomed either by man-made calamity or unban expansion in mid 20th century. Today there are still sporadic Chinese or Asian restaurants sparsely spread out the downtown area and up to the hill as the remaining nubs of the previous Chinese community. The proposed theme is to develop a mixed-used accommodation for local Chinese restaurant workers while serving as a Chinese restaurant. The main goal is to set up a base for the nomads to settle down and re-grow their networks from these remaining roots embedded underground, re-building the interconnection between isolated individuals or groups. Meanwhile, the project creates an opportunity to rethink the industry orientation of Chinese restaurants under this special pandemic period. How they are deeply trapped in the current dilemma? What essential problems were exposed due to the chance of pandemic? Through this project, I attempted to work on the direction of the potential future development of this industry. What form it should take in the future to remain as the fundamental element that Chinese immigrants rely on to take roots in the foreign land? How do they stand out with their new face while closely inheriting the precious culture? 7
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Context and Analysis
Adjacency
System development
Modular planning Typologies
Modular planning Reference
Program envisioning
Original
Dual Spatial Narratives
Public Terrace
The program accommodates a dual spatial experience regarding the distinct identities of restaurant workers and customers. Based on the unique value and significance that Chinese restaurant and immigration culture hold for different groups, the program system transforms accordingly to fit both of them in one integrity. The ultimate goal is to build up cohesion that comes from a sense of group identity within the Chinese immigrant community. On the other hand, it enhances the comprehension of the vernaculars of the immigration group, fostering the merging of the boundary.
Roof Garden
Private Room
Restaurant
Customers Column Grids
Ramp Belly
Intersection
Customers
Residents Restaurant Belly
Unit Cluster
Play Room Ramp Ramp & Peripheral Overlapping
Entrance Entrance Kitchen
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Free Plan
Outcome
Residents 10
Ramp Belly
Restaurant Belly
Unit Cluster Sample
Sediment of History
The ramp locates at the back facade of the restaurant, shuttling through the original column structure. This rough and mottled spatial texture becomes the reflection of the arduous and long-lasting history of Chinese immigration. Wandering along the ramp, It traces back to either shining or heavy memory of the history, evoking the bond to the roots. Therefore, the place becomes the combination of circulation, gallery, and public terrace, marking the core concept of the program. 11
Porosity
Spatial Penetration Beyond the two primary open atriums that enrich the dual narratives for residents and customers, multiple glass prisms are penetrating differently through the oblate geometry of the whole structure. They aim to introduce sunlight down to different levels of the building. Along with the central belly, they together constitute the porous property of the space and make it a real formicary. 12
Nature At Ease
Working with NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, the project aimed to construct a community of about a hundred units to fulfill the LMIH requirement of North Smithfield while preserving the historical structure of Andrew Mills. Regarding the isolated suburban context and plentiful surrounding greens, I refer to the traditional image of Peach Garden in ancient Chinese folklore, aiming to create a village isolated from the urban fabric. People here can live a self-sufficient life and enjoy tranquility and peacefulness when they are out of work. In addition, for the overall program, Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore becomes the primary inspirational source. Referring to the regular and healthy life schedule of the protagonist, I inserted the according to amenities in order to orient a relatively harmonious and meditating life pace fitting into this tranquil nature, providing an enclosed realm that accommodates and rest people.
Industrial
Natrual
N Planning Program Retailing & Groceries Office Building
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Water tower
Clearing
Car Track
Garden & Pool
146A Branch River
Pedestrian Route
Parking
Greens
Flood line
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Composer: Zewei Feng Instructor: Elizabeth Debs Duration: 6 weeks Site: Andrews Mill, 765 Great Rd, North Smithfield
Units & Public Amenities
Original Mapping
Units, Parking and Circulation
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Preservation & Structural Change
Entry point
Considering the oblate interior of the mill building, the units are all placed along its peripheral in order to have at least one side that can receive natural light. For the center part, I accommodate a fitness center, an interior swimming pool that does not necessarily need side natural light.
Public circulation Private circulation Private circulation
Public vs Privacy in Planning and Interior Saw-tooth Pattern
Preserved Structure
From a macroscopic view, community planning is divided into two sections, with one serving especially for residents and one opening to the public. In between them are the buffering natural greens.
South eastern facade
South western facade
Before Library
Cafe
Pool & Fitness Center
After
Units
The mill can be accessed through five entrances. With the public community amenities mostly concentrated within the mill building, the multiple entry points enable enough accessibility for residents and guest groups. Meanwhile, the division of vertical layers of circulation guarantees privacy for residents who live in the mill. 15
Private Zone for residents
Buffer Zone
of natural greens
Public Zone
open to public
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Relation to Saw Tooth
Circulation
Enhanced Pattern
The iconic saw-tooth pattern of the mill building is not only preserved but projected and repeated to the units' facade. This move is to rethink the significance of this typical mill feature to the historical mill heritage. On the other hand, the zig-zag facade adapt the orientation of the units to ensure every single apartment could receive an appropriate amount of natural light
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Precedent
Referring to the project built by NL Architect and STUDYO in Frankfurt, the modular units endows flexibility in house type. The malpositioned terrace follows the landscape while the zig-zag pattern grants privacy for each unit. 3b2b_A
3b2b_B
2b2b_A
2b2b_B
4b2b
1b1b
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2
3
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Risd building network
Street view
Risd Material Library_ Flowing Storage Composer: Zewei Feng Instructor: Elizabeth Debs, Mary-Ann Agresti Duration: 5 weeks Site: Risd Material Library, 15 Westminster St, Providence
Risd material library, a floor above the Risd Fleet library, is located on the second floor of the student dormitory at 15 Westminster St. It holds Risd's collection of materials, pictures, slides, and digital images to provide opportunities for the student to study for their researches and projects. Although it is close to the Fleet Library, due to its relatively covert access, it is less utilized and aware as one of the valuable study resources of the school. Given the theme aiming to renew and update the material library, four keywords can summarize the proposal: Interaction, Awareness, Classification, Storage. The design intent is to make the material library a physical dictionary of materials that could actively interact with students as a study platform, attracting their attention and interest to promote its sense of presence among students while avoiding functional repetition with the Fleet library. An interactive and playful experience is created when students shuttle in-between the storage shelves, studying the materials while following the flow of the space. As a result, it raises the awareness of students of this exploration-worthy place, making the material library assist students' design study more efficiently as a school resource.
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Typology in Modular System The storage method of traditional Chinese pharmacy possesses a modular system that is highly efficient in storage and organization. Its modular unit allows customization in dimensions to fit different sizes of material. The standard and uniform system also allows efficient index buildup, which becomes quite pertinent for the theme of the material library.
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System Development
The plan system of the material library derives from the modular ceiling grids. To orient the flow of the space, a saw-tooth pattern is formed from the positional relationship between the pilasters and the grid system.
From the ceiling plan, a clear zig-zag circulation pattern is shown to lead visitors from the exhibitionary "river" to open the "lake" area where the front desk locates. The triangular ceiling panels are lower down in different heights to create the river landscape.
Grid System from Ceiling
Derived Modularity
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2
The Teaching Area The Flowing Movement
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The Open Public Space from river to lake The Spatial Fluidity
The Focus Point R refers to Risd Mosaic refers to diversity
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4
The Interaction Area
The Spatial Layer
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In addition, the furniture and equipment become the extension of the application of triangular modules. Therefore, a series of functional typologies is created to enhance spatial integrity.
Fluidity from Nature
The strip light effect applied on the extruded roof within the window frame strengthens the sense of presence of material library as a campus resource, becoming the decorative belt of 15 West building
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Modular Elements
Exterior Adaption
Lake (open public area) 1
River (curved circulation) 3
2
5
4
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Sankofa Cafe_ Roots From Seeds
Downtown Providence
Composer: Zewei Feng Instructor: Elizabeth Debs, Mary-Ann Agresti Duration: 5 Weeks Site: 392 Cranston St, The West End, Providence
West End is the most population-dense neighborhood in Providence. For a long time, it suffers from the problem of a food desert and was accounted for low income, low employment rate area. The essential goal is to make this cafe appealing to native people while efficiently dealing with the problems faced by local people. In general, I planned to have free planting tutorial sessions offered in a cafe, customers could take tutorial sessions for planting different veggies and greens and earn seeds by consuming. Then they can practice the skillset they learned at their own courtyard. Here an interactive network will grow up between Sankofa cafe and local people. With the will to learn new skills and be treated with pragmatic feedback of seeds and veggies, communication and mobility within the community will be promoted. Later Sankofa Cafe, along with Cranston Street Armory and Dexter field, will together become the heart of the community, the source of cohesion, and attract more people living in or out of the area. Starting from this point, a community network will be developed and gradually spread out.
West End
The West End is facing serious problem of food insecurity. Referring to US census data and Statistical Atlas, Around 50.9% of the population in West End is receiving food stamp, 33% of them have registered in SNAP, which is highest among all neighborhoods in Providence.
Neighborhood
Dexter Field
Cranston Street Armory
Sakofa Cafe
Traffic Axis
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Interconnected Circulation
West Elevation Metaphor between Landmark and landscape
Ramp garden
Focus point_metaphor of Cafe
Buffer space_the colonnade
Circulation & public space
Plantation garden
t
S e d a Par
Dujiangyan Irrigation system
Highline Ramp
Coffee beans
Wexner Center of Art
West Section
South Elevation
Knowlton Hall
outdoor sitting area
Cranston
St
North Section
Customized Promennade The ramp, the stairs of interior and exterior, the colonnade, and the entrances, together create varied connections between in and out, up and down, strengthening the spatial integrity while providing diverse choices of architectural promenade that derives unique spatial experiences.
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Escape within the city Composer: Zewei Feng Instructor: Wolfgang Rudolf, Eduardo Benamor Duarte Duration: 5 weeks Site: Risd Furniture Design Department, 27 N Main St, Providence
While there are multiple exterior spots that are ideal for people to sit down and relax, besides Providence Place, one can hardly find an interior space that allows people to do the same things. Given the open theme for the adaption of the Peoples Saving Bank building (currently RISD 3d store and furniture design department), I decided to transform it into an interior secret garden that is hidden behind the classic Greek-style facade of the old bank building. Anyone could enter this space to escape shortly from the city, wandering along with the flow of the ramps, lying on the bench to take a short nap, having their meal beside the little fountain... It will be a quiet space that enables one to press the pause key of their intense life and just to enjoy this moment of peace. By projecting the Fibonacci Spiral embodied in the facade of the bank building, I dissected the interior plan into a series of sections being designed into different moments. Every design detail intends to moderate the mood and emotion of experiencers to this harmonious rhythm between the light, greens, and the vivid flow of the movement. 27
The Interior planning system derives from the projection of the golden section from its classical facade to the plan. The intersection and the overlap of the existing structure and the abstract system creates variation in spatial geometry, evoking potentials for the space to vary and flow.
Conceptual Diagrams 28
Typology third floor
second floor
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Other Works:
Zewei Feng Digital Representation & Visual Narrative 2020.3-2020.5 Deploying a square housing precendent to a living community composed of 100 units
BFA in Interior Studies: Adaptive Reuse | 4-year program Department of Interior Architecture
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, US, 02903 TEL: (+1) 614-530-6024 Email: zfeng@risd.edu
Cyberpunk & Katakana 2020-2021 A series of conceptual cyborg weapons or toolkits developed from the inspiration of form of Katakana
Human Factor_Sodoku livings 2020.10-2020.12 An square modular housing with all the wall panels movable and replacable according to user preference
Acknowledgement The Completion of this portfolio owes to all my instructors for their valuable criticism and comment on my works. Without them, it will be far less than the level of satisfaction. I sincerely appreciate all the effort that my instructors as well as colleagues put to assist me achieving all these works.
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