Portfolio

\_PORTFOLIO. WENTAO ZHU SELECTED WORKS 2018-2024

TEL: +1 2097378937 Email: wz2655arch@gmail.com

01. Mountain Aven House Columbia GSAPP Advanced Studio (Fall 2023) Instructor: Philippe Rahm, Mariami Maghlakelidze The subject of study will be the construction of a greenhouse in New York, but one that is climatcally inverted, i.e. no longer a warm greenhouse as in the 19th century, in the manner of the Palm House, where the societies of the cold West sought to reproduce the warmth of milder climates thanks to fossil fuels, but a cold greenhouse, proper to the 21st century, where the societies of a West that has become too hot seek to reproduce the coldness of milder climates (perhaps that of yesteryear) thanks to renewable energies. To the “Palm House” of the 19th century, the proposal is to design a “Mountain Aven House”, as the construction of a cold microclimate in the now scorching macroclimate of the West.

Tailor spaces and form’s design to diverse species’ visible spectral needs.

Nurturing Student Activities in a Healthy Light Environment.

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Floor Plan and Geothermal Cooling

Different light spectrum response to vary campus activities.

Implement geothermal cooling to establish a cool microclimate zone for arctic plants and students.

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02. Mourning Palace Individual Work Location: Wuzhou, China This Project is inspired by incident of Mu5735 flight crash , the group of the master piece is builded up for the people to memorize, mourning their family, and set up their hope.

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Background China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight in China from Kunming to Guangzhou. On 21 March 2022, the Boeing 737-89P aircraft operating the service descended steeply mid-flight and struck the ground at high speed in Teng County, Wuzhou, Guangxi. All 123 passengers and 9 crew members were dead. Multiple reports are asserting that the airplane was deliberately crashed, but the official investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is ongoing. The site of the project take place in the same location of the incident where the original landscape and vegetation has been greatly modified and removed due to the rescue mission and investigation.

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The Story Matters

Airliner’s Components An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are mostly consist of cockpit, fuselage, landing gear, wings, empennage, and turbine engine.

Spaces Contain Emotions Focusing on the victim’s families, and to create space’s sequence that comfort and heal the people who are frustrated because of the air crash.

Back to the site

Mourning for the

Farewell to the

victims

passed

Facing the hope

Emotion

Spaces

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Airliner Component Evolution

3D Units The project studies the airliner’s characteristics and transform them into new volumetric units. The techniques of rotate, bend, cut, expand, contract and combine was used in the three dimensional transformation.

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The first space narrates the incident and exhibits plane’s wreckage. The second space provide places for the people to memorize the victims. The third space becomes the bridge that connect the dead and the families. Finally, we climb to the top and indicate the new life has began.

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03. Welfare Center for Homeless Children Individual Work Location: Skid Row, Los Angeles Homeless children in Skidrow are facing serious growth problems because they live on the street for a long time and are unable to obtain a good educational and social environment. This project is intended to design a welfare center which can provide them with a confortable growth and living environment.

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Behavioral Study

Background Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (about 9,200–15,000) of homeless people in the United States and has been known for its condensed homeless population since the 1930s. Especially the number of homeless minors have reached 3000 during the Covid-19 epidemic. When most of the shelters have closed due to Covid-19, many of them have been living on the street for a long time.

3000

Head to school 7:30 am Wake up

3:00 pm School over

6:00 am

2700

Homeless Youth Veterans Other Homeless People

6:00 pm Find food

3:30 pm Find shelter or live on street

7:00 am Check out from shelter

7300

Head to school 7:30 am

Wake up 6:00 am

3:00 pm School over

6:00 pm Dinner

7:00 am Breakfast

8:00 pm Night Game

Problem of Homeless Children Relately of children who are homeless under age five, more than 75% have at least one major issue. Older child quit school often due to constantly moving and feel embarrassment by their dirty clothes and smell.

Lack of home, food and clean colthes

16% 46% 38% Unwanted Sexual Activity Emotionally Abused Physcically Abused

Weakness of Visual Ability

Delay of Language Development Emotional Behavioral Disorder

49.5%

50.5%

Sheltered Homeless Youth Unsheltered Homeless Youth

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Site Plan

Design Intervention

1. Housing 2.Office

01. Visual Stimulation

3.Lobby & Calming Space 4.Library Storage

Starting from basic geometry, through operations of combining and subtracting, the three dimensional form stimulate a homeless child’s interest in shape and geometry, and improve their visual ability problem.

5. Dinning Hall &Calming 6. Auditorium 7. Pavilion Outdoor Space

Basic Geometry

Geometric Combination

Subtraction & Union

3D Unit

02. Outdoor Space for Socialization In order to improve their ability of communicating, the operations of combining and subtracting were used to create a pavilion for children to socialize with others.

Floor Plan 16’

Geometric Combination

Subtraction & Union

Pavilion as social space

03. Comfort Unit for Calming and Consulting Arcs are used to create calming spaces for children who suffer from emotional disorder.

1. Housing 2.Office 3.Lobby & Calming Space

Combination of Arcs

Plan view of calming spaces

3D View of calming space

4.Library Storage 5. Dinning Hall &Calming 6. Auditorium 7. Pavilion Outdoor Space

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Render

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Section

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⑤

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04. K-5 School SPIRE Energy Student Design Competition (3rd place) Instructor: Jennifer Pindyck Location: Montgomery, Alabama Interaction is part of our essential life. So why not learn through interaction.

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The Local Community Condition

Fill In the Site

K-5 is an American term for the education period from kindergarten to fifth grade. In this project, I researched about the education idea of “Learning through interaction”. This idea encourage children to interact and observe the surrounding through listening, watching, smelling and touching and the goal is to improve the child’s overall perception and social skills.

Using one random element to fill in the site to test out what scale the school can be relative to the surrounding, at the same time, this also help to understand the topography condition.

Site Existing Condition

Fill in the site by cylindrical stick

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Interaction in key spaces The initial collage research the spatial experience through play and interaction at School and translating this experience to the school design.

Activate the school spaces by freeing the traditional rooms layout from their boundary,so that the school has more flexibility, and becomes more vibrant. Students and teachers will engage in a “larger world” with all kinds of activities happening in the same space.

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Floor Plan

Green Space

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7 4

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2 1

View from entrance 1.Gym 2.Kitchen 3.Cafeteria 4. Media Center 5. Teacher Office 6.Classroom 7.Green Space

4 3

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8

2 2

2 2

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2 2

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1.Gym 2.Classroom 3.ESL 4.Music Room 5.Art Room 6.Maker Space 7. Green Space 8.Playground

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View from green spaces, greens spaces are designed to be accessible to all spaces in both floors.

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Massing Model

Interior Active Space

Structurally, it focus on transparency. Allowing children to be able to see through spaces and knowing what is happening around them and makes the school more safe and interactable.

View from education open spaces

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Wall Section

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View from exterior corridor, this space can become social area during school

Second floor connect to the street allowing people on second floor exit directly

time.

to the outside when emergency happen.

Another view to the central open spaces.

Section Perspective

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Front Section

Mechanical System

Structure & Program Diagram

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05. Connection through Activities 4th-Year Fall Architecture Studio Instructor: Randal Vaughan Location: Savannah, Georgia.

This project take on site investigation of the city of Savannah and try to address the situations the city is facing through architectural and urban design actively.

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History of Savannah

Occupancy Analysis at Savannah Evaluating the surroungding of the site location. There are three main types of uses: commerical, residential, and cultural & educational. Adding waterfront area to better comparing the situation of Savannah. Because each area focus on mainly one function. At different time period, people gather at different areas. As result, most area execpt waterfront, will encounter low occupancy condition at certain time of the day.

Savannah’s recorded history begins in 1733. That’s the year Genral James Oglethorpe and his men landed on Bird’s eye view and plan of Savannah from 1820 to James Edward Oglethorpe, founder bluff high along the Savannah River.

1871. Oglethorpe only laid out the first six squares. of the colony of Georgia. Upon settling View of Savannah as it stood As the city leaders followed the design for decades, Oglethorpe became friends with on 29th of March,1734. the city grew to twenty-four squares. Today savannah Yamacraw Indian chief.As result,the remains twenty-two of the original squares. town flourished without warfare.

Commerical Area

Education & Culture Commerical Area

In early 18th century, settlement shows sign of urban planning. At this period,the city was divided by two types of lot,“city lot” and “farm lots”.

Citizens lived on city lots and worked on the farm lots. From 19th century to today, the city was divided even more, in mainly four types of focus areas, residential, commerical, culture & education and the waterfront area.

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Residential Area

Residential Area

The railroad development plan for Georgia started at the beginning of 19th century in Savannah. Construction began in1835 and by 1843, a distance of 190 miles became the longest continuous railroad line under one management in the world at that time.

6:00

Education&Culture

Waterfront Area

Railroad Station 1900s

Road Type

Occupancy Rate Effect The Area

One way drive covers most of the site area expect W Oglethorpe Ave. Savannah is designed to be pedestrain friendly, but not driving friendly.

However, walking distance between areas are long and time-consuming.

Low occupancy rate in different time period effect the area differently. At day time, it lower the effectiveness of the area. At night time, it even lower the safeness of the street.

SCAD Campus Railroad Museum Area

0.7 km ~1km

Residential Area

1 km ~1.6 km

Commerical Area

2 km ~3 km

er at W ea Ar nt fro

Yama

craw

SCAD

Resi

dent

W Oglethorpe Ave

One way drive is the major road type at the site area

pus

ial A

SITE ARE A

SCAD & De Museum sign Scho Railr ol oad M useu m Esth er F. Garr for th ison Sc hool e Art s

Low occupancy at day time.

High occupancy at night time.

Low occupancy at night time

Wate rfron t Area

rea

Wa terf ron t

Cam

High occupancy at day time.

Dow

ntow nC

omm

erica

Are

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l Are

a

W Og

letho rp

e Ave

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Axonometric Master Plan

Form Generation

Based on the occupancy city analysis, the culture & campus area need evening activities to avoid low occupancy at night. On the other hand commercial area need more daytime activities to avoid low occupancy during the day. Including a high-line to allow biking between campus and downtown.

Starting from learning railroad network, then use them as cutting plane to define boundary of building.

Square

Recreation

Recreation

Recreation

Exhibition Exhibition

Museum

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Crowds Orientation

Funtion Zone

Site Cutting

4 Massing

Atrium

Square

5 Form Cutting

Sky Bridge

Rooftop

Courtyard

Potential of public space collection

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Axonometric Section

Render

View from Orleans Square

The whole site together with Orleans Square can becomes a place where people can gather and socialize with others.

Roof Top Outdoor Space

View to Outdoor Sky Bridge

Interior View of Sculpture Exhibition Space

View from new high-line entering to building

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Render

Sky Bridge Connecting the Recreation Space

Facade Detail

Other Works

Paper Folding- Facade Study

Charcoal Painting

Museum’s roof system (Natural Light Concept)

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