Architecture Portfolio 2022

Xinwen Cao

MArch., University of Virginia

Architecture Portfolio

Selected Works 2019-2022

Xinwen Cao

EDUCATION

University of Virginia (UVA) Charlottesville, VA

Master of Architecture 08/2021-present

• With Urban Design graduate certificate.

• Annual Merit Scholarship

China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Beijing, China

Bachelor of Architecture

09/2015-06-2020

• Won CAFA Comprehensive Scholarship for three consecutive academic years (ranked 3/80,4/80 and 8/80 separately).

EXPERIENCE

AECOM - Sports

Intern

• University of Central Florida Football Campus Projects, Florida (won the competition)

• Amailr Arena, Florida

BIG Bjarke Ingels Group

Richmond, VA

06/2022-08/2022

New York

Extern 01/2023

Zeybekoglu and Associates Ltd. Beijing, China Assistant Architect

• Ring Restaurant, Qingdao (completed in 09/2021)

UVA Research Assistant

• “Reimagining Highways - The Future of Mobility Infrastructure Research Project” by Asst. Prof Evan Shieh

COMPETITION

08/2020-04/2021

2022 Spring

The 4th China “Internet+” College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

09/2018

• Won the 2nd Prize in Beijing Track.

Shanghai Tongji University Construction Competition

• Won the Silver Award in Group Project Competition.

07/2016

CONTENTS ACADEMIC PROJECTS WORKING PROJECTS 01 01- 12 The New York Garden - University Dormitory Extension 43- 44 Ring Restaurant 45- 46 Competition 02 13- 22 Flow - A New City on Highways - Urban Design 03 23- 32 The Village on the Hill - Community Cultural Center 04 33- 42 Resee Beijing City - Hutong Micro Update

THE NEW YORK GARDEN

ARCH 7010 FALL 2021

SHIEH SECTION

XINWEN CAO

WHILE WE OCCPY LAND FOR THE REAL ESTATE, WHAT CAN WE PAY BACK TO THE CITY?

2021 FALLSpecial edition

The New York Garden

- University Expansion -

New York, US Instructor: Evan Shieh

2021-Fall

Individual Work

This project addresses the needs of the Rockefeller University's dormitory expansion by creating a community gardening space and extension of the adjacent Weiss Cafe, for new and old residents of the campus to engage with the neighborhood around it. Defined by two housing bars organizing multiscale of communal co-living, the public and private programs of this project critiques the NY's contemporary housing development model by attempting to address the discrepancies between NY's high land value and labor costs with the need for community empowering amenity and open spaces.

Hybridizing educational gardening with provisional housing creates a new model for interiorized domesticated greenhouses that rethinks the role and relationships that a university institution, its residents, and the public play in the circular feedback loop of educational gardening systems.

01

Site Strategy - From Enclave To Connection

-3-

Site Model

The Biden administration, as part of its ambitious, two trillion dollar American Jobs Plan, committed $20 billion for reconnecting neighborhoods that were cut off, bulldozed, and blighted by urban renewal-era highways. Communities will compete for funds to remove, cap, or otherwise undermine these highways and replace them with parks and mixed-use development.

In a very intensive post-modern city like New York, how do we face the existing highways in the city, ignore, cover up or use it?

United Community - Not Boundary But Degree

In the late 1990s the battle for space in America’s densest and most expensive metropolis was heating up. Seeking revenue, city officials at the time planned to auction off vacant lots—including more than a hundred community gardens—to the highest bidder.

-4-

4* Type A 6p/u 12* Type B 4p/u 2* Type C 4p/u PRIVATE PUBLIC Bed 1 person Degree 2-3 person 4-6 person habitants the public Unit Laundry Living Room Kitchen Balcony Dining Hall Lobby Workshop The Garden Cafe Market Corridor Bath

-5Residential

-6Residential plan

-7the picture of physical

-8physical model

When the flowering season is over in June, beans can be planted here.

What else is on the shopping list?

SEE you next firday!

-9-

the garden workshop in may. The farm market in october.

-10Circulation system Circulation system Corridor Co-living Space Balcony Co-living Space The Garden happy new year! let's grab drinks tonight! the new year concert in december. We need a larger area to meet the load of the university How to facilitate our neighbors If there is a win-win solution ?

a

opportunity to

affordable

shortages.

the newly developable site created by highway removal offer

unique

address

housing

the scene from

-11-

The new Rockefeller University apartments will be officially opened in July 2025!

-12-

from the river view

02

Flow - A New City on Highways

- Urban Design -

Barcelona, Spain

Instructor: Manuel Bailo

2022-Fall

Team Work with Erwin Moya

Responsible for: Concept(80%), Modeling(50%), Drawing(70%)

This highway is one of the most important way to enter Barcelona. It is super compelling, full of power and beauty. Therefore, we tried to preserve, extend, and reuse the curvilinear beauty of the highway as our architectural language. Set up a platform on the expressway as a public event venue. Let the highway connect between the mountain and the ocean and become the catalyst for this land.

On the highway, in addition to the public square, we tried to design a shared living community for the employees of the harbor. Structurally, we adopted the concept that the highway structure extends to the residence. Maximize keeping and leverage the existing infrastructure. Functionally, we bring in a farm market as the hightlight of the harbor.

Mountain & Sea Playing on the Highway Harbor Community

What Is Between The Mountains And The Sea In Barcelona?

Barcelona is a city rich in context and texture. In this intensive land, we do not create anything new, but always renew the existing texture. The highway, the mountain, the sea and markets... In Brcelona, we can always learn a lot! And our project is the album of those impressive urban elements.

-15-

-16Housing Disposition Linear Shape

-17-

Plantform_Double Layers of the Highway

ON THE PLAYGROUND

-18WATCHING THE SEA

WEEKEND

SUNNY

-19-

A Typology B

Section

of Infrastructure

Typology

Axon

Structure_Continuity System

-20Typology A Typology B SIESTA COMMUNITY

-21Mountain Community Highway Market

-22Harbor sea

03

The Village on the Hill

- Community Cultural Center -

Los Angeles, US

Instructor: Ines Martin Robles

2022-Spring

Individual Work

Boyle Height is a well known Hispanic community in Los Angeles with a unique culture and aesthetic. Yet the land has been plagued by gentrification for political reasons. What role does the architect play in the irreversible process of gentrification? How to build a community center for the original inhabitants is what I am discussing.

The project is characterized by small-volume buildings enclosing community-like public spaces and gently undulating roof gardens. The image of the village on the mountain can recall local people's collective memory and preserve the cultural cognition. The purpose is to better serve the local residents in the process of gentrification.

Glass handrail

Landscape covering

Detail Drawings

Roof

Precast concrete slab

Glass curtain wall

Asphalt Paving

Cypress wood

Steel column

Steel beam

Floor slab

Braced frame

Steel beam

Structural rib

Glass curtain wall

Concrete slab

Concrete wall

Steel column

Concrete beam

Concrete footing

-25-

Detial D - Foundation

Detial C - Canopy

Detial B - Wall

Detial A - Roof

-26Section Elevation Human Perspective

B A D -27Mural Studio Outdoor Backyard Walkable Roof Residence Outdoor Garden under Canopy

C -28Hispanic Exhibition Office El Mercadito Art Library

Indoor Exhibition Area

Section

-29-

-30-

-31-

-32-

The Hispanic Village With The Hill, LA

The photo is credited by Junzhuanxiaosheng.

Resee Beijing City

Beijing, China Instructor: Fan Lu 2019-Winter Team Work with Tian Tian Responsible for: Site Research(40%), Concept(50%), Modeling(80%), Drawing(60%)

The White Tower is a cultural symbol of interior Beijing City which has witnessed the rise and fall of Buddhism in China. However, with the explosive growth of Beijing's urban population, the surrounding texture of the city has been destroyed, so residents cannot see the White Tower through their house anymore. The original Beijing Hutong has become a shantytown of unfamiliar tenants. We ask: what role should religion (architecture) plays in a modern community? We hope that by reconstructing the visual connection between the community and the White Tower, we can recall the spiritual influence of the White Tower on the hutong.

According to the building density and the sight relationship with the White Tower, we classified the city typologically and put forward relevant strategies respectively. In terms of urban design means, we choose Point, Line, Plane, and combine the corresponding height difference to create a richer experience of hutong life with traditional functions.

- Hutong Micro Update -

04

A Case Study of Beijing Hutong

As a famous commercial street in Beijing's old town, nanluoguxiang is full of tourists and some original residents and shops stand on both sides of the street.

After comparing different characteristics of Hutong in the third ring road of Beijing City, we find that the White Tower area has a very lively old Beijing community atmosphere.

White Tower Hutong has preserved the most complete hutong texture and is full of the atmosphere of hutong life. It is the place with the strongest atmosphere of life in old Beijing.

Dongsi Hutong

Most of the places around Dongsi hutong are former residences of celebrities. As a protected area in the inner city, the cultural atmosphere is well preserved, and the functions of the surrounding quadrangles are mostly cultural experiences.

oriented

As a large-scale alley, the street texture of Qianmen Hutong is obviously different from other hutongs. Most of the businesses on both sides of the street are time-honored brands.

-35-

The Eight Hutongs

Commercial- oriented Consume 6m 6m

Guozijian Street

Conserve 6m 5m

South Luogu Lane

Reside 3m 3m

Cultural-

Residential- oriented

Visit Tourists- oriented 24m 10m

White Temple Hutong Qianmen Hutong

Resee The White Tower, Recall the Old Hutong

As Beijing's population exploded and building density increased, the White Tower was gradually hidden. Residents lack spiritual guidance, the area lost the original vitality. Thus, How to

-36-

It was founded in the yuan dynasty in 1271.

Religion Temple Fair Residential In 1368 burned.

Important religious activity. All religious

and

The

Kublai Khan believed in Buddhism.

beliefs

activities are prohibited.

cultural revolution

New

The heyday of temple fairs.

age temple fair.

Rapid development, rapid increase in density. There is a new emphasis on the power of religion. Daily trading function. 1271 1753 1546 1966 2005 2015 It

in 2015.

Sporadic Hutong.

reopened

From 1433 to the early qing dynasty, it was constantly renovated. From 1966 to 1997, bec ause of the cultural revolution, it was diverted to commercial use.

In

In 2000 In 1990 In the 13th century

Review The White Tower

2019

2016

Typological Analysis

50m 125m 125m 300m 45m 90m 130m 200m 30m 75m 90m 180m ⑩ ① ② ③ ④ ⑥ ⑤ ⑦ ⑧ ⑪ ⑫ ⑨ -37-

slight slight few total sight blocked viewed Crowd Degree partial medium severe Block Degree 140m 300m ⑩ ① ② ③ ④ ⑥ ⑤ ⑦ ⑧ ⑫ ⑪ ⑨ 80m

According to the density of buildings and the degree of visual occlusion, we made a typological analysis and divided the buildings into 12 categories. According to their characteristics to transform the strategy. By finding out the location and number of these points, the key design areas and types can be determined.

Low density Slightly blocked

High density

Moderate blocked

Moderate density

High blocked

View Strategies

line Market line Cultural line Type Barely block Totally block Partial block Slightly block Sparse Moderate Crowed Quantity Crowed Moderate Sparse Plaza Chess Opera Gallery White Tower Temple Recreation Scenery spot Tea Walk birds Bazzar Sport Spot Line Plane -38-

Recreation

- WHAT'S YOUR MEMORY ABOUT BEIJING HUTONG BEFORE 2000?