ESSE PORTFOLIO OF HUOPU ZHANG
INDEX 2017 ARCHITECTURE
01
FRAMING DIALOG/ The Cultural Center
01
2016 ARCHITECTURE
02
THICK-THIN RECIPROCITY/ El Taller y el Parque
13
2015 ARCHITECTURE
03
FORMAL SYNCHRONIZATION/ The Hotel
21
2015 ARCHITECTURE
04
Armature RE-CONFIGURATION/ The Rare Book Library
29
2016 VIRTUAL
05
IMMERSIVE LANDSCAPE/ ‘Ex-Memoria, Doctrinia’
37
+ OTHER WORKS
06
DRAWING AND MAP DESIGN/ ‘Mappa Mundi’
45
Project 01 FRAMING DIALOG/ The Cultural Center GSD Architecture Option Studio. Instructor: Wonne Ickx
1
This is a cultural center located at Plaza de Zarco, Mexico City. The main interest in this project is, by using the arch, an architectural language that has had strong presence in Mexico City since the colonial times, to build up frames for a dialog between the rapidly growing central business area along la Reforma and the laid back neighborhoods that is directly adjacent to Plaza de Zarco to its northwest.
2
The site is located right next to Plaza de Zarco, Mexico City, at the conjunction of Avenida Hidalgo and Paseo de la Reforma. It is a complex site not only because of its irregular shape but also in that it is at the crossroad of the rapidly expanding Central Business Area all along la Reforma and the more laid back neighborhoods to the northwest, where the narrow streets are more accustomed to the pace of footsteps rather than carwheels. The radically different characters of the two are instantly visible from the footprints of the existing urban fabrics, in which la Reforma has embraced a rather formal and well-defined urban edge whereas the local neighborhoods of the northwest has had high degrees of casualness. The project’s main interest is to address such a conflict between the two. It utilizes the arch, which is a familiar element in Mexico City from the colonial time to modern days, as an architectural language that frames the structure for a dialogue and in using a combination of arches in different scales and spatial arrangements, builds up a ‘container’ with formal façades that accommodates the expansion of la Reforma and at the same time samples and exhibits the vividness of the local neighborhoods.
3
4
5
Ground Floor
2nd Floor
The Southwest Faรงade
3rd Floor
The Main Stair
The Southeast Faรงade
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
A
1
1
3
3
5
5
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
G
H
I
2
2
4
4
6
6
7
7
8
8
2nd Floor Plan 0.00+6.00m
2nd Floor Plan 0.00+6.00m
A
B
C
D
E
F
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8
Ground Floor Plan 0.00m Ground Floor Plan
0
5
10
20
3rd Floor Plan 0.00+12.00m
3rd Floor Plan 0.00+12.00m
0
5
10
20
6
0 0
Long Section
7
5 5
10 10
Long Section
20 20
0 0
Long Elevation
5 5
10 10
Long Elevation
20 20
0
Short Section
5
10
0
20
0
5
5
10
10
20
20
Short Elevation
8
9
I Treatrini Teatrino - A Study on the theatrical representation effects inspired by Aldo Rossi’s Little Scientific Theater. As regards this specific study, two theatrical boxes are made: The white box as a representation of the exterior of the building, in relation to the adjacent urban setting as the backdrop; the black box as a representation of the interior quality of the project.
10
11
The Arches, closely related to circulation and fenestration in the building, create at the same time multiple proscenia. The agglomeration of proscenia in different layers inside the building marred the boundary between the formal and the informal as well as relation between the viewers and the performers.
12
Project 02 Thick-Thin RECIPROCITY/ El Taller y el Parque GSD Option Studio. Instructor: Frano Violich
13
This project, while trying to build up a maker’s space consisting of several workshops, artists’ accommodations, offices and event spaces of its own right, faces a complex site condition in the dynamic urban core of Bogota, Colombia. On one hand, it is situated between two well developed public spaces - a park to the south and the national museum to the north and is thus expected to be able to provide the public a direct connection between the two. On the other hand, the rapid and sometimes chaotic urban development in its local areas has left it vulnerable to future road extension or other transportation development plans, which have in the past already comprised a significant part of the public spaces in the surrounding areas. This project then derives its architectural languages in response to these different aspects of considerations and interrogates the possibility of reconciling the two architectural languages it carries and having them, in combination with one another, build up a pedestrian-friendly public space governed by a series of permanent programs.
14
This project originates in the critique on how the undefined, or unprotected open space for the public was eventually taken over by traffic development due to urban expansion in Santa Fe, Bogota. It is in contrast with the Bolivar Square and other minor open plazas in old town Bogota where the open space is governed and defined by permanent programs and is able to be in continuous use for more than one and half century. The project also looks into another local architectural condition that is present in immediate adjacency to the site in the areas around the Independence Park. It is an architectural language that is rather hospitable to the public as it manages to build up a network of circulation that largely accommodates the radical change in topography in the area, easing people’s movements. As the two architectural languages meet each other. The former intends to accommodate the permanent, private program and uses the heaviness of the material of brick to maintain the pre-existing urban edges so that it forms a ‘fortress-like’ structure to govern the lot. Meanwhile, the soft language carefully carves into the site and the fortress. It gradually moves down in accordance with the topography and ties the public programs, the exhibition space, the auditorium, the open offices along itself, eventually making a continuous experience for the public through the site under the protection of the ‘fortress’.
The Site footprint is around 7,000 square meters and is located between the National Museum and the Independence Park.
15
I. The adjacaent Park of Independence, along with the landscape that surrounds Rogelio Salmona’s Residencia El Parque and the Bullring, provides a well-organized and pedestrian friendly area for the public and would ideally extend such kind of public space across the site to connect with the National Museum right to the north. II. A comparison between the Carrera10/ Avenida El Dorado juntion, which is close to the site, in the 1960s and its present conditions implies how an undefined public space in the Santa Fe area of Bogota could easily be overtaken by constructions mainly driven by the dynamics of the rapid urban expansion in Colombia’s capital region. The idea of emphasizing the urban edge of the site arises in order to cope with such a potential threat to the public space the project maintains.
Carrera 10/ Avenida El Dorado Juntion. 1960s.
Carrera 10/ Avenida El Dorado Juntion. Present.
16
Plans - 1st and 2nd Floors
1:2000
17
Long Section
1:2000
1:750
LSouth Elevation
1:750
18
19
The language of the permanent programs, ‘the thick’, holds on to the urban edges the site reaches and thus defines a territory that resists future penestration of traffic developments. The ‘solid’, or permanent programs - the workshops, the artists residence, the offices and the event spaces are, accordingly, located along the building volumes, which is a bar-like building, despite appearing to be tremendous from outside. Behind this ‘fortification’, the taller is then able to maintain a public space inside that is both bridging the two preexisting public spaces and beneficial to its own interest, as a maker’s space always needs to have strong connections to the public.
20
Project 03 Formal SYNCHRONIZATION/ The Hotel GSD 3rd Architecture Core Studio. Instructor: Jeffry Burchurd
21 913
This is a high-rise hotel project that incorporates a series of programs such as thermal spa, swimming pools, gallery, theatre and a green house. It is set in the arid urban context of Las Vegas. The main interest in this project is to reconcile a podium with several public programs that is more respectful to its adjacent street front and a hotel tower that is increasingly aloof as it gets to its higher levels, which eventually turn to face the downtown strip of Las Vegas for its pleasing view, regardless of what is happening on the street level.
22
Programs and Circulation Massing/Primary Programs
Wrapping/The Triangulated Skin
Hotel Rooms
Green House Hotel Rooms Theatre
Individual Terraces and Shells
Pools and Spa Lobby Desert Park Conference
11 23 15
3
Public Terrace
Structural Studies The Lifted Podium
The Tower
Belt Truss
Truss Cantilever Structure Core Columns
24
4
Formal Progression and the Triangulated Skin
17 13 25
5
17
26
6
608 ft
378 ft
126 ft
27 19 15
Podium Level 1
Podium Level 4
Hotel Tower - 4 Rooms
Podium Level 2
Podium Level 5
Hotel Tower - 4 Rooms
Podium Level 3
Hotel Tower Level 3
Hotel Tower - 2 Rooms
28
Project 04 Armature RE-CONFIGURATION/ The Rare Book Library GSD 2nd Architecture Core Studio. Instructor: Elizabeth Whittaker
13 29
This project is a rare book library that is located on the waterfront of Emerald Necklace, Boston, facing the Museum of Fine Art. The Concept of this project is derived from a series of walls that are broken down into a exible origami-based armature. With its capability of making various space by folding itself in different levels, it can react to both the site and the programs it is to accommodate.
12 30
Study Models The conceptual models are a series of study on making an armature that can deform from a plane into volumes. The fragment model is made of 1/8 chipboards (the oor plates and the base) and doubled 4 ply museum boards (the walls).
15 31
11
Final Model
1/8” = 1’-0”. 1/4 plywood, 1/8 basswood and quadrupled 4-ply museum board
32
12
Floor Plans
2nd Floor
33
13
3rd Floor
4th Floor
Roof Garden
34
14
Sections
35 19
36
Project 04 IMMERSIVE LANDSCAPE/ ‘Ex Memoria, Doctrinia’ GSD 2016 Spring. VIS-2449 Representation through Gaming Technology. Instructor: Eric de Broche des Combes.
37
‘Ex-Memoria’ is my first attempt in developing a video game. It aims at creating a dystopic land named ‘Doctrinia’ for the player to navigate through and incorporates a world setting that can be expanded into a full storyline in the future. It involves a strong imagery pattern that sets up the main tone of the landscape. At the same time, it uses other minor elements to build up visual and textual information for the player, who is set to be deprived of all his memories and relies on all these messages to rebuild his understanding of this society. The messages, along with the media that carry them, the televisions and graffiti, further enhance the dystopic mood of the environment.
38
Design Drafts - Concepts and Settings The Basic setting of the game consists of three elements: I. The ‘Totem of Totalitarianism’, which is the image pattern that makes up the tone of the surroundings and keeps reminding the player of the fact that there is an authority known as ‘the Instructors’ that is manifesting its superiority and highness to the land. II. The Television, which are the main vehicle with which the authority uses as its propaganda machine. At the same time, they are, as the word ‘tele-vision’ literally means, stealthily also remote monitors installed by the authority for the purpose fo surveillance. III. The Texts, often realized in the form of graffiti, are the marks left by people from the underbelly of the society and provide the player with information from another perspective.
The Televisions
The Totems of Totalitarianism
The Texts
39
[2016 Spring]
[Huopu Zhang]
[ Ex-Memoria ]
[2016 Spring]
[Huopu Zhang]
[ Ex-Memoria ]
It is a world of words, especially in their written form. The society seems to be highly orderly and well-organized, as is depicted through its ubiquitous propaganda machine, the televisions. However, in the underbelly of the metropolis, there exists a large body of graffiti that speaks of a different story and gives out information in a different tone.
World Setting and the Main Character The main character has, for some reason yet unknown, been deprived of his memories. Upon awakening in the game, he gets exposed to the information that is given through the ubiquitous television broadcasts while he will also start to find written messages left by some other people. His understanding of the society and perhaps his own identity relies on these messages he collects.
The Land of Doctrinia and its Society
The Instructors
INSTITUTIO
INQVISITIO
MENS
COR
Hesperia
40
The Landscape Overview - A Sample of the Land of ‘Doctrinia’
Top View - The River and the ‘Paths’. 41 25 21
Front View - The Mountains with the ‘Totems of Totalitarianism’. 42 26
43
28 44
45
46
Other Works - Mapping Studies and Mappa Mundi
New York Neighborhood - Static
47
33
New York Neighborhood Dynamic
Boston Neighborhood Static
Boston Neighborhood Dynamic
48
34
Huopu Zhang 6-B, Sanxin Dasha, Tianhe, Guangzhou, China hzhang@gsd.harvard.edu