Bo Cai Portfolio, Yale M.Arch II, Cooper Union B.Arch

Bo Cai Selected Projects / 2015-2022

CONTENTS Rejuvenation

De/Construction of Cultural Tourism Yale University Spring 2022 | Advanced Studio | instr. Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu, Andrew Benner

Future NOMAD

The Plane of Ants and Tatamis Yale University Fall 2021 | Advanced Studio | instr. Steven Harris, Gavin Hogben, Helen Evenden

In Between

Billboard of Living Cooper Union Fall 2019 | Design IV Studio | instr. Lorena del Rio

Formal Analysis: Palais Garnier

Spectator and Spectacles within the Activity System Cooper Union Fall 2018 | Design III Studio | instr. Diana Agrest, Ceren Bingol, Anna Bokov

Thesis: Contemporary Surveillance

Demarcation of Vision Cooper Union Fall 2020 & Spring 2021 | Thesis | instr. Michael Young, Hayley Eber, Lauren Kogod

Studio

MoMA: Southeast Asian Architecture This portfolio contains a series of architecture projects that demonstrate different perceptions of space in different experiences. The subject of perception could be the ones who occupy the space, see the space, or analyze the space. The experience they go through would create totally different perceptions of the same space.

As a designer of space, I would always want to create a distinct way to perceive the space, for human beings or non-human beings, or non-creatures. As the imagination goes, scenarios would be created, and therefore perceptions would form. These perceptions would always be distinct, but only by these perceptions could the definition be formed.

Retrospection of Valentine Gunasekara Cooper Union Spring 2020 | Elective | instr. James Lowder

Uabb Shenzhen: Hiding from the Eyes of the City Camouflage and Disappearance Cooper Union Fall 2019 | Elective | instr. Benjamin Aranda, Sam Keene

Building Technology: Vilanova Artigas

Column Pop-Up Cooper Union Fall 2018 | Elective | instr. Samuel Anderson

Elective

Rejuvenation Yale University Spring 2022 Instructor: Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu, Andrew Benner Type: Individual Project Chinese American culture, compared to other communities, has a relatively higher bar for those who do not have a connection to this culture to interact and understand. This cultural self-confinement is one of the main reasons Chinatown stays unchanged most times.

Apart from that, Chinatown is where the shared memory of older-generation Asian-Americans originates, as the first immigrants settled the structures, decorations, and characters. The design and atmosphere of the area remain unchanged by the shared memory. From the demographic analysis, the median age of the Chinatown area is about 47. However, many elderlies and children would be in the area because of the school location and the heritage. During our visit to the Portsmouth square, almost no connections between the old and the young group were found. The lack of interaction of the senior community could be the other resistance that stops Chinatown from advancing.

It needs a Rejuvenation

My “the other” program will be the Children’s Palace, to increase interaction and rejuvenate the community. This concept came from recalling a personal experience in the children’s palace when I was in Hangzhou, China.

It is an activity center for children and youth, where the young could gather, explore extracurricular activities, and develop their preliminary social skills. The establishment of the children’s palace would always come with a new hotspot that allows people from different age groups to gather and interact.

Plan, 14th Floor

Model, 1'=1/16''

Facade, 1'=1/16''

Future NOMAD: the Plane Yale University Fall 2021 Instructor: Steven Harris, Gavin Hogben, Helen Evenden Type: Individual Project The project seeks a solution and possibility for future mobility: What will the future of living and transportation be like in 2086? Combining living and moving possibilities, together with a possible expectation of the future, the plane is providing a prospect towards a new lifestyle. The design will be in the Future Mobility Exhibition in The Guggenheim Bilbao in April 2022.

TATAMIS+ANTS - swarms of universal cargo decks - UCDs - float above swarms of mag-lev all-terrain vehicles - (ml)ATVs - together they constitute an additive service infrastructure system bringing level stability and motive power to wild terrains everywhere DEPLOYMENTS - UCDs + (ml)ATVs deploy for individual or collective missions - from solo scouting/errand tasks to group constructions and to massively multiple environments -say, from setting up a remote weather observation base to making a temporary fabrication facility or performance venue and to making an emergency landing.

Let the plane FLOAT Let the plane LEVEL Let the plane CONNECT Let the plane EXPAND Let the plane ARRIVAL The place with the best view could only be found somewhere there is no road. To get there, the swarms will carry the plane, move it anywhere it needs to go. With the application of artificial intelligence, the swarms could also be shared between Planes, therefore optimizing a repertoire of deployments that link actions and behaviors to directives and goals.

The Plane, which benefitted from the directional magnetic levitation, could stay perfectly flat, therefore all types of activity could be performed.

The Planes could connect front-to-back, side-to-side, stack top-bottom; to form a plan, a place, a building, a city.

The system is made by swarms of “Tatamis” and “Ants”. The “Tatami” planes will float perfectly horizontally above the swarm of ants, which could create a magnetic levitation field to support the planes. Each plane could be supported by 3 to 8 ants, depending on the weight. While the ants are not being used to provide support, they could be deployed for individual missions—from solo scouting/errand tasks to group field exploration.

The plane, combined with the ants, could also achieve a lot of possibilities to fulfill different targets. As the lean angle of the planes could change, and they could connect, their potentialities could vary from setting up a remote weather observation base to making a temporary fabrication facility or performance venue and to making an emergency landing strip.

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1. The Plane moving along the road at regular speed, with the cargo tray closed 2. The Plane expands when being stationary, therefore creating living space

“Let it Float” Magnetic Levitation Model

In Between Cooper Union Fall 2019 Design IV Studio Instructor: Lorena del Rio Type: Individual Project Site: Lampedusa, Italy The project brings up and emphasizes the problem of refugees. Lampedusa, an island that belongs to Italy, is taking refugees from Tunisia every day.

Some of the refugees could survive the days-long trip on a small boat to Lampedusa, some could not. Since Lampedusa is the closest European territory to Tunisia, it is important to construct a temporary camp for them.

The proposal would offer a possible solution.

The proposal starts by analyzing cultural relics, which mostly include places that cultures used to form and live. Then, after a certain extent of time, the mark of human-created infrastructure would be left on the site, as proof of existence.

The ruin picked is Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in west China, which was created by the Buddhists in the 4th century BC. The grottoes are located on the cliff, and they vary in different sizes, from space for a hundred people to space for one.

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The Path of Boats: the density of white lines shows the frequency of boat passing.

The analysis inspired me to pick the site on Lampedusa: the cliff on the northeast end of the island, which is marked out in the red square.

From the ship map on the left, we could see that it is also the place where most visual interactions could happen. The proposed structure would serve as a billboard, and the people who travel on the boat would perceive the space on the cliff and recognize the problem of refugees.

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1. The cliff of lampdusa in its original state 2. The cliff after the construction of the framework 3. The cliff after residents’ occupancy, as in operation 4. The cliff after the residents left, with the mark of time and construction left on the cliff, as proof of existence

In the beginning, a concrete scaffolding-like structure will be built to serve as a semi-permanent grid for future development. Later, the cliff will also be excavated to create more public space for refugees. The living units will come after the completion of the grid and excavation. They will be built off-site and shipped by boat to the site. After arriving, a crane on the top of the structure will move the units to the locations they belong.

The marks on the cliff, after the refugees leave, will be the mark of existence, telling a long-forgotten story to the world.

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Axonometric Diagram of a Living Unit

The possibility of openness characterizes the exterior space of the living unit. Usually being a grid window and opaque wall to protect the interior from intense sunlight, people living in the room could open the end of the room to form a balcony space, allowing the residents to enjoy the view of the sea.

Since the Living unit is entirely hung from the grid structure, the truss structure is used to ensure structural strength and cantilever possibilities. The plumbing and the wire will be embedded within the reinforced concrete grid structure. The unit is also interchangeable between different locations of the concrete grid.

The living space will be enough for a maximum of three people. The inner furniture of the room focuses on refugees’ basic needs; therefore, there would be more storage room for them to put the things they brought with them. The location of the bathroom will directly connect to the tubing system within the concrete structure.

A model is therefore constructed for the proposal. The model is a box or a suitcase that contains different models. The box size is roughly 2 ft by 2 ft by 4ft.

There will be a section of cliff and grid scaffolding structure within the box. If the structure is taken out, the mark created by people living in the cliff housing will be revealed. One of the exemplary living units is also built on the other side of the box, demonstrating a cliff-living condition.

In reflection of the luggage taken by the refugees, the box could be taken apart and separated into parts.

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1. A part of cliff of lampdusa with the framework structure 2. The cliff after the deconstruction of the framework 3. Close-up view of framework and cliff 4. Detail model showing the framework and the design of the basic living unit 5. Model being inside the 2 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft box

Formal Analysis: Palais Garnier Cooper Union Fall 2018 Design III Studio Type: Group Project with David Bermudez Instructor: Diana Agrest, Ceren Bingol, Anna Bokov Site: Paris, France The project digs deep into the analysis of one of the most important buildings in Paris: Palais Garnier. Serve as the new opera house for Parisians, the activity system, visual perception of spectators, and spectacles are the main topics.

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cover: Section, “Ink on Mylar”, 6 ft x 3ft, by Bo Cai 1: Site Analysis, by David Bermudez and Bo Cai, data from Bo Cai 2: Plan, “Ink on Mylar”, 6ft x 3ft, by Bo Cai and David Bermudez

The Palais Garnier locates at the end of Avenue de l’Opéra, which directly connects the door of the Louvre to the Garnier. During Haussmann’s renovation of Paris, large boulevards were created to connect the historical sights.

The Garnier also has a different entrance for different people, like the one on the south side mainly for the public, the one on left for the emperor, the one on the right for nobility, and the one on the north for staff.

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Axonometric Circulation Diagram

The Palais Garnier could be divided into three different parts, as they serve different activities, which are the main reasons why people would come to Garnier: to see others and to be seen. The first drawing here shows the possible circulation of activity in the Grand Foyer, where the ball takes place.

The circulation core: the grand staircase. Although there are other staircases right next to the grand staricase, it is the place where most important things happen: To see and to be seen. The grand staircase is surrounded by the balnonies on higher floors, therefore anyone one the stair could be easily seen. It is the most important vertical space in Garnier

If you do miss the chance to see people on the grand staircase, the auditorium is another place where “to see and to be seen“ is happening. The horseshoe-shaped auditorum enable the placement of more balconies. With a bonocular, it would be easy to see the people in the auditorium.

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1: Model by Bo Cai, emphasizing three vertical spaces where spectators’ visions would cross each other.

2&3: Model by Bo Cai, emphasizing the most important spaces in the Palais Garnier: The auditorium and the staircase.

4: Model by Bo Cai and David Bermudez, a detailed model of the side-balcony next to the grand staircase.

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1: Photo of Palais Garnier Grand Staircase Source: Diana Agrest 2: Side view of the model in coordinance with the photo 3: Front view of the model 4: Side view of the model from a different perspective

The photo shows the view of the dynamic and complex spaces generated by the stairs above and below from a different perspective.

Developed from the photo, a model is created to reflect the spatial information contained in the photo. From the first side view, there would be the perception of the space created by the staircase. However, as the model is being rotated, the entire space is distorted and form a totally different perception of space.

Therefore, the perception of the continuously flowing space of Garnier could only be perceived by the flow of the viewer’s own body.

Thesis: Computer Vision in Contemporary Surveillance: Figure, Ground, Playground Cooper Union Fall 2020 & Spring 2021 Thesis Project Instructor: Michael Young, Hayley Eber, Lauren Kogod Type: Individual Thesis Project In contemporary ways of surveillance, human beings are not acting as spectators and spectacles at the same time anymore, since machine and computer vision is taking over the job of spectators. People are seen, recognized, and stored.

There are about 1 billion security cameras in the world, and about 600 million of them are in China. If one would take a walk, there is almost no way to hide from cameras, and citizens have no choice whether they would like to be seen by the camera or not.

My thesis, currently ongoing, is analyzing the methodology of contemporary surveillance, and possibly, in the future, how one should take reaction.

How does the machine “see things”? My personal interest falls in methods of how they collect data, process these data, and finally offer an output. Therefore, I built a device for me to see the world in the way of a machine. It is called the Vision Accessory, made with a minicomputer, a camera, and a 480p screen. And there is a program of object identification running Inside the minicomputer.

However, what is the way how the computer vision recognizes you?

The only data input comes from the camera sensors, which are the RGB data of the pixels, and then these pixels are combined and analyzed to create and match different characters.

Therefore, I took down the data from these two photos, one in slightly lower resolution, and re-create the diagram of the edge detection. The data are combined to form a new three-dimensional representation of the image itself, and then the edge of the object could be defined, after which the object identification model would be applied.

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1-2: Axonometric view of bench created 3-4: Axonometric view of cup created 5: Diagram of the Edge of Bench 6: Diagram of the Edge of Cup

But the result could be the machine definition of “Human,” but not a human in perspective to human beings. Therefore, I am thinking about applying the same methodology to other objects and creating a park, an open space, or a playground that could have different meanings to computer vision and human beings.

Since edges are the only places where most pixel differences happen, I applied the same methodology to one of the most prominent objects in the park and the public space: The Bench and the Cup.

Having analyzed the methodology of machine vision identification, in this thesis a ground of public space is manipulated to form a playground: an image, a ground, a combination of pixels designed for machine vision, while also leaving open the possibilities for human inhabitation and interaction. The playground challenges the medium we use to design, shifting the technology from one made for observation to one used for design. As a result, within this playground, objects, figures, ground, background, and perception are put into question. thesis a ground of public space is manipulated to form a playground: an image, a ground, a combination of pixels designed for machine vision, while also leaving open the possibilities for human inhabitation and interaction. The playground challenges the medium

...and there forms the Playground

MoMA: Southeast Asian Architecture Cooper Union Spring 2020 Elective - In Exhibition Instructor: James Lowder Type: Group Project with Mudong Jung, Brandy Vazquez Site: Tangalle, Sri Lanka The project looks into the designs in southeast Asia, analyze them, gather the information, and recreate the model for the exhibition. Our group looks at the Tangalle Bay Hotel designed by Valentine Gunasekara. By analyzing the data, we recreated the model of the hotel and proposed our decision of making a section model that cuts through the central circulation line.

The model was constructed for a current exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

UABB Shenzhen: Hiding from the Eyes of the City Cooper Union Fall 2019 Elective Type: Group Workshop with Juan Carlos, Jesse Basset Instructor: Benjamin Aranda, Sam Keene Site: Shenzhen, China The project is to design an installation in the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in Shenzhen, China.

The proposal is called “Hiding from the Eyes of the City”, as the class designed different ways to camouflage from facial identification model.

However, as the curator decided to incorporate our design into the exhibition as an entity, there would be no space for our proposal to exhibit. Therefore, a smaller scale installation was done in the school to serve as a product of the class.

Exhibition at Cooper Union, Feb 13th, 2020 Constructed by Bo Cai, Juan Carlos, Jesse Basset

Building Technology: Artigas Cooper Union Fall 2018 Elective Type: Group Project with: Shishen Chen, Risako Arcari, Matthew Chan, Stella Blue Porzungolo, Gabriella Orsi Instructor: Samuel Anderson Site: São Paulo, Brazil

The purpose of the class is to understand ways of construction, and how an architecture design could be taken into the real world. The pick of our group is to recreate the column of School of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sao Paulo, designed by Vilanova Artigas. The scale of the column is 1’=1/2’. By constructing the formwork, rebar allocation, and concrete casting, the 9 ft tall reinforced concrete column was constructed.

Bo Cai bo.cai@yale.edu