INTERMEDIATE，A Territory Between Culture & Form Selected Work 2012-2015 Zhoutong Wang Four-Year Bachelor of Science in Architecture (Int.) Applicant for M.Arch, UBC
Prologue Cultural values in China often shape architecture to an irresistible extent. Contemporary architects often suit their designs to cultural contexts. But the manifestation of architecture’s interiority in some distinguished architects’ works have pointed to a courageous abandonment of the dominant ideology. Their works are successful efforts that materialize Peter Eisenman’s rejection of external phenomena, a rejection that is made possible by using diagrams and geometry that search for interiority. Nevertheless, the search for architecture’s independent voice through the autonomy of form may not be contributive to the goal of making the city a better place when it goes too far. I believe that for the discipline of architecture, from a hermeneutic point of view, in order to win architecture its own power of discourse, an architect needs not only to declare its interiority but also to make it possible for architecture to impact external phenomena. I begin to believe, somewhat similar to Emile Kaufmann’s theory, that, architecture, politics, society, and culture are each independent monomers, which, however, are also interconnected to one another. In this sense, Architecture has the ability to cast influence on other peripheral elements. In other words, architects have their own means to put the discipline of architecture in the spotlight and make changes to the world without keeping it to itself. I believe in the significance of mediating form and culture. My portfolio exemplifies my initial search for the right of an architect in this act of mediation. My portfolio is designed as a tetralogy in which each part focuses separately on nature, human beings, the city, and the society. In the first part, I interconnect nature and the modern world in a creative way and articulate how human efforts to restore nature is shaping the city. In the second part, I focus on the classification and rehabilitation of prisoners, the most special and distant constituents of one human society. I have adopted Italian politician Enrico Ferri’s method of classification of prisoners. In the third part, my urban design studio work endeavors to redefine a type of Arcades in order to construct a contemporary public sphere in the sense of Juergen Habermas. Through this Utopian perspective, I try to displace the carrier of “action” from modern media to space, because space is within an architect’s jurisdiction. In the last part, I explore the role the facades play in mediating the city and the interior space. The exploration reveals the possibility for architects to mediate culture and form.
[Forest Against Simulacrum] --Design for Library on Liyang Road
[Criminal Classifier] --Design for Qingpu Prison
[Chinese Arcade Projects]
-- Urban / Architecture Design in Hongkew District
[Urban Chameleon]
--Design for The Bund Hotel on Jiujiang Road
[Other Works]
-- Other Studio Works, Sketches, Construction, Photography, etc;
RATIONIS MODUS BREVIS
In this ancient triangle, the length of the shortest side of a triangle determines the height of the triangle. This illustration tells me that even if my knowledge is personal and half-baked, like a scratch on the surface, it is a descent starting point. It has prompted me to ask questions and to pursue what I believe in.
[Forest Against Simulacrum]
-- Library Design on Liyang Road
Studio Work, 15 Spring, Tongji University Professor: Xiaofeng ZHU Solo Work First follow NATURE, and your Judgment frame By her just Standard, which is still the same:
An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope
Unerring Nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchang’d and Universal Light, Life, Force, and Beauty, must to all impart, At once the Source, and End, and Test of Art
[The term Nature encompasses the physical world,the sum of human experiences, and the principle of order and coherence in the universe]
[A New Approach to Nature; A Discussion Inspired by Alexander Pope's Poetry] Man conquering nature has been the theme of the modern world since Industrial Era in which James Watt invented the machine that seems to be God-like omnipotent. This theme seems to urge a new definition of artificiality. In the traditional point of view, artificial refers to something that is created by human technology or science. Nature, on the other hand, stands for things that are not produced by human beings. I believe that, on the contrary, to be categorized into a production of nature, an object must stay intact from human beings. For instance, somewhere a thousand miles beneath the ground is unreachable or too costly to be reachable for human, even with the most advanced excavate technologies, can be an example of a site of real “nature“. This narrower definition of nature gives us an opportunity to escape the shackle in which man is always attempting to restore nature simply by copying its appearance due to the belief for the ubiquitous power that dwells in it. Instead of producing imitations, intentionally abstracting and poetically alter the object may be another way of approaching nature. In Plato's Sophist, he speaks of two kinds of image making. The first is a faithful reproduction, intended to copy precisely a natural object. The second is intentionally distorted in order to make the copy appear correct to viewers.
To me, this kind of distortion can be some kind of simplification or abstraction, in which nature is altered through a series of techniques. As a result, the production can be simple as geometrical forms and successfully delivers the meaning of nature rather than copy nature. In this design, the site is located on the east bank of Hongkew River. This quiet and vicissitudinous site is a gathering place for creative producers and architecture firms. The project is to design a completely new library to provide the nearby residents a place to read beside the river. My attempt to restore nature is started with a series of simple structural exploration. In order to remind the reader of a spectacle of forest, many attempts have been made in search for different variations of this form. The goal is to reproduce the natural scenes for the arbor zone, the shrub zone and the herbal zone by deploying different scales of this form. Instead of simply zooming the form without any adjustment, structure and spaces are important factors that decide the outcome of each natural scene.
Imitation stage : Represented by pantheism, nature-imitating sculpture and Corinth Order
Form Emulation
Abstract stage : Represented by concise and separated architectural elements, abstract decoration
Spiritual Extraction
I. Roof
Abstract Form
Abstraction Prototype Analysis onďźš II. Bearing III. Lateral Resisting
“Worldly and Self-aware� I. The form of the library resembles or corresponds with the form of hills and also Lilongs. II. The glass reflects and denies the interference of the outside world, keeping the subject intact and independent.
Strategy of Reproduction of Nature: I. The combination of the same form in different scales; II. Adjustment to them according to structure,space and circulation;
The Original Sketch On Day 1
Study Model For Midterm
Correspondence My design follows the instruction of my sketches. In this process, the arrangement of different functions and spaces are closely related to these scenes.
Finished Design
Yards
Jogging Route
Hongkew River and Its Implied Relationship
The Hongkew River and its affluen lating the arrangement of building volumes and the circulation within
Elevation and Circulation
Reading Rooms
Reserved Buildings
River & Road Exhibition & Guide
s Affluents
nts have significant influence on the city’s texture through stipugs and river banks. Therefore, it is crucial to adjust the yards, the n the library accordingly.
Main Circulation
HERBAL
Zone
ARBOR
SHRUB
Zone
Zone
Structure In Analogy With Forest
Section and the Change of Scale
I have been rethinking about the definition of artificial. In general, it is believed that artificial stands that stands
10mm Aluminum Plate Cover 10mm Water Resistant Plaster Board Substrate 100mm Cement Polystyrene Thermal Insulating Board 10mm Rigid Insulation Foam 210mm Steel Structure
Roof Drain
12mm Structural Plywood 30mm Floor Joist 250mm Steel Beam Ceiling Joist 9.5mm Plasterboard
Dissection and Details 50mm Concrete Sub-Slab 150mm Crushed Stone
MA Jiajue
CHINESE
Chinese prisons have always refused to admit and consider prisoners’ individual personalities. Once one i and short spiky hair. My discussion focuses on the possibility of preserving a prisoner’s individual characte
CHEN Liangyu
YAO Jiaxin
ZHANG Xianguang
PRISONS —— Obliteration of Personality, Crackdown of Self-Esteem
is imprisoned, he/she will lose the sense of the self. Every prisoner is supposed to wear the same uniform er by adopting the method of criminal classification.
[Criminal Classifier] Studio Work, 15 Fall, Tongji University Self-Instructed Design Solo Work
--Qingpu Prison Design
ZHANG Xianguang
MA Jiajue
Born in 1965, ZHANG was executed immediately after a public trial that announced his death penalty on Dec 1, 2006 in Shenyang, capital city of Liaoning Province. He was charged of killing 8 people and injuring 11 on Jan. 18, 2003 during an armed robbery of a cash-transit at a branch bank in Shenyang with a meticulously-planned explosion. This time he and his two brothers took away a huge amount of 1.97 million yuan .
Born in 1982, Ma originated from a rural village in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Ma killed his four roommates between February 13 and 15 in 2004. Ma stated that he killed them because the roommates had accused him of cheating in a card game and made fun of his looks. He was executed in 2004 after being sentenced to death by local court.
A. INSANE CRIMINALS The Insane, affected by a clinically identified mental disease or by a neuropsychopathic condition, which groups him with the mentally diseased;
B. HABITUAL CRIMINIALS The Habitual, or rather, the criminal by acquired habit, who is mostly a product of the social environment in which, due to abandonment by family, lack of education, poverty, bad companions in urban centers, already in his childhood an occasional offender.
Enrico Ferri’s Definition of Criminal Classification.
FOUR TYPES OF CRIMINALS A
YAO Jiaxin
CHEN Liangyu
Born in 1989, Yao, a college student from Xi’an Shaanxi Province, hit a restaurant waitress, Zhang Miao, and stabbed her to death when he saw her jotting down his license plate number. Yao was put on trial on March 23, 2011, was sentenced to death on April 22, 2011, and was executed June 7, 2011.
Born in 1946, Chen is a disgraced Chinese politician best known for his tenure as the Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai, the city's top official, from 2002 to his dismissal in 2006, and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. Chen was dismissed in September 2006 for corruption charges and was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of financial fraud, abuse of power, and accepting bribery.
C. PASSIONAL CRIMINALS The Passional, who, in two varieties, criminals through passion (a prolonged and chronic mental state) or through emotion (explosive and unexpected mental state) , represents a type at the opposite pole from the criminal due to congenital tendencies and, besides having good personal antecedents, a normal moral character, though nervous when excited;
AND THEIR CLASSIC CASES
D. BORN CRIMINALS The Born, carring from birth, through unfortunate heredity from his progenitors (criminals, alcoholics, syphilitics, subnormals, insane, neuropathics, etc.) a reduced resistance to criminal stimuli and also an evident and precocious propensity to crime;
Research
③ PASSIONAL
② HABITUAL
① INSANE
④ BORN
[1] Criminal Typ [2] Emotions [3] Activities [4] Space
The Location of Four Types of Criminals
On
pe
The
e Relationship Between Prisoners and Guards Changes in Different Parts of the Prison
8th Floor Cell Rooms
7th Floor Cell Rooms
6th Floor
Reading & Leisure
5th Floor Cell Rooms
4th Floor Dining
3rd Floor 2nd Floor
Classrooms & Utility
1st Floor Cell Rooms & Management
MODEL
Cleaning
Breakfast
Inspecting
Spinning
Dining
Electrowelding
Reading
Discussing
[3] Passional [2] Habitual
[1] Insane
[4] Born
Morning Reading
Electronic Engineering
Cooking
Dining
Lecture Attending
Webmastering
Reading
Sleeping
PRISON SCHEDSTORYBOARD OF A PASSIONAL CRIMINAL
RITUAL —— Leaving An Old World and Entering A New World The prison redefines the relationship of prisoners and the world. The atrium is the place that a prisoner must pass through the first time he is allocated to this prison. Crowds of prisoners who dwell above the atrium would roar, scream and laugh at the newcomer once he arrived in the middle of the atrium. A “warm” welcome for him, indicating that he has entered a new world.
I. Chess Board Layout
II. Subtraction
III. Shifting
IV. Rotation (To Specialize)
V. Circulation
VI. Completion
VII. Upper Structure
VIII. Yards
IX. Cells
Steps of Generation
X. Cells
Volume of Each Floor and Grid System
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Guards' Lounge
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Equipment Room
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Computer Lab
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Classrooms
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Guards' Lounge
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Kitchen
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Office Space
[10] Conversation Room D
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[11] Office Space [12] Conversation Room [13] Archives
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[16] Guards' Office [17] Wardenry's Office [18]
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Trial Room
[19] Reference Room [20] Restroom [21]
Lock-up Room
[22] Passage Space [23] Assembly Room
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Utility Room
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Janiters' Lounge
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Type C Cell
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Dishwashing Room
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Kitchen
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Refrigerating Room
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Chef's Lounge
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Dining Area
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Chef's Lounge
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Refrigerating Room
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Appetizer's Room
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Dining Area
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Kitchen
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Dishwashing Room
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Guards' Lounge
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Clinic
[43]
Conversation Room
[44]
Reference Room
[45]
Assembly Room
[46]
Classroom
[47]
Supervisory Control
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Classroom
[49]
Badminton Court
[50]
Grocery Store
[51]
Barber Shop
[52]
Telephone Room
[53]
Grocery Store
[54]
Drinking Water Distribution
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Grocery Store
[56]
Auditorium
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Clinic
[58]
Post Office
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Utility Room
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[2]
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3F Plan
Model
I believe that the spiritual disposition under Shanghai’s fantastical surface, comes from the neighborhood, the Chinese market, and a bowl of wonton. After I read Walter Benjamin’s The Arcade Project, I feel that the spirit is internally connected to the trading, magasins de nouveaute and flaneurs in the arcades in the western context in some ways. In the past twenty years, the spirit has been worn down by gentrification. I attempt to restore the culture and history of Shanghai by relocating the arcades in the area, in the sense of sociology.
[Shanghai Arcades Project]
--Urban Design / Architecture in Hongkew
Studio Work, 15 Fall, Tongji University Professor: SHAO Yong Solo Work
The Chinese Arcades is developing into different types to suit various sites in Shanghai.
[Tiny Market]: In the narrow alleys of relatively old Lilong areas, the arcades are constructed as passageways to replace sidewalks.
[City Square]: In Lilong areas where there are plenty of vacant public spaces between houses left, the arcades act as a arena for public events for nearby residents.
[Riverfeeder]: In “Pigdin� areas where river network is scattered on the surface, the arcades replace the traditional bridges, becoming the substitute footpath for pedestrians.
The Continuity of Arcades As A Solution to Social &
South
Problematic House Removal
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Inappropriate Commerce
Unbalanced Transportation
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Commercial Challenges in Shanghai
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Arcades’ Vitality After Sunset
Function & Image
The Inextricable Challenges Relating to Lilong Five months after the completion of the studio I revisited the site that was waiting to be torn down at that time. Right after I took the photos I was forced to stop by ferocious demolition crews and government staffs. Anything that could be a flickering sign of potential media intervention would alert the fragile nerves of the government. Indeed, house removal has been one of the most troublesome problems in Shanghai. It is an endless struggle between land owners, the government and actual inhabitants surrounding the principle of benefit maximization. This house removal predicament is blurred but it is a subsistent miniature of contemporary China. The diagram above shows the most common ending of a dramatic story of house removal is usually filled with excessive profits and imbalance. The most common ending of this dramatic story is filled with the excessive profit and imbalance: the government pays much more than it expects, the property owner receives a sum of money as compensation which far exceeds the real value of the property and the civilian workers have lost their affordable sanctuary. The house removal action should be controlled to a reasonable speed. But convincing somebody to stop what they are doing is difficult, especially at a time when people only care for their own interests.
A Proposal of Contemporary Arcades After I read Arcades: The History of a Building Type written by G. J. Geist, I begin to nurture the idea of redefining the building type. Rather than accepting the prevailing programmatic definition,we should return to the uttermost present meaning the type could cast on contemporary society. In this context, arcades are both a presentation and a solution to “delirious Shanghai”. The arcades act as a building type that I. Promotes the potential value of useless city spaces and stimulates local economy. II. Increases revenue for government and eliminates reasons for house removal. The arcades are also created as images for the current dilemma, a true introspection of the people living in these occasionally omitted Chinese “ghettos”. The arcades are honest expressions which peel off the glittering facade and go after the idiosyncrasy of Shanghai. A silent revolt to the modern, prosperous Shanghai will take place once the project of arcades has been initiated.
ground floor arc axis and its reverse axis
nodes & path generation
3rd floor plan
path adjustment & space form
gro
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The Sections of Shanghai Ar-
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[Urban Chameleon]
-- -- The Bund Hotel on Jiujiang Road Design
Studio Work, 14 Spring, Tongji University Instructor: WANG Hongjun, WANG Kai, WANG Yan Solo Work
A2 B1 A1 B2
The aim of this studio is to discover the hidden relationship between architecture and the city. Because the facade plays a crucial role in linking architecture and the city, I focuses on the interpretation and analysis of buildings along Jiujiang Road. By careful surveying and mapping the facades of the target buildings, I gained knowledge of the history and changes of Jiujiang Road. While designing the facade for The Bund Hotel, I developed measures in designing the facade according to the style of the buildings adjacent to it. The final result shows that architecture is effected by the city not only internally but also externally. The continuous reformation of the facade indicates that every work of architecture that is placed in an urban context is an urban chameleon, changed by those that were built before it.
A1
A2
B1
B2
Fundamental Division The ratio and intervals of the windows are closely related to other windows in the buildings around
Centralization
Section
Window Division
Attempt for dividing the windows into three groups is inspired by the centralized facades that underline the central axis
The architrave, dividing the hotel into two parts, refers to the two buildings that are in adjacent to the hotel
The division of the windows not only considers the human experience, but also complies with the 1/3 ratio
The Steps for Designing Facade
Verticality The upper part of the building emphasizes on vertical feeling, which can be ignored for the lower part
Levelization The details of the hotel are also in close relationship with the details in the same position of other buildings
Volume, Boundary and Space Syntax The volume of the hotel is determined by space syntax method in order to discover the most optimized solution for accessibility and vitality of the alley between buildings. Adopting the software of space syntax, each example of the volume is evaluated for its affinity to human-beings. Through this objective and rational way, I intend to generate the volume mainly by its surrounding environment. The final outcome consists of a rectangular volume with a concave corner and a section of wall. The volume deals with the relationship with other valleys. Also, it created a half-public yard in the middle.
Adjustments The size and position of the window on the first floor is adjusted for exhibition and other purposes.
Final
Details
Other Works [Thesis Study - Porto]
15 Summer, Workshop in University of Porto Instructed by ArcVision Winner Angela Deuber Solo Work
[River Gallery]
Home Above Market Design Studio Work, 14 Fall, Tongji University Instructor: WANG Fangji Solo Work
The studio aims to discuss a subject that is related to architecture. I choose the topic of eternity in architecture. The Ise Temple, which has to be demolished and rebuilt in the exact way every fourteen years, is an example of how architecture gain its eternity through the refreshment of its material. The Serpentine Gallery is also a case of a building that is redesigned every year under the same context. Nevertheless, the spirit of the gallery never dies. WANG Shu’s Ningbo Museum’s facade is designed not by the architect himself but by the workers that are actually building it. This particular way of construction is the museum changeable over time.
The project consists of two parts: the residence for low-income people and also a market that opens to the public. This project is based on the research on the living condition for local Shanghai residents and the contemporary sociology. The concept is to maximize the river’s function as a piece of landscape by the ramps beside the river. Meanwhile, using the structure to establish the vertical relationship between residence and market.
[Parallax Glasses] Studio Work, 14 Fall, Tongji University Instructor: WANG kai Collaborator: WANG Zixiao HU Miao YANG Jing
The parallax glasses are discussing the precision of human body that could influence human behavior. The Glasses are disrupting the precision of human eyes by making the binocular parallax disappear. With the disappearance of depth perception, one is unable to judge an object’s position or his/her own movements visually. We did a series of experiment to in proving the lost of perception. We further hypothesized that human body would get used to the glasses and reclaim their ability to locate an object.
[Shinjuku Urban Complex Design - Tokyo] 15 Summer, Workshop in Tokyo Institute of Technology Instructor: Shinichi Okuyama, WANG Fangji, WANG Hongjun Assume the Role of Leadership Kengo Kamita Group Member: YANG Jing WANG Zixiao Ken Maniwa LIU Yuli
The workshop is aimed to design an urban complex that stationed 47 Japanese Antenna Shops. We focus on the gap spaces which are common is contemporary Tokyo urban blocks. The gap spaces are designed to trigger the random events for those who are passing through or lingering around.
Other Works [Wooden Bridge Design]
[Dongzu Wooden Pagoda Rejuvenation]
[GIS Site Selection for National Resort]
[Love Aijing Installation Art]
13 Spring, Tongji University Chief Designer and Construction Leader
15 Spring, Tongji University Collaborator: LIN Yuhui
13 Spring, Tongji University Construction Leader
14 Spring, China Art Museum Construction Leader
[Sketches For Nanxi River Villages] 13 Summer Completed 23 pieces of sketches on the trip to 5 villages along Nanxi River
[Sketches For Wuyuan Village]
[Photography]
13 Summer Completed 15 pieces of sketches
Benjarong,Thailand A young pottery worker in one of the most vernacular village in Thailand