ChenAn_Shen_Portfolio_2022

CHEN-AN SHEN

works 2017-2022

University of Virginia, School of Architecture

Peter Waldman

Table of Content

Felipe Correa

Individual Work / FALL 2019

03/2022 - 12/2022 | SD-DD-CD

Office: AICO (SHENZHEN)

Studio Work 01: Transforming Lord & Taylor Professional Work 02: Guang-Gu Performing Arts Center

04/2022-05/2022 Competition

Office: AICO (SHENZHEN)

06/2021-02/2022 SD-DD-CD

Office: AICO (SHENZHEN)

Instructor: Shiqiao Li + Esther Lorenz

THESIS

Urban Regeneration: Brownfield as Driver of Spatial Justice and Urban Biodiversity

Individual Thesis Commenced In SPR 2021, Extended After Graduation

Project Instructor: Peter Waldman

Site: Shenzhen, China

Abandoned industrial site has always been a critical topic in our post-industrial cities. It presents a new challenge for urban development in administrative aspect, environmental aspect, and economic aspect. The project explores the potential of brown-field as an opportunity for urban regeneration by articulating a progressive brown-field regeneration framework that establishes a public-private ownership plan, introduces public facilities with commercial institutions to gradually improve the region. The project extensively envisions the future of brown-field redevelopment from three perspectives: biodiversity promotion, social spatial justice enhancement, and economic feasibility and sustainability study. The design is three-fold: featured commercial space as stand along buildings scatter on the landscape and carved spaces within the ruin of the mining mountain; a bird-friendly canopy system catered to bird’s nesting demand; an elevated walkway that characterizes four courtyards for different sports events and public activities.

Participatory Design Concept of the Bird-Friendly Canopy and the Collectively Made Panel

Part I.

Urban Biodiversity Processes

The evacuation of manufacturing industries created hollows in the urban fabric as industrial wastelands and neglected the environmental damage it created. The project focuses on the abandoned Anto Mining Mountain in Shenzhen which was initiated in 1997 and shut down in 2003. The proposal to redevelop Anto Mine was approved in 2005, but few constructions have been done until now. Despite that the barren landscape was already recovered by the greeneries, the historical damage to the eco-system was left unconsidered. The products of the mine, mostly sands and gravels, destroyed 55930 acres of the mangrove forests during the land reclamation, which reduced 80.1% of the total bird count and 54.8% of the endangered species living in the forest. These mangrove forests functioned as a crucial nodal point in the East Asian-Australian Flyway by providing food and habitat for the migratory birds in spring and autumn. These migratory birds are an important constituent of Shenzhen’s urban biodiversity. The project aims to restore that biodiversity by implementing a series of nesting-friendly canopies in the brown-field site, reestablish the relationship between migratory birds and the city. The project aims to create a collective envision of our future bio-diversified urban life by inviting the public to participate in urban biodiversity processes through intellectual and physical labor. The nesting panels on the canopy are designed in a way that with a simple set of kit-of-parts, one can creates numerous different configuration. Visitors can apply for one of the panels with his own unique design, creating a new sense of urban identity.

East Asian-Australian Flyway

Every year, countless migratory birds fly seasonally between Australia and Russia seeking safer habitats and richer food sources. The diagram depicts how Asian coastal regions, including Shenzhen’s mangrove belt, play as crucial nodal points in the migratory journey, providing food and habitat for resting birds.

Mangrove Ecology Study & Illustration

The Mangrove Belt in Shenzhen Bay provides the ideal habitat for migratory birds with its biodiversity. Besides the migratory birds, Mangrove is also home to many other species. The branch of Mangrove trees provide places to nest for the birds, while the complex roots system provides the shelter spaces for fishes and other aquatic animals, which in turn creates a desirable food source for other species. Human being is also one link in the system. City benefited from Mangrove as barrier of extreme weathers, while fishermen benefit from its commercial value.

Mining Process, Mangrove Reclamation, and Design Strategy

For economic and real estate development purpose, the land reclamation of Mangrove Belt initiated in 1980. Meanwhile, a small mountain two miles away was exploded and excavated as the source of sand and gravel for the reclamation process. The reclamation is divided into three phases and lasted until 2000, at expense of 70% of the Mangrove area and half the mass of the mine mountain. The total birds living in the Mangrove region reduced 80.1% and the endangered species living in the Mangrove region reduced 54.8%.

Canopy as Bird Night Habitats & Integration with Surrounding Habitats

The reclamation of coastal region significantly reduced the coverage of Mangrove, which traditionally has been the night habitat for both migratory and non-migratory birds. Birds used to sleep at the Shenzhen Mangrove region on the North side of the bay during night time, and fly to the Hongkong Mipu Wetland on the South side of bay for food sources. The project’s canopy is designed to be bird-friendly that aims to compensate for the lost of the habitats and to link the project to the surrounding habitats, forging a new sense of biodiversity collectiveness .

Assembly Diagram Panel Variation, and Social Participation Initiative

Two types of panel are implemented in the truss structure with void scattered among them, creating entrance for birds and light tunnel for human beings. The two types varied in heights, creating heterogeneity both within the panel and between the panels, creating more shadows and hiding spaces within the structure. Each panel is designed to be made with three simple elements, allowing makers to individually decide their own configurations, adding to the heterogeneity of the habitat and facilitate the social participation processes.

Canopy Panel Concept Model & Bird-Friendly Design

Multiple dimensions of nesting space are created within the canopy structure, a truss system holding up numerous individual nesting panels. By overlaying and crossing multiple sticks, apertures with different dimensions are created within each panel, accommodating the demand for the small-sized to the medium-sized birds. The space within the truss is also inhabitable, catering to the large-sized birds as they tempt nest on open and flat horizons.

Panel Configuration Variation

Participants Instruction Manual

Bird Habitat Spaces Within a Single Panel

Canopy-Panel

Nesting Panel Simulating the Effect of Tree Branches

Part II.

Spatial Justice Enhancement

Over the last decades, major Chinese cities went through industrial and economic restructuring. The process of transitioning from industrial to post-industrial city was accompanied by the transfer of manufacturing industries from core areas to periphery areas, the result of which leads to spatial injustice. Spatial justice involves the fair and equitable distribution in space of socially valued resources and opportunities to use them, and brown-field sites are always accompanied by social spatial injustice, as they are generally poorly managed and have become spaces for illegal activities, leading to security issues and further damage the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhood. On top of that, as former industrial site, the public facilities around the brown-field lands are less desirable, further exacerbate the spatial injustice. Anto Mining Mountain is a perfect example. To the north of the Mine are resettlement housings and affordable housings, separated by a highway from the treatment plants on the further north. To the south of the Mine, separated by another highway, is the nationally renowned wealthy residential neighborhoods developed by OCT with huge areas of landscapes, public spaces, and public facilities that extend all the way down to the seashore park. The huge disparity between the quality of public spaces in this area indicates a poor level of spatial justice. The project takes advantage of the graded ground to the east of the mining mountain and implements an elevated walkway for running and biking. The walkway defined four different sports zones: water pool, soccer field, basketball court, and skating park. Landscapes and public plazas are scattered among the sports fields to provide flexible and leisure activity. The west of the mining mountain is the remained natural landscape, on which the project implemented a walkway network that connected the resettlement housings on the west and the proposed sports park on the east, providing a leisure park for the surrounding communities.

Preliminary Sketches

Development of a Generic Courtyard Type

Hybrid the Courtyard and the Walkway

Site Condition Excavate Space

Local Community Pedestrian Entrance

Implement Structure and Circulation

Add Envelop and Define Entrance

City Pedestrian Entrance

City Vehicle Entrance

Integration of the Ruin and the Walkway Capping with the Eco-centric Canopy

Modification of the Ruin and the Synthesis of Parts

Sports Complex Design Process

Under the bird habitat canopy is a generous space for multiple sports activities for human beings. The design derived from the typical courtyard plan, where spaces for activities are enclosed by walls of utilitarian functions. The project carries on that idea while applying forces on the walls, making it into a bridge that touches the ground, creates a second terrace for running, biking, and viewing. The bridge also function as a exoskeleton circulation to the exhibition space excavated out of the mountain, bring two spaces together.

City Pedestrian Entrance

City Pedestrian Entrance

Improvement of Regional Life Quality and City-wide Lifestyle

The project transforms the abandoned mining mountain into a leisure complex constituted by a sports park with different specified fields, an elevated running and biking walkway, a series of featured commercial spaces, multiple flexible public plazas, a bird-watching terrace, and a natural park. The transformation improves the quality of life in the surrounding area, provides a new perspective on the industrial relics as a part of the urban history, and, most importantly, catalyzes city-scale benefits by creating a collective envision of our urban life.

City Pedestrian Entrance

Part III. Economic Sustainability Study

To be economically sustainable, the project proposes a public-private ownership plan, introducing commercial institutions to supplement the public facilities. The remained mountain is programmed as a natural park that is fully open to the public with 5208 m² of commercial spaces (food and beverage retail, book stores, galleries, etc.) Scattered in the park as stand-alone buildings. The graded ground on the east is programmed as a public sports park that provides 46063m² of sports fields including one 11-a-side soccer field, one 7-a-side soccer field, four 5-a-side soccer fields, ten basketball courts, one water pool, two skate-parks, and a running & biking track that wraps and connects the different fields. These sports fields are fully open to the public based on reservation. Scattered among the sports fields are 18056 m² of landscape and 35345m² of commercial space. The commercial space also takes the form of stand-along buildings with a footprint ranging from 697 m² to 1914 m². They can go up to two stories or three stories and can be rented by buildings, by floors, or by smaller shops. The prospective tenants are sports-themed flagship stores, outdoor-themed anchor stores, food and beverage retail stores, and street fashion stores. The bare rock of the residual mountain provides space for the featured programs. The bare rock is terraced up to 80 meters in 8 stories. A total of 5876m² of space is excavated from the first four terraces and is programmed as iconic gallery and commercial space.

Economic Feasibility Study & Indicators

The project proposes different levels of public-private ownership for different parts. The remained mountain landscape is conceived as the most public area. The graded ground on the east is designed based on an even distribution of public and private program. Based on information of the local rental market and the local construction and material market, the project calculates the estimated investment and the estimated annualized rate of return to provide feasibility.

The project diversified the wasted landscape with not only human activities, but also bird activities. The canopies are terracing down following the mountain terrace. The nesting panels casts fascinating dappled shades on the ground with their irregular apertures, creating a forest-like atmosphere. Shifting opening of the canopy provides more direct sun light that adds to the richness of the experience. Sports, leisure, commercial programs weaving together, creating an outstanding spatial experience.

New Model of Education / New Use Adaptation of Privately Owned Public Space (POPS)

The project questions the traditional education model of the research university, in which emphasis is put on the research conducted by professors while the cultivation of skilled labor forces is a by-product. The project proposes a new prototype for education model that emphasizes the involvement of high-tech companies and the collaboration between academia and the industry, using 424 fifth as a tool to interface with the public through an identifiable space, using instructors and students as a method of corporate transparency.

Manhattan Academia-Industry-POPS Mapping

Looking at the clustering of building types within the city, universities and major tech campuses are scattered throughout Manhattan, specifically midtown, along with the POPS (privately owned public spaces). While these spaces coexist, they never overlap. The projects proposes a space that combines these three spatial types.

The project removes outdated structure of the building and preserves the historic facade. By removing the northern part of the facade, the project managed to create an activated ground floor that serves as the major interface between the city and the institution, transforming the ground floor into a civic space and return it to the city.

The exterior and interior conditions are joined together to create this new use adaptation for a privately owned public space for academic purposes. The exterior courtyard serves as the new entry way into the Lord & Taylor building, forming a new civic space, and creates a unique view-shed into both the historic building and the organization of the institutions.

Phasing Diagram & Public Interface

POPS Ground Floor: Interior & Exterior

View of the Outdoor Terrace

View of the Indoor Public Space

Floating Mass Sections & POPS Campus Section Perspective

Floating masses are inserted into the volume of the former Lord & Taylor building to house the primary campus functions of the project and provide the necessary spaces for academic institutions. The insertion creates a figure ground relationship in which the bridge interior takes on the institutional identity while the rest of the volume becomes part of the POPS (Privately Owned Public Space). The public will be able to understand activities happening in the bridges, adding to the transparency of Amazon.

View of the Interior Public Space

Looking up to the Tower from the Interior Public Space

View of the Rooftop Public Space

A tower is given back to the Amazon for it’s corporate interest, giving the firm enough interest to pay for the POPS campus, also creating an alibi for its low density. The tower consists of office space, dormitory and co-living space, and market rate housings. It is designed to reach as tall as possible given the FAR and the context, so that Amazon can slowly buy back the property as needed.

Tower as a Corporate Asset and Alibi for the POPS Campus

Program Division of the Tower

View of the Middle Part of the Tower: Dorm

View of the Lower Part of the Tower: Educational Space

View of the Top of the Tower: Meeting Space

The project leverages the demand of Amazon and the demand of the city. By removing the density from the existing Lord & Taylor and transforming that into a POPS foreground, the project is able to propose a tower height of 1428 feet, 28 feet short of the tip of the antenna of the Empire State building. Only by giving Amazon the iconic tower that comprises offices, dorms, and market rate housings, the project is able to return the historic Lord & Taylor to the city as a civic space.

POPS Campus for City Corporate Tower for Amazon Potential Expansion of the Campus

The Institutional Identity from the Street

STUDIO WORK 02

Interior Materiality: What’s it like to be within a paper?

Individual Work FALL 2019

Project Instructor: Peter Waldman

Site: China Town, Manhattan

The project examines the traditional Paper Making technique from China, and proposes to translate the process of making paper into a museum and a community exhibition center in the heart of downtown China Town, seeking to bring the community together by inserting a monumental piece that resonates with its cultural tradition. The project analyzes the process of making paper, extracting two narratives from it based on the transformation of the material, and the movement of the workers. Two monolithic pieces are developed from that, one for the exhibition of the fading Paper Making process, one for the exhibition of works produced by paper from the community.

Materiality of Paper Translating to Concrete

Materiality of Paper Translating to Glass

and Shifting Spatial Experience

Based on the two narratives abstracted from the Paper Making process, the project develops two distinctive atmospheres and programs for the two monolithic pieces. One monument, constructed out of concrete, providing space for the actual process of making paper (tools and materials), and one transparent, an exquisite glass box providing space for exhibition and community activities.

PROFESSIONAL WORK 01

SCPG Chang-Sha InCity Urban Redevelopment: Rejuvenate Dilapidated Neighborhood with Commercial Cultural Revival

03/2022 - 12/2022 SD-DD-CD

Office: AICO (SHENZHEN)

Site: ChangSha, China

In charge of designing of the B1 Commercial Interior (Ceiling, Paving, Bulkhead, Storefront, Kiosk, Restroom, Decoration).

The project is a commercial redevelopment in ChangSha that will renovate both the interior and the facade. Spans in four sites with complicated conditions, the project rediscovers the cultural resources buried underground, the water canal relic from Song Dynasty, and utilizes it as a leverage to design cultural themed commercial experiences. Sitting in a dilapidated neighborhood in ChangSha city, the project aims to revitalize the community by implementing a mixture of traditional culture and pop culture. The project will be carried out in three phases and is currently under construction for the phase I.

Dilapidated Commercial Complex in an Aged Neighborhood

Pozi St. North Facade (GFA: 1160m²)

U-Shape Plaza Landscape (GFA: 704m²)

South Plaza Landscape and Interior (GFA: 1958m²)

B1 Commercial Interior (GFA 18993m²)

North Plaza Landscape Renovation

Archaeological Site from Song Dynasty

Canal Ruin of the Prosperous Ancient Tanzhou City

In-City Commercial Interior Renovation

Integration of In-City and CM Hospital

CM Hospital B1 Renovation

The project spans in four sites: south public plaza, In-City mall, CM hospital (will be transformed into leisure space), and north public plaza. The project will be carried out in three phases, with the first one focusing on the B1 interior and inner street facade renovation. The B1 interior will serve as a circulation space that connects the four sites together with food plaza and multi-media performance stage.

Cultural Revival of Archaeological Site as Commercial Themes

The regeneration strategy is based on the archaeological site of a water canal from Song Dynasty. The cultural site is currently enclosed in a small store on B1 and has not attraction nor connection for the public. The project is inspired by its archaeological value as a proof of the historic commercial town and designed a series of exhibition and commercial space that connects this cultural heritage with the public.

Phasing Strategy & Current Construction Status

PHASE I

PHASE II

PHASE III

Current Situation

Create Visual Center

Open Up Stores with Large Depth

Implement Connective Ceiling

Proposed Renovation

Interior Renovation & Song Dynasty Theme Commercial Space

To invigorate the currently cold commercial corridor between the relic exhibition and the main atrium, the project opens up the stores on the east for their unreasonably large depth and transformed the space into a multi-programed leisure space. The leisure space provides a mix experience of tradition and pop culture by its multi-media performance design.

Expand Entry Openings

Implement Characteristic Volume

Integrate Outdoor Commercials

Current Situation Proposed Renovation

Public Plaza Regeneration by Implementation of Pop Culture

The north plaza as the main entrance into the B1 commercial space is currently in a dilapidated stage. The entrance is too small with very inconspicuous signage. The project revitalize this major interface with the public by inserting in a iconic box and opening up the entrance to transform it into a pocket garden that holds various outdoor activities. The pocket garden will function as live house stage at night to provide pop culture experience.

Guang-Gu Performing Arts Center: Skin as Civic Public Space in Private Development PROFESSIONAL WORK 02

04/2022-05/2022 Competition

Office: AICO (SHENZHEN)

Site: Wuhan, China

Designed the facade of the main building based on sketches and preliminary models from the design director.

The project is to create a unique regional identity for Wuhan’s new district, Guang-Gu. The district is known for its agglomeration of tech company related to the optical fiber industry. The project draws inspiration from the optical fiber, a material that transmits light linearly, and translates its form and quality into spatial experience. The project is basically two rings of circulation that encompass and connects two auditoriums. The outer circulation connects the two sites and the lake landscape. It lifts the public up from the ground with an elegant arch, creating a spectacular view points of that city that has never seen before. The outer ring is open to the public serving as an auditorium to the city, while the inner ring connects the indoor auditorium and function as an exhibition bridge that can be managed more efficiently.

Context Analysis & Design Strategy

The project is located in the center of the new Guang-Gu district, sitting in front of a field of lake landscape. The project creates an arch that elevates from the ground, providing an outstanding vista of both the landscape and the cityscape. The arch diverges into four paths when it touches the ground, opening up the project to the public. The circling arch also creates space for the implementation of auditoriums.

View of the Outer Ring Circulation on City Road

View of the Outer Ring Circulation from the Lake

View of the Outer Ring Circulation on the Arch

Interior Experience & Mixed Program

While the exterior circulation system provides a desirable experience for the public, the interior of this project also creates a welcoming and attractive spatial quality. The project creates 3120 m² of exhibition space, a 600-seat auditorium, a 1500-seat auditorium, and a 1200-seat concert hall. The richness of experience is created as programs are scattered in two separated buildings, visitors will be welcomed by both sides of the landscape as they walk though the bridge to their next play.

View of the Inner Ring Circulation on City Road

View of the Inner Ring Circulation from the Interior

View of the Inner Ring Circulation on the Arch

06/2021-02/2022

Office:

Site:

Program Distribution & Analysis of Industrial Level

Spaces are organized after careful analysis of the program. The first layer of analysis is the analysis of industrial level. The higher the value, the more noise, more dust, more load demand, and more open space for storage and machine. The second layer is to distribute more detailed program into clusters, such as meeting cluster, office cluster, auditorium cluster, production cluster, storage cluster, and etc.

The

entrance

Metal Waterproofing Coping

Concrete Parapet

Suspended Interior Acoustic

Ceiling Fire Safing

Cast In Place Concrete Column

Suspended Interior Acoustic Ceiling

Recessed Production Space

Folded Gray Brushed Metal Panel Canopy

Insulated Low-E Glass Facade System

Vertical Mullion

Double Height Entry Lobby

Main Entrance

Detail Facade Section Perspective

The envelop system and structure system is designed integrally to accommodate the aesthetic demands of the facade. Insulated Low-E Low-Iron Glass and Aluminum Mullion constituted the outline of the system. The in and out of the glass volume and aluminum panel is achieved by cantilever concrete slabs, which is covered with glass facade and outdoor aluminum ceilings.

Facade Detail Illustration

Facade Design Illustration

The design of the facade is inspired by the paper folding technique and the movement of 3D-printing. The shifting aluminum panels create shading and outdoor terraces for office space. Glass facade are inserted as massing to provide natural light and ventilation. The rotation of the glass box follows the momentum of the aluminum panel, creating a cohesive aesthetic language that units the two material.

Reference: Perspective as Symbolic Form by Erwin Panofsky

EXHIBITION

Interactive Scroll: Drawing Analysis and Perspectival Studies

Individual Exhibition Project SUMMER 2019

Project Advisor: Shiqiao Li + Esther Lorenz

Exhibited in University of Virginia School of Architecture

This installation is a morphology of the traditional media of scroll. The project discusses the different implication of reality in different representation modes and perspectival style. By employing a special joint between pieces of the scroll, viewers are rendered the ability to interact and unfold the scroll to explore the back facade of it. The front facade is a view from the atrium of a typical HongKong residential building with one vanishing point. The back facade is a traditional painting of Chinese landscape with multiple vanishing point. The installation aims to provide a unique experience of shifting realities.

Drawing Analysis Through Processing

A series of diagram showing the analysis of drawing focus and elements using Processing technique. The diagram illustrates that the spatial quality in this non-perspectival method is created through the use of visual depth, the careful manipulation of void, and the depth of the black ink. It also illustrates that three dimensionality is possible when bursting the pixels based on its brightness values.

Information Density

One Point Perspective: A Mathematical Construction

The project examines how human perception understand the way one point perspective translates reality to image. The way one point perspective re-creates the reality in the mind is through a precise calculation. The body will stay still while the mind understand the structure first, then perceive the details

Information Density

None Perspective:

A Imaginative Construction

The non-perspectival drawing in traditional Chinese landscape paintings translates reality in a different way. The body will not stay still while perceiving the image, as there is no mathematic relationship at all. Instead, the eye will capture features after feature, while the mind gradually fills in the detail as connective tissues. It is a feature generated construction.

Installation Exhibition & Scroll Interaction Process

The scroll is exhibited in the School of Architecture in University of Virginia. When pulling the rope, each panel of the scroll will flip accordingly and transition from a one-point-perspective drawing to a non-perspectival drawing, stimulating the eyes and nerves of the user and creating a new spatial experience. The process of the transition is recorded frame by frame as a deconstructed illustration of the design.