University of Virginia, School of Architecture
CHEN-AN SHEN Portfolio for 2021 Graduate School Application — 2 To 3: From Binary to Complexity
works 2017-2021
Table of Content Studio Works Amazon.edu
Group Work / FALL 2020 Instructor: Felipe Correa
1 3
Paper Making Museum
15
A New Frontality
25
Research / Exhibition
35
Individual Work / FALL 2019 Instructor: Peter Waldman
Individual Work / SPR 2020 Instructor: Schaeffer Somers
Tale of Two Perspectives
37
Villages in the Urban
43
Individual Work / SUMMER 2019 Instructor: Shiqiao Li + Esther Lorenz
Individual Work / FALL 2020 Instructor: Felipe Correa
Other Works
51
STUDIO
WORKS
Intervention of the Campus in the Historic Site
3
The Institutional Identity of the Tower
01
Amazon.edu: A 21st Century Metropolitan Campus
Group Work | FALL 2020 Project Instructor: Felipe Correa Site: 424 Fifth Ave, Manhattan
Amazon.edu examines how the former Lord and Taylor Building can serve as an epicenter for a new educational model that capitalizes on partnerships between academia and tech industries. The proposal conceives a new civic space for the campus of the 21st century metropolis. The project argues that the common Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) Program in Manhattan can serve as the basis for a new space that links the academy with the many different publics that constitute the city. Adding a tapering tower to the existing Lord & Taylor building, the project negotiates between two critical spatial identities: the campus as a global brand versus the campus as the epicenter of a new common landscape. The typology of the tower and the atrium plays a central role in synthesizing these two scales. *The project is designed collaboratively with Dylan Gibbs and Mary Key
CHENAN 4
Company
Practice
Education/Practice
Government Research Council
R&D Development
Practice/Education
Innovation Funds
Developers
Corporate or Individual
Assistance
Research Led by Professors
Professional Workers
Practice + Education
Intern
Students
Education
Assistance
Company
Skilled Workers
Attempting degree
Education
Bachelor Degree
Assistance
Master Degree
ARCH 4010: Beyond Lord & Taylor
Faculty
Education
University
Professors Or research teams
Adapted Education Model
10 December 2020
Roof Classrooms Research
POPS
Co-working Bridges
Collective Amenities
Public Ground Floor
ARCH 4010: Beyond Lord & Taylor
Hierarchy of Occupation
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.
5
10 December 2020
POPS Major Tech Companies Universities Site: 424 Fifth Ave.
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.
CHENAN 6
Existing Urban presence
Add POPS Ground
Removal Phase I
Removal Phase II
Add Institutional Identity
Removal Phase III
Add the Tower
Proposed Urban Presence
Phasing Diagram & Public Interface 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.
7
POPS Ground Floor: Interior & Exterior 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.
CHENAN 8
Exhibition Bridge I
Exhibition Bridge II
Classroom Bridge II
Library Bridge II
ARCH 4010: Beyond Lord & Taylor
Classroom Bridge I
Library Bridge I
Classroom Bridge III
Classroom Bridge IV
Bridge Interior Section Perspectives
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.
9
10 December 2020
CHENAN 10
ARCH 4010: Beyond Lord & Taylor
10 December 2020
Market Rate | Office Space + Co-Living Dorms
Market Rate Housing Plan | 1 in = 35 ft |
Program Division of the Tower
Office + Co-living Plan | 1 in = 35 ft |
Roof Plan | 1 in = 50 ft |
Tower as a Corporate Asset and Alibi for the POPS Campus 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.
11
CHENAN 12
POPS Campus for City
ARCH 4010: Beyond Lord & Taylor
Corporate Tower for Amazon
Potential Expansion of the Campus
Building Height Comparison
Development Right Transfer & Potential Growth of the Campus 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.
13
10 December 2020
CHENAN 14
Materiality of Paper Translating to Concrete
15
Materiality of Paper Translating to Glass
02
Inscribing Process: Paper (Making) Museum
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.
CHENAN 16
17
CHENAN 18
Bake
Scroll Exhibition
Hold-Filter-Press
Multi-Media Exhibition
Store-Mash
Rare Book Exhibition
Soak-Wash-Boil-Rinse
Community Library
Paper Making Process Abstraction
Material Status Water
(includes)
Process
(includes)
Book Stacks (Translates)
Concrete
Crash-Bask
Movement (Translates)
(Courtyard and Circulation Corridor)
Glass
Double-Height Exhibition
Process Abstraction & Diagrammatic Floor Plans
Plant-Pick-Chop-Skin
19
Community Work Exhibition
The project abstracts the traditional process of making paper based on the different status of the material and the circulation of the worker in each procedure. The two narratives are then developed with architectural specificities, with the material status informing the placement of walls and openings in one piece, and the circulation of the worker informing the placement of the exhibition on the other piece.
Paper Phase: Superimposed Experience
Mixture Phase: Immersing Experience
Fiber Phase: Linear Experience
Liquid Paper Phase: Compressed Experience
Solid Phase: Compact Experience
Pulp Phase: Roaming Experience
Axonometrics: Planning Atmosphere and Program 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.
CHENAN 20
21
CHENAN 22
Stage IV - Store
Stage V - Press
Stage III - Soak
Stage II - Bask
Stage I - Plant
23
Stage I - Chop
Level V - Media Display Level VI - Scroll Collection
Level IV - Large Exhibition
Level III - Community Library
Level I - Community Work Exhibition
Level II - Double-Height Installation
CHENAN 24
Birds Eye View of the Historic Lawn and the Proposed New Addition
25
03
A New Frontality: The Lawn in 2035
Individual Work | SPR 2020 Project Instructor: Schaeffer Somers Site: University of Virginia, Charlottesville
The project envisions a new addition to the existing UVA campus in 2035 that connects the campus back to the existing national railroad system, not only threading the different grounds of the campus together but also re-introduce the Lawn and Rotunda to the continental network. The project identifies the lack of orientation and frontality in the current planning of the campus, and proposes to establish a train station with a visitor center and a student center to re-establish the frontality. The project can be understood as a contemporary translation of the historic lawn, extracting spatial characteristics from the Lawn and re-invent it with modern language and technique.
CHENAN 26
The Lawn in 1825: Historic orientation establishing the order in wilderness; Lawn as an academic interface open to the public.
The Lawn in 2020: The orientation is obscured by the built environment; Lawn is enclosed as a backyard of the campus.
The Lawn in 2035: Restore the orientation by establish the new frontality; A new lawn is added as a new public interface.
Site Plan | 1 in = 350 ft |
Restore / Flip the Orientation The project restores the orientation by connecting the Lawn back to the national railroad system, extending it to the North, adding a new lawn with one student center and one visitor center to re-establish the frontality.
27
Entering the Campus: The Historic & The Proposed Visitors and incoming students will enter the campus from the North with the visitor center on the right and student center on the left, both bending up towards the railroad and bending down towards the Rotunda.
CHENAN 28
Historic Condition
Contemporary Translation
Colonnade The project identifies the colonnade as one of the characteristic spatial condition in the historic Lawn that creates an intermediary space between the public Lawn and the private Lawn room. The project translates the historic Doric column with the cruciform column with steel finishes, diminishing the presence and still creates the same lighting and spatial condition.
Doric Column + Brick Wall
‘Mies’ Column + Glass wall
Private Roof Terrace
Collective Free Floor
Elevated Terrace The elevated roof terrace in the historic lawn are the connective tissue between the pavilions serving as a private circulation for the professors. The project translates that with the concept of free plan. Floor plates are entirely supported by the pavilions, leaving the column free space as a collective terrace for student and faculty to activate.
Pavilions The pavilions are the most significant spatial characteristic of the historic lawn. They are designed based on one prototype but have diverse typological variations. They are all single family houses for the professors. The project translates the concept of pavilion by developing four different types of Brick Pavilion based on programmatic differentiation. The organization of walls and openings are dictated by the programs, creating a same diversity as the historic lawn.
Pavilion I
Pavilion XI
Pavilion II
Pavilion XII
Pavilion IV
Pavilion XIII
Pavilion VI
Pavilion XIV
Same Program / Different Types
Historic Lawn
29
Different Programs / Different Types
CHENAN 30
-1F Plan | 1 in = 60 ft |
Visitor Center: Waiting Room The underground volume serves as the visitor center with waiting rooms, galleries, cafes, offices, and activity spaces. Courtyards are inserted as the inverted pavilion, serving as light wells and entrances from the ground.
31
A
A’
-1F Plan | 1 in = 60 ft |
Student Center: Open House Reception The volume above the ground is programmed for the faculty and students in campus. Enclosed programs such as lecture hall, library, faculty office are contained in Pavilions, supporting the floor plates for column free activity spaces.
CHENAN 32
Section Perspective Through Student Center | A-A’
33
CHENAN 34
RESEARCH /
/ EXHIBITION
37
Reference: Perspective as Symbolic Form by Erwin Panofsky
04
Tale of Two Perspectives 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�.
CHENAN 38
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
Features
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.
39
CHENAN 40
41
CHENAN 42
ChenDong Village
DaPi Village
MiLong Village
RongXi Village
TaiCheng Village
XiaMao Village
ChenTian Village
43
DaGang Village
NanGang Village
DongPing Village
PingSha Village
SanYuanLi Village
ShaBei Village
TangGe Village
TangXi Village
XinKe Village
FuShan Village
GuangMing Village
QingHe Village
JinPen Village
LongHu Village
QuanXi Village
ShiMa Village
TianXin Village
YaGang Village
HengSha Village
RenHe Village
ShuiLi Village
WuXi Village
ZhuYi Village
LianTang Village
Reference: The City in the City—Berlin: A Green Archipelago by Florian Hertweck & Sebastien Marot
05
Villages In the Urban Individual Research Project | FALL 2020 Project Advisor: Felipe Correa Site: Guangzhou, China The research focuses on village as a critical spatial entity that exists in the urban settings. These urban villages present themselves as distinctively different fabric from that of the city. They are not only relics of the historic rural villages, but also part of a larger commercial network. The research focuses on how to identify the significance of the villages, and how to negotiate the interface between the city and the village. By looking at the mobility infrastructures and added context that defines the boundary of the village, the project is seeking for potential transformation that redefines the interface with the city and introduces a new lease of life for those villages.
CHENAN 44
Historically Rural V
The research identifies the footprint of the villa urban sprawl in Guangzhou. The mapping s fabric of city, in relationship to th
45
Villages in the City
ages that have been brutally urbanized by the shows the distinct fabric of villages from the he major mobility infrastructures.
CHENAN 46
B
C’
D
A’ A
C
D’
Historic Entrance Ancestral Shrine (Community Center) Historic Circulation
B’
Renovated Street Re-developed Residential Complex Latest Addition (Office, Trade Center, ...) Urban Interface for Potential Transformation San Yuan Li Village Plan | 1 in = 600 ft |
Village as Defined by Highways & Potential Transformation for New Urban Interface A closer look at one of the urban villages reveals that how the most historic village footprint are enclosed by new additions of office and industrial buildings, which are then enclosed by mobility corridors. The drawing analyzes the organization of the village, identifies the critical spatial entity, and the site for potential transformation for a new urban interface.
47
A - A’: Typical Section Through the Village
B - B’: Section Through the Renovated Street
C - C’: Section Through the Tower and the Highway Bridge
D - D’: Section Through the Main Ancestral Shrine
Diagrammatic Sections: Urban Fabric vs. Village Fabric A series of sections cutting in different directions show not only the inner spatial organization of the village but also the relationship between the village and the urban. The original village fabric is contained by office and industrial space on the periphery, separated from the city by the highways.
CHENAN 48
Villages as Parts of
The research further identifies that, while the tively different fabric from that of the city, it al commercial network. The mapping here show commercial zon
49
the Urban Network
e village is separated and presents a distinclso functions as a critical support for a larger ws the relationship between village and critical nes in the city.;
CHENAN 50
OTHER W
WORKS
53
06
Study Model Collection Individual Project Project Advisor: N/A Site: N/A
The gallery shows a series of study models with material ranging from rockite to paper. It includes site analysis model, precedent study model, concept model, etc.
CHENAN 54
55
07
Culture of Congestion & Congestion of Culture Individual Project Project Advisor: N/A Site: N/A
This is an abstract mapping of the Manhattan island inspired by Delirious New York. The mapping takes on the idea of Culture of Congestion, and argue that the Manhattan island is also a congestion of culture, where critical events activated by populations from the world are self-generating the identity and culture of New York City.
CHENAN 56
CHEN-AN SHEN
works 2017-2021