Herman's Portfolio

Herman (Zihao) Ding

UCLA AUD M. Arch 1 Selected Works 2017-2020

UNIVERSE In mathematics, a set is a collection of distinct objects. Additionally, a set is considered as an object in its own right. Not unlike architecture, there are particular notations in a branch of mathematics. "U," in set theory, stands for "Universe." In a typical Venn Diagram, the two circles notated "A" and "B" are the two circles with overlapping qualities.

The terminology of the Franch Bracket is called "container," and the objects inside the container are called "elements."

The "elements" in "containers" do not need to be numbers. They can be any objects - including furniture, materiality, architectural program, or any predefined qualities and quantities. Two rooms with conflicting functions that share a physical environment, for instance, begin to call in question what the complexities and contradictions of how human about life in overlapping universes.

The overlap of universes and what outside the universes can connote architectural, urban, formal, topological, programmatic, environmental, or even sociopolitical applications to such mathematical logic.

SELECTED WORKS RESEARCH STUDIO_ TIMBER METRO 2035

3

3 IN 1

19

KEY WORDS: MASS TIMBER TOWER/ TRANSPORTATION/ MODULAR FABRICATION KEY WORDS: WOOD FRAME CONSTRUCTION/ HOUSE/ CRAFTSMANSHIP

ADVANCED TOPIC STUDIO CHIRLA

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GRADIENT SHADOW

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DTLA LEARNING CENTER

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FIRE STATION 93

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KEY WORDS: STEEL CONSTRUCTION/ STRUCTURE/ ATRIUM/ OFFICE

KEY WORDS: GRADIENT/ HOUSING/ SHADOW RANGE/ FEATURE

KEY WORDS: SECTION/ ELEVATION/ SIMILARITY &CONSISTENCY/ SHAPE

KEY WORDS: INFRASTRUCTURE/ PUBLIC FACILITY/ URBAN BUILDING

EXHIBITION AND ART WORKS

INCLUDING: HAND DRAWINGS/ MODELS/ ILLUSTRATION

METRO 2035 INSTITUTIONAL HOUSING Research Studio(2020 Spring): A Forest in the City Instructor: Neil Denari (NMDA)

HOUSING CRISIS REZONING TRANSPORTATION

SENATE BILL 50

SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE

STRATEGY

CULTURE =?

MODULARITY

LESS LIVING COST HIGH-RISE COMMUTING TIME SHARED LIVING

TECHNOLOGY

JOB OPPORTUNITY

MASS TIMBER

PRE-FABRICATION

Architecture has been dealing with the Politics/ Urban strategy, culture, and technology issues for centries. And I believe it will continue to last. This project also starts with a combination of concerns from all those three aspects to imagine how the future residential architecture will be. Its domain is still quite broad, so I narrow the range by giving limited terms, some of which also are from our studio's topic. Basically, it is about how the future residential projects respond to rezoning politics like SB50 and how the mass timber structure can play a prominent role during the development of this trend. Here is a diagram showing all the related things within this discourse.

This project will put its lens on the trend of development of affordable housing along the Metro Commute System happening in Los Angeles and the probability of using student dorm as a way to deliver more housing to the society. As we know, students who live by themselves are suffering a lot of living cost in LA to avoid the long commute time, and all those dorm buildings will not be used when they are on vacation. This project aims to utilize those dorms as additional housing to serve the nearby communities.

The student who lives in this building can pay their living costs by doing some easy part-time job requested by the nearby society, such as teaching and consulting.

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Ground View

Metro 2035

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Main Plan

Metro 2035

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Building A_Student Dorm_PodBunk

Metro 2035

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Section

Metro 2035

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Dusk View

Metro 2035

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Symmetrical

Asymmetrical

Symmetrical

Centrosymmetric

Centrosymmetric

Non-centrosymmetric

Asymmetrical Symmetrical

Asymmetrical

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7M

9.5 M

2.8 M

6M

1.75 M

The Module_Trapezo-Rhombic Dodecahedron

Metro 2035

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Building C_Student Dorm_Shared Rooms

Metro 2035

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Connection Type Study

Metro 2035

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Building B_Learning Center

Metro 2035

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Plan Study_Full-Connect

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Plan Study_Semi-Connect

Plan Study_Isolated

Metro 2035

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Merging of Units

Massing Study Metro 2035

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Construction Sequence Metro 2035

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Atrium & Cafe Metro 2035

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Building A&C Interior Metro 2035

3 IN 1 Research Studio(2020 Winter): Construct Boxes Instructor: Andrew Holder/ Benjamin Freyinger (LADG)

My project is a house design project focusing on consolidating different housing typologies into one discreet object and then further making it a new type of shared co-living space. This project begins with the idea of reinterpreting Rodolf Schindler's boxy house plan and mixing different house typologies to find the necessary materials about the scale and the functional arrangement that can further be developed. The box as a tool will help to pack those ideas into a whole and enrich this new whole with some structural and artistic features showing the sense of the craftsmanship during the design and construction phases.

HOME / HOUSE #1

=?

HOME / HOUSE #2

HOME / HOUSE #3

Each house project must have a client or a group of clients, so here we have three couples trying to share a parcel to do this type of housing design. The first one, Ray and Kevin, a gay couple with no child, wants a house that has a quiet living condition, a separate garden for their dog, and everything else not too compact. The second one, Jack and Rose, wants a house that can separate them from their only child Nick to celebrate their romance and a garden with enough sunshine. The third one, Jolie and Pitt, wants many bedrooms for their adoptive children.

To sum up, what they can share might be a bathroom, living room, kitchen or gardens.

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House Study

3 in 1

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Form Finding

3 in 1

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Hill Side View

3 in 1

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Hinging for Consolidating

3 in 1

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Street Side View

3 in 1

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Box Wrapping

3 in 1

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Stitched Section

3 in 1

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Stitched Section

3 in 1

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2nd Floor

Roof

Long Section

Short Section 3 in 1

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Ground Floor

Basement

Short Section

East Elevation 3 in 1

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Communal Court

3 in 1

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Basement Patio & Interior

3 in 1

COWORKING OFFICE -CHIRLA(Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights)

course name : Advanced Studio Steel Atrium Design

instructor: Mark Mack quarter: Winter Quarter 2019

This project expands programmatic focus from the scale of the single-family house primarily conceived in a steel-frame tectonic to that of a small urban, atrium building also constructed in that material, albeit in ways that acknowledge steel as a supple medium capable of materializing and geometrically manifesting as form-active, vector-active, section-active, surfaceactive; or in a hybrid state in tandem with other materials. Together it will explore how steel, in its various guises, organizes and establishes a gradient across the domains of a contemporary public urban fabric (in, say, porous squares, rhythmic serial passages, or terraced semi-enclosed rooms that animate the inner life of a building and put it into play with its broader context.)

With the notion of the renewed role of the atrium as a shaper of contemporary public space and ground in mind, the project brief for a California Welcome Center for Immigrants and Refugees, as envisioned by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA,) asks what architectural intelligence and devices can do to promote notions of freedom of movement, association and congregation.

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Street Corner View

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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A

Ground Floor

B 24’

C 24’

D 28’

E 32’

F 28’

G 24’

H 24’

30’

1

30’

2

36

30’

3

4

Ground Plan

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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Structural Diagram

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Overall Configuration Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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2nd Floor

24’

24’

28’

32’

28’

24’

24’

30’

1

30’

2

30’

3

4

38 Mezzanine

30’

1

30’

2

30’

3

4

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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+ 56.00 ft

+ 48.00 ft

+ 48.00 ft

+ 36.00 ft

+ 36.00 ft

+ 24.00 ft

+ 24.00 ft

39 + 16.00 ft

+ 1.00 ft

+ 0.00 ft

24’

A

24’

B

28’

C

32’

D

28’

E

Section

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

24’

F

24’

G

H

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CHIRLA

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Elevation (Night)

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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2 30’

3 30’

4 30’

+ 48.00 ft

+ 36.00 ft

+ 24.00 ft

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+ 0.00 ft

Section

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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1

2 30’

3 30’

4 30’

+ 48.00 ft

+ 36.00 ft

+ 24.00 ft

+ 0.00 ft

Elevation

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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Facade - Construction Detail Coworking Office - CHIRLA

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Basement

24’

24’

28’

32’

28’

24’

24’

30’

1

30’

2

30’

3

4

44 Roof

24’

24’

28’

32’

30’

1

30’

2

30’

3

4

Coworking Office - CHIRLA

28’

24’

24’

GRADIENT SHADOW HOUSING DESIGN

course name : Advanced Studio Landscape Building Design

instructor: Narineh Mirzaeian quarter: Fall Quarter 2018

Got inspired by Kurokawa's Agricultural City, I am interested in how the shadow that is generated by the huge modular infrastructure influences the public sphere within each unit of the community. Simultaneously, lots of architectural discourses are also related to this project such as density vs sparsity, public vs counter public, formal vs informal, etc.

Based on those interests, I am exploring how the modular unit of a project can exert agency upon overall organizational and programmatic qualities. Specifically for this project scale and scope, I’m interested in how the unitization of parts and aggregation of these parts can designate more nuanced, gradiated thresholds between the private residential realm and a public realm. I’m also concurrently interested in exploring a gradient of density conditions across the site that can exert some elasticity and be more responsive to local site conditions.

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SITE BOUNDARY

APPLY THE MODULAR GRID TO THE SITE

TRIM THE GRID BY THE SITE BOUNDARY

HILLSIDE SEEMS TO BE DENSER THAN RIVERSIDE

RIVERSIDE SEEMS TO BE MORE PUBLIC

PUBILIC

DENSITY PRIVATE

SOLAR PATH DIAGRAM

PROGRAM DIAGRAM

N

21 June 21 July/21 May

21 August/21 April

W

E

21 Sept/21 Mar

21 Oct/21 Feb

47 21 Nov/ 21 Jan

30 DEGREE SHADOW

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

21 Dec

S

VERTICAL CIRCULATION DIAGRAM

60 DEGREE SHADOW

Gradient Housing

CLUSTER/UNIT PLAN

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The resultant organizational strategy across the site deploys the unit to cultivate density towards Riverside and the FWY,

gradually dissipating to a less dense condition along the river.

gradiated field

The of pixels are also harnessed for their capacity to cast dramatic shadow footprint across the site.

These shadows begin to inform the hard and soft boundaries between indoor and outdoor

spaces, such as sunken private courts, raised public courts and other components

thresholds between residential and public access , that designate

such as cores and outdoor stair wells.

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RIVERSIDE AERIAL VIEW

Gradient Housing

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1/32 “ = 1’ ROOF PLAN

Gradient Housing

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1/32 “ = 1’ GROUND FLOOR PLAN

Gradient Housing

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Light From SE Direction

Gradient Housing

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Light From SW Direction

Gradient Housing

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WRAPING BUILDINGS

FORMING NEIGHBOR

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1/32 “ = 1’ SECTION

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DECORATING PUBLIC SPACE

CREATING INTERESTING MOMENT

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1/16 “ = 1’ SECTION

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SHADOW RANGE AS ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

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the other hand,

these

shadows

are also utilized as a key feature for the architectural facade and the landscape design in this project.

The real shadow will overlap with the textures which are also derived from these shadows on the facade or the ground to generate a constantly

changing sphere.

Gradient Housing

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SHADOW RANGE AS LANDSCAPE FEATURES

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Gradient Housing

DOWNTOWN L. A. LEARNING CENTER

course name : Advanced Studio Elevation And Section critic: Thom Mayne Heather Laborde instructor: Claus Benjamin Freyinger quarter: Spring Quarter 2018

Preston Scott Cohen has called the section “the hidden core of architecture,” a place of great intensity that can neverbe seen. The importance of this observation, however obvious, cannot be understated in light of the effort spent by architects (and historians, and theorists) on the design of the section. Often, much of what makes great buildings great lies in their section, even as this site of such focus and debate nearly always finds itself hidden, wrapped, finished and closed. In the end, elevation is what we see, the outermost surface of an enclosure whether inside or out. Its insistent visibility - its availability - eclipses whatever ingenuity the section might have up its sleeve.

Today section is not limited to its status a s a representational technique. Sections are used expansively to illustrate, test, and explore architectural designs.

My project for a Downtown Los Angeles learning center attempts to collapse the distinction between elevation, plan, and section as perceived in the underlying characteristics of plan, and section. Here, plan is post-rationalized as a biproduct of working in the round – all section, all the time. Where section is both a generative device and the method for interrogation.

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MANUAL OF SECTION Extrusion: the direct extrusion of a plan to a height sufficient for the intended use Stack: the layering of floors directly on top of one another—an extruded section, repeated with or without variations Shape: the deformation of one or more of the primary horizontal surfaces of a building to sculpt space Shear: the use of a rift or cut along either the horizontal or vertical axis of a building to generate sectional difference Hole: the deployment of any number or scale of penetrations through a slab, exchanging lost floor area for benefits in section Incline: the manipulation of the angle of an occupiable horizontal plane, which tilts the plan into section Nest: the creation of sectional consequences through an interplay or overlap of legible volumes

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New Section Generating

Downtown Learning Center

Precedent Case

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Different Reading of New Section

C

B

60 A

3-D Form Generating

Stair Core Library

Light Well

Library

Meeting Room Learning Room Laboratory

Cafe

Programming Analysis

Downtown Learning Center

To bring awareness to this similarity it becomes essential to prevent specific features such as walls and slabs from being broken, so the new sections are articulated based on this theory, talking primarily about the depth and sequence of the spaces formed by intersecting elements. Some parts are represented at the section cut as discreet poche, and the rest become conspicuous (interior) elevations or even furniture.

East-West Section

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North-South Section

Bottom Part Plan

Middle Part Plan

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Top Part Plan

Downtown Learning Center

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When rationalizing the organizational demands of a typical learning center into consideration, the newly generated spaces can be rasterized in a proper way, can be rationalized into different applicatitons, serving as circulation or used for daylighting spaces at the interior.

The whole building works like a heart, absorbing light and people in shafts and crevices, pumping people and natural daylight into the building from the ground.

North-South Elevation

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Downtown Learning Center

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Main Section Model

Downtown Learning Center

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Main Elevation Model

Downtown Learning Center

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Massing Model

Downtown Learning Center

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Massing Model

Downtown Learning Center

FIRE STATION 93 - A COMMUNITY COMPLEX

course name : Advanced Studio Infrastructure and Urban Function instructor: Andrew Kovacs quarter: Spring Quarter 2019

Located in Tarzana City, the fire station 93 is right next to the Ventura Freeway. The site of fire station 93 could be read as a long stripe that contains five programs, including a fire station, a sit ‘n sleep store, a plant nursery, an office zone, and a shopping plaza.

The existing fire station is isolated from the community by enclosed walls and barriers.

This proposal aims to challenge the existing situation by integrating all five programs into one building complex, which means previous functions will be partially shared with the public. A combined grid system, according to the original building grid, is adopted to rationalize the new building in terms of the circulation and programs. The consistent envelope means to reinforce the idea of "A Single Building."

To avoid unreasonable depth, courts and gardens are introduced into this project to organize the interior spatial sequence.

Walking through this integrated community, people can experience five different scenarios.

The functions of each one are no longer simple but getting more comprehensive, and it will become more attractive where the two different grid systems are meeting each other.

From the house to this building complex, then to the freeway, the scale is getting larger and larger, and their infrastructural features are more and more apparent.

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Conceptual Diagram Fire Station 93

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Master Plan

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3rd Floor Plan 1’=1/16”

Fire Station Floor Plans Fire Station 93

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Programme

Fuzzy Nomadic Fire Station Life93 on Mars

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Sound Barrier

Fire Station 93

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Public Courtyard

Fire Station 93

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View From Highway

Fire Station 93

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Court #1 Botanical Garden & Shopping Plaza

Fire Station 93

Court #2 A

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Classroom 2

Classroom 1

Art Square

Court #3 Food Court

Fire Station 93

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Elevation of Fire Station

Fire Station 93

Vehical

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Garage

Living Space

Fire Station 93

ART WORKS & EXHIBITIONS :

ROOF TOP AND BACK YARD Organized by Taiwan Academy with Taiwanese-Canadian designer Jimenez Lai, founding partner of Los Angeles-based studio Bureau Spectacular, Rooftops & Backyards features creative urban models, short films, and drawings of Taipei and Los Angeles that explores the issue of limited space in densely populated urban areas, and how the subject is dealt with differently in Taiwan and America. The exhibition demonstrates an interesting comparison between the two cities, according to Lai, whereas Los Angeles practices a kind of “backyard urbanism”, or, a horizontal expansion, Taipei’s expansion is vertical, extending upwards as a form of “rooftop urbanism”. Rooftops & Backyards is particularly timely and relevant since it applies the universal urban experience as a starting point to delve into topics surrounding art, architecture, urbanism, and the way of life between the cultures of Taipei and Los Angeles. Most recently, the state of California decided to amend its housing policy to allow for Accessory Dwelling Unit's (ADUs) to provide additional rental housing to address the housing crisis in California. The need for more affordable housing options is an issue that is prevalent among not only American cities but the world over. The Taiwan Academy hopes to encourage exchange and dialogue between Taiwan and the United States through this exhibition.

Responsibility: Drawing Producing Model Making

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Overall view of the exhibition

Roof Top and Back Yard

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Models made for the exhibition

Roof Top and Back Yard

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Hand Sketch

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Water Color

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POOR WORLD

Billboards for Proletariats-YMCA LA GYM

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LA Super Object