D O N G Q I C H E N architectureportfolio selected work 2018-2021 universit y of penn syl van i a | MArch
“Whatever space and time mean, place and occasion mean more. For space in the image of man is place, and time in the image of man is occasion.”
-Aldo van Eyck
The contents of this book hope to speculate alternative connections between the place and occasion. The ideas on interstitial space, non-hierarchical composition, and participative planning hope to lead to an architecture that could easily mold into the existing tissue of the neighborhood.
CONTENT 01
BIG WALL
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INNOVATIVE REUSE OF THE SUNSHINE THEATER Manhattan, New York | Sep-Dec, 2020
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HILLING
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T EM P O R A L E CO - A R T T H E R A P Y CE N T E R C a l l ow h ill, P h ila de lph ia | S e p- D e c , 2 0 2 1
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ARK OF RELIEF
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A M A RK E T A S A N A N I M A L S H E LT E R C a l l ow h ill, P h ila de lph ia | F e b - M a y , 2 0 2 0
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ACLINIC VEIL 34 P EN N M U S E U M A R CH I V E E X T E N S I O N Un i v e r s it y o f P e n n s y lv a n ia , P h ila de lp h ia | O c t - D e c , 2 0 1 9
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WEDGE FOREST
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C H I L DCA R E CE N T E R W I T H G R E E N P LA Y S CA P E S M i l l R iv e r P a r k, S t a mf o r d, Co n n e c t ic u t | F e b - M a y , 2 0 2 1
PROFESSIONAL WORK RESUME
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BIG WALL
INNOVATIVE R EUSE OF THE SUNSHINE THEATER RESIDENTIAL RENOVATION | New York, USA Critic: Hina Jamelle Individual Work. Fall 2020
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ising as an extension of a street playground, the big wall, a climbing term referring to especially high cliff for multipitch climbing, circulate the new residential tower and invites all generations to participate in the equity of sport, transforming architecture into a public tool bringing people together. Transforming tumultuous events into a creative opportunity, the tower appears as a multilayer fabric drawn on an urban scale. Amorphous, it translates the form generated by the urban regulation. Its openings, of various sizes, hold the memory of the past Sunshine Theatre and offer multiple framings of new urban views from the inside. The big wall appears in the communal spaces as an earthly emergence. Projected earth, cement, and fibers, its skin is combed, and its material transitions make the common space a host of memory recalling the publicity. Taking its roots from the past theatre and the pre-existing context, this new tower portrays the capacity of architecture to act as a public tool and an active player in building resilience at times of renovation.
Study 1 - Bifurcation Relationships
Study 2 - Facade Context I
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Study 3 - Hybridization
Study of Bifurcation (Left) Main Facade (Right) BIG WALL STEMMING FROM THE THEATRE Bifurcating frames become a transition between the pre-existing facade of the Sunshine Theatre and the new residential levels. Studying from the edge profiles of the schizophyllum commune, multilayer frameworks extracted from the theatre envision the shifting hybrids as a growing public wall.
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Chapter I - INNOVATIVE REUSE OF THE SUNSHINE THEATRE | Fall 2020
Alternative Connection
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+ Massinig
+ Traffic Core
+ Public Space
+ Sport Zone
+ Unit Distribution Studio 1 Bedroom 2 Bedroom
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Chapter I - INNOVATIVE REUSE OF THE SUNSHINE THEATRE | Fall 2020
Program Diagrams (Left) / Typical Residential Floor Plan (Left) / Frontage Axon (Above) Framing & Connecting the Residents and Climbing Walls Elements stemming from the pre-existing theatre, including multilayer frames, scaffolds, and glazings, are climbing up the facades and stretching into the interior. A upper level climbing wall can be monitored on the residential levels, and the dynamic bifurcation language activates the corridors.
Alternative Connection
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Chapter I - INNOVATIVE REUSE OF THE SUNSHINE THEATRE | Fall 2020
1 - Parapet Detail at Cavity Wall
2 - Soffit Detail at Curtain Wall
Longitudinal Section (Left) Section Detail (Above) 3d Section (Bottom) Publicity as an Urban Landmark The multiple-level high lobby connects the climbing walls and the lounge, which can be seen and passed through from the street. As the organic facades curving inside the common space, the publicity is also projected onto the interior.
Alternative Connection
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Chapter I - INNOVATIVE REUSE OF THE SUNSHINE THEATRE | Fall 2020
Main Facade (Left) / At Night (Right) Live Connection at Different Levels
Alternative Connection
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HILLING
TEMPORAL ECO-ART THERAPY CENTER THERAPY CENTER & GALLERY | Philadelphia, USA Critic: Robert Stuart-Smith Group Work: Yulun Liu. Fall 2021
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ecent reports indicate that Philadelphia has been suffering from severe mental illness strikes. This project proposed a experiment with a tailored infill nature for physical breath and mental relief in the Callowhill neighborhood. A new “hill” rises as a 3d-printed artificial nature that helps with “healing” mental illness via Eco-art therapy. Eco-art therapy is a pioneer method facilitating mental wellness through the creation of artwork via the observation and enjoyment of nature. With the support of machine perception including AI learnings and style GAN generations, “hilling” is constructed as a new form of natural destination for the neighborhood to alleviate and treat mental illness. The forms obtained have been twinned with landscape features that transform the abandoned land into new programs including art-workshops, galleries, and classrooms. The ambiguous position between nature and architecture makes it unique. As nature, it is occupiable and conquerable, while as an architecture, inhabitable spaces unfold the mysterious natural features for visitors to meditate and relieve themselves.
1 : Research revealing the lack of relevant mental treatment organizations near Callowhill. 2 : AI perception of the elements on the site, including dataset traing and Spade GAN. 3: Dataset of Machine Learning. 4: Initial Remassing of the Interior from the AI generated Artificial Nature.
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Site Spade COCO-GAN (Above) / Massing StyleGAN (Bottom) GENERATIONS FROM MACHINE PERCEPTION With the ultilization of AI perceptions, the GANs assist on exploring possibilities of an architectural position which is generated from the site features and deeply tailored into the context. Spades proposed using the input layout for modulating the activations in normalization layers through a spatially-adaptive, learned transformation. StyleGANs reconstructed potential elements relevant to the mental healing programs.
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Chapter II - TEMPORAL ECO-ART THERAPY CENTER | Fall 2021
The consistent machine learning eventually exhibited the Computer Vision of a new type of tailored-infill on site, which discussed the distinction between explicit human-design methods and instinctive AI perceptions.
Alternative Connection
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StyleGAN
Massing - Selected Generation
Massing - Other Generation
Views (Left) / StyleGAN & Massing Generation (Top) / Info Graphic of Activities (Bottom) ARTIFICIAL NATURE >>> PUBLIC URBAN LANDSCAPE While the massing become a mixture of spontaneous architecture and occupiable nature, the primary activities take place outside where people paint on the building and share common space of artistic creation and celebration. The supportive program lies inside, incuding gallery and storage.
Chunk Showing Facade Conditions & Structural Infill
Study of Facade Patterns
Study of Topological Structure
Outter Cover
Structural Ribs
Topological Structure
Corner Showing Plants & Material Seams
Structural Ribs
Inner Finish
Study of Multi-layer Facade
Chunk Model (Bottom) TOPOLOGICAL STRUCTURE & MULTI-LAYER FACADES Working with earth, with rocks, and learning from their formation logic, different techniques and processes are developed to manipulate the structural properties of these local materials and geological transformation processes at different scales. Computer Analysis are applied to the enhancement of topological structure and multi-layer facade design and configuration.
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Chapter II - TEMPORAL ECO-ART THERAPY CENTER | Fall 2021
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1 Lobby 2 Public Gathering 3 Classroom 4 Gallery 5 Storage 6 Restrooms 7 Equipment Room 8 Open Plaza 9 Courtyard 10 Mural Wall 11 Residential Entrance
+ 13’ Plan Perspective
Section Showing Topological Structure
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Entrances Under the Viaduct
ARK OF RELIEF A MARKET AS AN ANIMAL SHELTER MARKET | Philadelphia, USA Critic: Andrew Saunders Individual Work. Spring 2020
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his market project constructs defamiliarized manners for tectonic relief moments under Callowhill’s artificial contexts and creates new public space as a salute for the efforts in the chronological transition of animal protection. The market place reponds to people’s condemnation of the wildlife that brought the pandemic and reiterates the moral doubts over the cruel usage of animals. A comprehensive living cycle and preservation system is designed to protect the animals, and allows organizations to devote to enforcing those laws. Ramps and bridges are performing as connectors between chunks and the sunken gardens while the relief elements extracted from the Callowhill neighborhood blur the edges between them. The Ark, a sustainable combination of animal crematorium, pet industry, gene engineering, is fully integrated to celebrate and enhance synergetic possibilities of the future zoological conservation.
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Relief Element Samples
Axon (Above) / Roof Plan (Right) Reliefs Healing the Abandoned Land The Ark acquires territory with flat bas relief. Surrounded by the streets and the railroad viaduct, every relief is designed to adjust accessibility and the compositional thinking of the abandoned land.
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Chapter III - A MARKET AS AN ANIMAL SHELTER| Spring 2020
Material Substraction
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Chapter III - A MARKET AS AN ANIMAL SHELTER| Spring 2020
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Chunk of Habitat (Above) / Ground Floor Plan (Right) Animal Habitat inside Urban Reliefs The living habitat constructs manners for tectonic relief moments under Callowhill’s artificial contexts and creates new public space as a salute for the efforts in the chronological transition of animal care and protection. In the ark, animal and reliefs converged into immersive mechanical visual experience.
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Chapter III - A MARKET AS AN ANIMAL SHELTER| Spring 2020
Alternative Connection
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Chapter III - A MARKET AS AN ANIMAL SHELTER| Spring 2020
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The Ark (Left) / Vignettes of Reliefs (Above) Rest in Relief The ark becomes a complex of three zones that act as animal service and lab space for species conservation studies. Ramps and bridges are performing as connectors between chunks and the sunken gardens while the relief elements blur the edges between them.
Alternative Connection
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ACLINIC VEIL PENN MUSEUM ARCHIVE EXTENSION MUSEUM EXTENSION | Philadelphia, USA Critic: Daniel Markiewicz Individual Work. fall 2019
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he neighborhood urban morphology gives the idea of forms. The structural veil acquires territory with flat horizontal bridge sitting on the rooftop of the existing wings of the Penn Museum. This bridge, rather than connecting the wings, aims to create a new entrance of the pre-existing garden below the underbelly. Surrounded by the South St and the courtyard, the aclinc bridge is designed to adjust accessibility and the compositional thinking of the new entrance. The veil becomes a complex of three zones that act as archive, exhibition space and education rooms. Fluid, organic circulation inside the architecture ensures new air views of the Penn campus from the exhibition level. The language that dominates the project is a result of calibrating what is obstructed and what is connected, a process that assimilates and ultimately ends with a new understanding of the aclinic structural veil.
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Chapter IV - PENN MUSEUM ARCHIVE EXTENSION | Fall 2019
Structurally supported by three traffic cores, the horizontal construction performs as a new floating horizon of the campus. The triangular framing system minimizes the necessary structural elements and maximize the fluidity of circulations and the sight in the air.
Longitudinal Section The Structural Horizon
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Physical Model (Above) / Street Perspective (Above) / Plan & Transverse Section (Right) An Open Veil Unveiling the Courtyard The white space serves as a new public entrance of the museum, which unveils the courtyard to open its landscape to the pedestrian from the campus. The ground level landscape, the cores, and the aclinic body contain different programs required by the extension demand, while leaving enough space for the pre-existing courtyard to breathe.
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Chapter IV - PENN MUSEUM ARCHIVE EXTENSION | Fall 2019
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WED GE FOREST
CHILDCARE CENTER WITH GREEN PLAYSCAPES CHILDCARE CENTER & GALLERY | Stamford, USA Critic: Miroslava Brooks Group Work: Tingdong Xiong. spring 2021
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n a vast grassland, kids will be carefree to play and healthy to grow in an architecture that invites the nature to design the interior. Challenged by a myriad of socioeconomic, technological and physical constraints, children today are engaged in radically different modes of education, play, and ways of experiencing life. Play is an itegral part of the urban fabric. The open function of kid’s play equipment mean to stimulate imagination, tapping into children’s ability to transform and invent new uses for common objects. Natural and artificial playscapes are organically connected in the Wedge Forest to proposes a playful place with wedge landscapes germinating from the interstitial places between cluster modules inspired by Isamu Noguchi. The wedges tightly connect the playrooms to the vast grassland contexts and branch out a landscape system which keeps over 90% of the existing trees. A forest with diverse plants growing on the wedges reinterpret an assemblage of soft and hard natural landscape for kids to play, wander, and learn.
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Chapter V - Childcare Center with Green Playscapes | Spring 2021
Rock & Noguchi Cluster
Sharp vs Round Corners to Reinterpret Wedge Relationship
Unit x1
Interlock x2
Interlock x3
Interlock x4
Bar with Wedge Openings
Planar Iteration of the Modules
Form Iterations (Left) / Exterior View of Cluster Joints (Above) Rocks Dropped on Green Playscapes With the reinterpretation of natural rocks, the clusters merged together with exterior playscapes. Bricks and stuccos on the facades jointed with material seams and provided an transition from roughness to smoothness. The curves and corners of the form, the extension of the landscape, propose a cluster of playful rocks on the green playscapes.
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Ground Floor Plan
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Chapter V - Childcare Center with Green Playscapes | Spring 2021
Skylight Detail (Left) /Interior Green Floor Detail (Left) Typical Wall Section (Right) Accommodating the Sun & the Plants
The construction emphasizes the joints of material transitions, and the penetration of sun radiance and greenery wedges. Multiple material joints prvent the stuccos and bricks from cracking. Skylights are generated from the geometric logic of the clusters. Interior green floors are efficiently designed with double water-proofing system and minimum visible components.
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Chapter V - Childcare Center with Green Playscapes | Spring 2021
Interior View in Playroom (Left) / Longitudinal Section (Above) / Elevation (Above) Alive on Wedges Different floor textures are penetrating from exterior playscapes. Sunlight, trees and insects draw the kids outside to enjoy the natural air. Days are alive on the wedges and the forest of hope is growing.
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INSTA L L AT ION S
STRUCTURE EXPERIMENT OF TESSELLATION & TENSEGRITY STRUCTURE DESIGN & MODEL | Hypothesis & Practice Critic: Dr. Mohamad Al Khayer | Sep - Dec 2021 Group Work: Bolai Ren, Yulun Liu. Scope of Work: + Tessellation ring single/triple layer; paper fold translating 2D vs. 3D. + Tensegrity ring as a combination of tessellation units.
The tessellations generalized planar geometries to higher dimensions and a variety of spatial sculptures. The tensegrity models followed the design principle of opposed and balanced compression elements with a continuous tensile force, thereby creating an internal prestress that stabilizes the entire structure.
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Installation
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KNOX DI STR ICT KNOX STREET MIXED-USE PROJECT
SCHMETIC DESIGN | Dallas, USA Jun - Aug 2021 Architectural Intern @ Woods Bagot New York Studio Scope of Work: + Condo Tower & Retail Space design with Rhino & Revit. + Program.
Knox District is a mixed-use project located in the Knox street of Dallas. The project include three buildings: an 18-floor luxury condo tower built on top of a 100-room deluxe hotel; a six-story, office with ground-floor retail and restaurant space; a third residential tower on the south end of the block including another 150 housing units.
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Professional Work
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BI M PR ACTICE OFFICE BUILDING
GRADUATE SCHOOL REVIT PROJECT | Philadelphia, USA Jan - May 2020 Individual Revit Practice @ University of Pennsylvania Scope of Work: + Entire process of the practice of Building Information Modeling design and documentation in Revit.
Recognizing construction as both artifact and process empowers the young designer to identify in its methods a complimentary venue for architectural design. This practice is dedicated to the subject of Industrialized Building Systems for large scaled multi-story constructions, whose material technologies include: Deep Foundations – Piles, Caissons; Concrete Frames; Steel Frames; Structural Bracing, Conveying Systems, & Egress; Advanced Glazing Technologies; Curtain Walls – Structural Glazing – Double Skins; Building Consequences of Environmental Systems.
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Professional Work
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CU R IOU S C AB I NE T EXHIBITION STAND
STEEL & WOOD DESIGN & FABRICATION | Philadelphia, USA Critic: Daniel Markiewicz | Sep - Oct 2019 Group Work: Lisa Knust, Jiacheng Huang, Laura Elliot. Scope of Work: + Research on forms and materials of typical exhibition stands. + Fabrication of wood louvers and steel pipes including bending, drilling, polishing, painting, drying and assembling. The cabinet provokes an atmosphere of curiosity and playfulness: a game of hide and seek. Visitors of the museum are encouraged to circumnavigate the site and embark on a journey to find all four museum artifacts. While the artifacts are cleverly revealed and concealed within a steel frame structure, the louvers are strategically angled and placed so as to obstruct the observer’s view of an artifact at one angle, yet reveal the object at another. The hope is that viewers find the cabinet interactive and engaging; a playful twist on the typical museum display.
3900 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
EDUCATION
Dongqi Chen
(267) 881 3010 | dqchenx@outlook.com
University of Pennsylvania | Weitzman School of Design | Philadelphia, PA Master of Architecture Professional Degree Major GPA: 4.00/4.00
Portfolio Link: https://issuu.com/dqzzz/docs/portfolio_ dongqi_chen
Expected Graduation Date: 05/2022
South China University of Technology | School of Architecture | Guangzhou, China Bachelor of Engineering | Majored in Urban and Rural Planning
09/2014 – 06/2019
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Woods Bagot, Full Time Architecture Intern | New York, United States 06/2021 – 08/2021 Knox District | Schematic Design + Designed PowerPoint presentation for client meetings in collaboration with HKS & KPF + Researched, designed, and documented condo tower and retail facades using Rhino, Revit, Photoshop, and Illustrator + Conducted design principals, site research, planting, and public space renovation in an 8-week Intern Charette Guangzhou Design Institute, Full Time Architecture Intern | Guangzhou, China 10/2018 – 12/2018 Nan Fung International Conference and Exhibition Center | Schematic Design + Created concept diagrams, detailed CAD drawings, and 3D perspective drawings using AutoCAD, Revit, and Rhino + Completed visual analyses on daylighting using grasshopper plug-ins including Ladybug, Honeybee, and DaySim Association of Taiping Town Urban Design Group, Full Time Urban Design Intern | Guangzhou, China 07/2018 – 09/2018 New Taiping Urban Design Plan 2020-2025 | Construction Administration + 20-day construction experience in field, including ArcGIS site survey, land measurements and steel fabrication Land Resources and Urban Planning Bureau, Full Time Urban Planning Intern | Guangzhou, China 07/2017 – 9/2017 Regional Planning of the Extension of Li-Wan District People’s Hospital | Proposal Supervision + Coordinated between the local planning department, investors and the residents, resulting in a conference
ACADEMIC HONORS
Metropolis Future 100 | Metropolis Magazine | Ranked in Top 100 Architecture Graduate in United States E. Lewis Dales Travel Fellowship | University of Pennsylvania | 1st Place for Portfolio and Thesis Evaluation Merit Scholarship for Academic Excellence | South China University of Technology Outstanding Student Researcher | Association of Arcade Space Protection & Regeneration in Shantou Community Distinction Award for Academic Excellence | South China University of Technology
01/2022 03/2021 12/2018 10/2016 01/2015
COMPETITIONS & EXHIBITIONS
Penn Design Digi-blast Competition| University of Pennsylvania | 1st Place for Climbing Pavilion Design 08/2019 Asian College Graduation Design Exchange Exhibition | China | Gold Award for Future Design 01/2019 – 06/2019 National College Urban Design Evaluation | China | 2nd Prize for “Guangzhou Shipyard Renovation” Project 09/2018 National College Urban Transportation Innovation Competition | 3rd Prize for “School Kids Daily Transport” Proposal 09/2018
PUBLICATIONS
Penn Design Pressing Matter 10 | University of Pennsylvania | “Wedge Forest”, Riverside Childcare Center Penn Design Pressing Matter 9 | University of Pennsylvania | “Ark of Relief”, Market in Callowhill
PROFICIENCIES
05/2021 05/2020
2D Software: AutoCAD | ArchiCAD | Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign / Lightroom / Audition | Microsoft Office | ArcGIS 3D Software: Revit | Rhino | Grasshopper | Maya | Sketchup | Zbrush | Fusion 360 | ReCap Pro | Runway Other: V-ray | Keyshot | Enscape | Lumion | Wood / Steel / Bamboo Design and Fabrication Language: English (Fluent) | Mandarin Chinese (Native) | Cantonese (Native) | Japanese (Basic)
D O N G Q I C H E N U ni ver s i t y o f Pennsy lv a nia | MA rc h I Ca ndida te address: 3900 Chestnut Street Phila delphia , USA , PA 19104 ema il: dqc henx@o utlo o k.c o m tel: 1-267-881-3010
