ZIXUAN ELLEN LIU
(540)394-1518
Philadelphia zixuanliu33@outlook.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/ zixuan-liu-41485b1a5/ https://issuu.com/ellen-malu/ docs/work-sample
Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA
Aug 2018 - May 2024
Bachelor of Architecture
Skills
Revit Rhino 8 AutoCAD
Enscape
Lumion
V-Ray
Adobe Suite
Microsoft Suite
Touch Design
QGIS
Python
Lasercam
3D printing
Watercolor
Film and Digital Photography
Darkroom Printing CNC Machine
Language
Mandarin | Native English | Full Professional Proficiency
Reference
Aki Ishida, AIA, Director of Architecture, WashU Sam Fox School a.ishida@wustl.edu
Chip von Weise, Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, Virginia Tech chip@vonweiseassociates.com
Hilary Bryon, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Hbryon@vt.edu
Experience
Mentee and Architecture Intern Perkins & Will
Jan 2023 - May 2023
Chicago, IL
• Collaborated on a mixed-use complex, including a philharmonic auditorium, daycare, and 60 affordable housing units, under the guidance of a mentor firm.
• Provided weekly reports with architecture, urban design team at mentor firm and structure engineering consultant.
• Completed a three-week internship focused on graphic design for the facade of a high-end residential project using Revit.
Intern
MADA s.p.a.m.
July 2023 - Aug 2023
Xi’an, China
• Involved in liquor factory project related to site analysis, model making, client engagement, and construction site visits in SD phase using Rhino and Enscape.
• Independently completed graphic representations and illustrations to the client for a mixed-use hotel and retail commercial project.
• Gained knowledge of how detailed drawings and building construction are carried out on-site through multiple site visits.
Interior Intern HOS Design
June 2023
Shanghai, China
• Produced working drawings for towers in the CD phase, including detailed drawings and sections of hospital materials by AutoCAD.
• Facilitated comprehensive presentations on lighting design and material selections for the children’s healthcare interiors.
Internship
ZhuLi Studio at Central South University
Dec 2019 - Jan 2020 Changsha, China
• Independently finished diagram research for a hotel project in the predesign phase.
Construction Team
VT FutureHAUS
Jan 2020 - May 2020 Blacksburg, VA
• On-site reconstruction of the award-winning FutureHAUS, a technically-oriented design/build project by VT displayed at Dubai World Expo 2020
Usher/ Gallery Attendant VT Moss Art Center
May 2021 - May 2024 Blacksburg, VA
• Provided customer service for patrons through auditorium shows and art gallery visits.
Awards
1st Place, Third Year Architecture Competition Fall 2021
• Designed a human habitat residence in one week out of 150+ submission.
• Design has been used as baseline for the building systems class BC 3014.
Honorable Mention, Second Year Architecture Competition Fall 2020
Dean’s List Fall 2018 - Spring 2024
The Merit Award, VT Spring 2020
• First-year undergraduate student who demonstrates excellent sketch.
School of Architecture + Design Director’s Award, VT Spring 2020
I TRANSFORM OF INTRO AND EXTRO
Apartment + Music Store + Café Mixed-Use Complex
II THE FOREST
Affordable Housing Project + Philharmonic Center
III UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Community Center
IV HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Single Resident
V Other Works
VI Professional Works
Blacksburg, VA
Chicago, IL
Lechee, Navajo Nation, AZ
Christianburg, VA
I TRANSFORM OF INTRO AND EXTRO
Individual Project
Blacksburg, VA
12870 sq ft
Hunter Pittman Spring 2022
Apartment + Bookstore + Cafe
Concept
The cafeteria and the book store form an open space between the apartment and the farmers market, serving as a formal and functional connection that binds residential users to the community. The rotation of the two cuboids makes them separate yet closely linked, providing a more welcoming gesture for the public area.
Site Context:
The site is adjacent to an open farmers market in Blacksburg, a college town. The farmers market
is the town’s most common weekend gathering place for nearby residents as well as college students.
How could residential-commercial mixed-use be in a college town?
FARMERS MARKET
SITE
INVITE THE ENERGY IN
The building’s volumetric design responds to the dynamic context of a bustling farmer’s market, attracting the town’s diverse populace on weekends. Embracing inclusive and openness, the architecture integrates the lively exterior ambiance into the interior, creating a seamless interaction between the two.
Concept Sketch
Duplex Accessibility Units
Studio Accessibility Units
Ground Floor
Door Open Render
The outward-facing space echoes the farmers’ market opposite, creating an inclusive, multifunctional space.
Door Close Render
The enclosed space at night concentrates energy inward, and the lighting and materials further enhance the contrast.
PUBLIC / PRIVATE
An open space between the two volumes is connected by an external staircase, suggesting a connection between them. However, the separate ground floor of the residential block provides privacy for the residents.
Sixth Floor
Third Floor
Fifth Floor
Second Floor
Old South Section
Old Residencial Plan
Explosion Diagram
II THE FOREST
Group Project with Daniella Noronha
Role : Digital and Physical Model, Render, Master Plan, Material Analysis
Chicago, IL
61,400 sq ft
Chip Von Weise Spring 2023
Mentor : Perkins & Will
Affordable housing + Chicago Philharmonic Center
Courtyard Render
Description:
59 units of Affordable housing with 4 ADA housing typologies and new Chicago Philharmonic Center.
Site Context:
Located in South Shore, a residential neighborhood in south of Chicago, United States. The large number of single parent families in this community and the lack of safe outdoor spaces triggered the most fundamental design considerations, communication and an open playground.
Concept: Considering the relationship between space and users in the forest, the concept is divided into “private forest canopy” and “public forest floor”. Both wrapped and open forest provide enough continuous playful landscape to give the single parent family more safety space for outdoor activities.
How can designing better meets the needs of single parents families, and by extension all residents in the neighborhood?
MASSING STRATEGY
Maximize outdoor activity space where kids and parents feel safe and fit with resident neighborhood. The originally rushed driveway is now divided by a sidewalk and bicycle path, creating a pedestrianfriendly route for the neighbors to access the area. This also enhances safety and privacy within the outdoor space.
Apartment Surrounded by the Forest
Lifting up the Forest Floor Extend Green Space
Lifting the Philharmonic Stepping
New Green Pedestrian
New Bike Lane
Resident Entrance
South Pathway
South Section
PHILHARMONIC ENTRANCE
The entrance to the philharmonic extends from the central courtyard to the ground, and the roof on the right is gradually raised, linking the three spaces in the way roots tend to overlap each
Black Box Theater Render
Box Office
Ground Floor Plan
CLT RESIDENTIAL
10 Feet single loaded corridor provide the opportunity as public space for each unit.
The roof garden with pergola provides a better environment for plants to grow, while also providing shading for the
Corridor Render
Balcony Render
HVAC plans
Third Floor Residential Plan
East Section
Prefabricated Panel Wall
Balcony and Glulam Column
Wood structure components
Cast-in-place reinforced concrete core
Polycarbonate
CLT balcony
Glulam column with slab
CLT Floor
Single loaded corridor
Cast-in-place reinforced
CLT Floor and Glulam Column
CLT
Aluminum Frame
Section Detail (By Daniella) Facade Render
WATER WELL, WATER PIPE, WATER RIGHT
Individual Thesis
Page. Lechee, AZ 120000 sq ft
Thesis Adviser: Aki Ishida Fall 2023 Spring 2024
Community Center
Thesis Abstract
Against the backdrop of water rights issues in the Navajo Nation and Arizona, the proposal suggests establishing a new outdoor flea market, community center, and archive museum near Page, Arizona. This site, controversial due to the presence of the Glen Canyon Dam and the Navajo Power Plant, highlights significant disparities in per capita water consumption. Given the incomplete state of health infrastructure, the proposal aims to spark new discussions and consider the impacts of nature, land, community, and the built environment.
The question raised by this thesis is how we identify the threshold of the larger embedded urban context and how basic infrastructure has the potential to remind us of the relationship between humans, the non-human, and its surrounding environment.
WATER WELL IN DIFFERENT CULTURE
Before modern technology intervened, cultures around the world had their own way of obtaining water. In early urban planning at Rome, India, and China, the positioning of water sources and urban texture influenced and promoted each other.
Concept Diagram
THE BEGIN AND DEATH OF WATER WELL
An ethnographic study shows how water worshiping ethnic minority villages in southern China established social order and religion on water wells. The invisible reservoir makes them easily forget their environment and where the water comes from.
Site Master Analysis
SITE ANALYSIS
Page is built on the foundation of the Glen Canyon Dam, as well as nearby power stations and aqueducts that provide infrastructure and resources for the state of Arizona. Based on its rich natural environment, Page has become a renowned tourist town in the western United States.
MEANDER OF ELEMENTS AND CONTEXT
It envisions a decentralized design featuring an archive, community center, court, and flea market, serving as metaphors for historical events. By accentuating the surroundings through these fragmented structures, the design guides—or intentionally does not guide—human activities, creating spaces that offer greater freedom and encourage diverse interactions between people and their environment.
Ground Floor Plan
Proposed Pipe System in
Community center and Underground Water
Site Hiking Trail
Plan Diagram
RESHAPE THE POWER PLANTS
One of the most iconic of these infrastructures, the Navajo Nation Power Plant, was scheduled for demolition in 2020. The project plans to reuse the original building materials along with indigenous materials to construct a community center and archive.
Site context
Material Study Model
THE CHIMNEY
Burning, water, earth, sky, where does this watchtower look towards?
View under the Chimney
Chimney model 1: 48 scale
View under the Chimney
THE MARKET
The divided land, the defined flow of water, the defined role of people, could communication arise from here?
Flea market model 1: 48 First
THE AQUEDUCT
Where the water flows, the sounds you hear, the color you see, where will the water end up?
Entrance of Archive
View from West South Corner
THE ARCHIVE
Broken cement, neglected history, traces of the underground are a record of the past.
Underground Floor
THE COURT HOUSE
How could unjust distribution be discussed in the context of sky and earth?
Court House Projection model on exhibition 1:150 scale
Court House model 1: 96
Court House View
IV OTHER WORKS
Habitat For Humanity
Individual Project First Place of Third Year Competition
Blacksburg, VA 1125 sq ft
Hunter Pittman Spring 2022
Farmers Residential
Physical Model 1: 24 Scale
Description:
This exceptional two-story home has two bedrooms, stunning activity spaces with captivating views, and is designed as a prototype for a reproducible residential community.
Site Context
The house is nestled atop an open farm, surrounded by trees, providing a serene and peaceful environment away from noisy traffic.
Concept:
The elevated ground floor offers cross ventilation, ample space for activities, and a closer connection to the site. The open-plan living areas are expertly designed with a series of columns and partitions, offering flexible movable walls and sliding doors that can be easily adapted to suit various situations. This allows the space to be customized to meet the changing needs of the occupants, creating a versatile and functional living environment.
Second floor plan
First floor plan
South Section
IV OTHER WORKS
Individual Project
Honorable mention of Second Year Competition
600 sq ft
Hilary Bryon Spring 2021
Grundy, VA
Dental Clinic
Description:
The project is a dental clinic, located in the middle of an iconic location in the community and can be identified as a public space integrated into the local environment. The form of the building encourages users and observers to understand the geographical situation, while allowing users to flow smoothly through the space in a circular manner.
IV OTHER WORKS
TECTONIC PRACTICE
YHThe construction of the egg. The hierarchy construction.
The hierachy has been seen as an organized subordinate to the one above it. In the that created by other systematic layer related or placement.In this system, it is important and to build it with what it want to expressm, element on it. So that finding the relationship or materials is the primery purpose on this support others and cannot be seperate.The in the hierarchy and could show on all 3 of the color, space, and size make them support
The hierachy has been seen as an organized orders or ranks that each subordinate to the one above it. In the space, hierachy is a form that created by other systematic layer related to the size, shape, or placement.In this system, it is important to get the information and to build it with what it want to expressm, but not just put the element on it. So that finding the relationship in differents elements or materials is the primery purpose on this project. Every material support others and cannot be seperate.The balence is also important in the hierarchy and could show on all 3 of the materials. The wight of the color, space, and size make them support each others visually.
Apartment Section
ARTISTS APARTMENT
Located on campus, the Artist House contains the Student studio and the Artist studio, both Spaces facing each other through the sky light Loft.
Artists apartment Axon
V PROFESSIONAL WORKS
Firm:
Project: Type:
Location:
Gross site area: Stage: Task:
MADA s.p.a.m. - Architecture Intern
Lhasa Industrial Park of Ala Jiabao Winery Brewery Factory
Industrial Tibet, China
71,767 sq meter
Concept Phase, Schematic Design Model, Render, Diagram analysis, Presentation Preparation, Documentation ( Rhino, Enscape)
Firm:
Project:
Type:
Location:
Gross site area:
Stage:
Task:
MADA s.p.a.m. - Architecture Intern
Tai Yuan Pu Run Twin Towers Hotel, Commercial Office
Taiyuan, China
71000 sq meter
Concept Phase, Schematic Design Diagram, Presentation Preparation, Research, Site Analysis, Documentation ( CAD, Photoshop)
Firm: Project:
Type:
Location:
Gross site area:
Stage: Task:
HOS Design - Interior Intern
Er Kang Child Clinic
Healthcare Shanghai, China
1460 sq meter
Construction Document Diagram, Presentation Preparation, Documentation ( CAD, Photoshop)
