PORTFOLIO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE SELECT WORKS 2018-2021
ERQI MENG
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CONTENTS
ERQI MENG e-mail: emeng@alumni. risd.edu tel: 401-263-4271
EDUCATION 2014. 9 - 2018. 6 2018. 8 - 2021. 6
BA, Langscape Gardening MLA, Landscape Architecture
Zhejiang University, China Rhode Island School of Design, United States
AWARDS 2020 ASLA Urban Design Student Honor Award
WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES
WORK EXPERIENCE 2017. 7 - 2017. 8
Landscape China, China New Media Editor Intern - Mainly responsible for the operation of websites and social media - Organized landscape consultation and wrote into articles - Interviewed some landscape architects and architects
2019. 7 - 2019. 8
Office OffCourse, China Landscape Architecture Intern - Involved in design of Antique City - Mainly responsible for creative designs of a canal extending from upstairs to downstairs and three characteristic patios to provide enjoyable and casual space for tourists - Engaged in model construction and vegetation design on the reconstruction of an ancient town
2020. 7 - 2020. 8
TAASI East The project involves the design of a village for 250 low-income women and their families in Eastern Sri Lanka who have been subjected to years of conflict and environmental disaster. The goal is to help the interns understand the social, environmental, economic, cultural, and spatial design aspects and interconnectedness of development and socialimpact work. Interns are introduced to and work within the framework of principles of sustainability and closed loop design at the scale of a large site, a community, individual buildings and open spaces, and a business venture.
Rhode Island School of Design
GATEWAT TO NATURE
SHADOW BOX DISCOVER THE LIGHT SHADOW THEATER
WORKING WITH GROUND MYCELIUM TEST ECO BASIN PAVEMENT DESIGN
Teaching Assistant for Bonaty & Ecology
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WORKING WITH NATURE
WORKING WITH FEELINGS
Design Intern
2020. 9 - 2021. 1
ECO-WASTE COOLING DOWN YELLOW GALLERY
SOFTWARE
EXBIHITIONS
Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Premiere, Adobe XD AutoCAD, Rhino, Sketch Up Arduino, SparkAR, Processing, Max MSP, Reaper
RISD Spatial Audio Class Concert ICADE Online Exhibition
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50 50 - 55 56 - 65 66 - 69
70 70 - 75 76 - 83 84 - 85
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WORKING WITH
COMMUNITY
ECO-WASTE:
Household waste flows in a circular economy Year: 2021 Studio: Thesis Type: Individual
The thesis explores ways to contextualize household waste on the more complete material flows it belongs to – including some of the reciprocities between its landscapes of production and landscapes of landfill. The work aims to reorient the current unhealthy one-way processes of dealing with waste into a more virtuous circular economy, with corresponding ecology benefits to our cities. 4
LANDSCAPE OF PRODUCTION + LANDSCAPE OF LANDFILL The study focuses on a local community at Mount Hope district in Providence, RI. The surrounding existing farms are regarded as landscape of production, and the only landscape of landfill is the central landfill in johnston. They are linked together by the supermarkets, which is regarded as landscape of consumption here, and the consumption behavior of residents. The various green spaces distributed in this city provide new possibilities for improving the waste flow-they can become an environmentally friendly transfer station in the waste circulation. 5
COMMUNITY PROFILE
White
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Black
Asian
Hispanic
Other
Retail
Restaurant
Church/Temple
School
Vacant Store
Parking Lot
Playground
Vacant Land
Community Garden
Green Space
TOPOGRAPHY + RACE
BUILDING
GREEN SPACE
Between the Camp St and N Main St there’s a steep slope, and the area between Camp St and Hope St is relatively flat. In addition to the topography, there’s a difference of race happening: More white people are living in the flat area, on the other hand, on the slope there’re more black, asian, and hispanic people.
There are many different types of buildings along the street, including an elementary school, a church, a bagel store, and a retail. The Whole Foods is also very close.
In addition to the buildings, there are a lot of open spaces that can be used. Including the school playground, the pocket park, the vacant land, and also parking lots. They are closely related to surrounding streets and buildings.
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STREET PROFILE
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MODULAR STRATEGIES The design focuses on developing modular strategies and combining them in different ways and in distinct urban spaces. These strategies aim to reactivate these spaces and to encourage public participation in order to raise public awareness for the waste-re-
Waste collection station
Workshop
Eco friendly public facilities
Public Garden
Installation
Outdoor Classroom
Flea Market
Cooperate with local stores
lated issues. Nine modular strategies are proposed, with a focus on three main aspects: garbage collection(green), public education(yellow), and market guidance(blue). They can work together to help build a cleaner community.
Connection & Extension There are also some other spaces shown in light green, including the playground, Providence Center school, and the vacant land opposite to Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) elementary school. They have the potential to be a part of the whole network in the future but I will not include them in my thesis. 10
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Public Garden
Public Engagement
Waste Upcycling
Public Garden
Public Engagement
Waste Upcycling
Normal Day
Event Day
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SCHOOL GROUND
COMMUNITY OPTIONS Three public spaces are chosen to test the modular strategies, which are the green space belonging to the school, a pocket park, and a parking lot serving a local church. They are very representative urban spaces along Camp Street. Options of how people can occupy these spaces that are now vacant, are explored, as templates that others can eventually refer to. However, here I just put forward some possible ways of using the site. Any final decision affecting the space should always be informed by the community residents.
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POCKET PARK
03
PARKING LOT
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PROJECT PHASING In order to gradually raise residents’ awareness and make these strategies more acceptable to them, the implementation of the entire project was divided into the following three stages.
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Phase 1 Work with schools to raise awareness to waste related issues in students and their families
Phase 2 Activate the street connecting different physical spaces that compose this strategy
phase 3: Once the neighborhood has more waste related awareness, a series of events would be integrated into this strategy
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01
WORKING WITH
COMMUNITY
COOLING DOWN Year: 2020 Studio: Urban System Type: Group work
Establish a central cooling landscape system and extend this system into communities, while leading people to the river by street green. As for the long term, tree nursery plan will deal with the social issue.
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URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT IN BALTIMORE Vacancy Map CROSSING 01 MTA STATION Canopy Coverage
14% Average Temperature
103 °F
CROSSING 02 MICA CAMPUS Canopy Coverage
12% Average Temperature
105 °F
CROSSING 03 CITY CHARMWORK Canopy Coverage
18% Average Temperature
100 °F
Temperature in Summer
Racial Map
Canopy Coverage
Construction Materials: Black roofs and block walls absolve mose of the heat, and the impermeable pavement also aggravate it
Row House block the air flow in streets, which results in the wind can not carry the how air out of the community.
112 °F
84 °F
97 °F 163.9 °F
110 °F
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OVERALL STRATEGIES
DESIGN THE CROSSINGS The JFX corridor was regarede as a start point to rebuild the urban grid in terms of greening by establishing a central cooling landscape system based on the existing highway structure along the JFX corridor and extend this system into communities. The increasing of street greening, on the one hand, can encourage residents to go out during the summer, and then improve the vitality and safety of streets, on the other hand, can help change people’s impression of the community and attract more people to move in. Eventually it will build a new type of urban public space attached to the existing JFX urban structure to ease urban heat island effect.
STEP 1 COOLING DOWN 1. Turn the JFX into a landscape belt and add green overpasses to extend the greenway system to the inside of communities, cooling down the corridor and community which can also influence the neighborhood microclimates.
STEP 3 TREE NURSERY
2. Exploit the terrains, ramps, and stepping trails to integrate the upper and lower spaces, while extending the green spaces. Various kinds of plant nurseries will be introduced to cool down the surroundings, and to promote the engagement of citizens with the river system. 3. Open the northern half of the culvert to develop a new river corridor, together with the greenway to promote urban ecological conditions with green filters and public spaces. Form a new river ecosystem to cool the surrounding environment.
STEP 2 CONNECTION 1. The JFX landscape belt and green overpasses create a suture-like structure that links the communities and the river.
2. Reuse the existing structure as capsule-like structures to link the vertical layers and to create a 3D circulation around the corridor. We will use green roofs, rain gardens and vertical greening to replace impervious surfaces. While breaking the closed form of the original riverside buildings. 20
Utilize vacant lands around the corridor to establish a greenway linking both sides of the city. Temporary tree nursery provides a cool rest space. Trees cultivated for several years can be transplanted into the community which can ease the urban heat island eff ect. After that, the urban pavement can be further improved. At the same time, the tree nursery plan provides job opportunities for local people and ed ucation experience for students.
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500
1000
Master Plan
2000 ft
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CROSSING-MICA This section cuts through the MICA campus. The design goal is to reorganize the road and bridge system which can provide convenient, green and enjoyable pedestrian connection between the two sides, at the same time to reopen the river and reuse the underside of the bridge to build a green corridor along the river.
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100 200 300 400 500 ft 23
SECTIONS
01
02
03
04
05
06
Detailed Section
01
02 03 04
05
06
0
50
100
150
200 ft
Long Section
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Highway Greening
Riverbank Greening
Public Green Space
Street Greening
Community Activity
Safer Community
Public Garden
Tree Nursery
LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT This project has been divided into 3 phases, which will gradually extend into the communities and finally wave out a city green net. The large amount of vacant lands were taken into consideration and will be transformed into different kinds of public green spaces which can carry out a lot of programs. 28
Phase I Phase II Phase III River Corridor Problematic Communities
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WORKING WITH
COMMUNITY
YELLOW GALLERY Year: 2019 Studio: Constructed Landscape Type: Group work + Individual work
Massing Model (Group work)
The site is on the waterfront of East Boston. The aim of the project was to create a new mixed-use residential community whose buildings and openspaces support a full range of social services including local retails, schools, and recreational facilities. These spaces will vary in size and support a wide range of programs for local residents and the community nearby. Service provisioning, residential unit availability, and the design of public space will encourage use of all age groups including young children and their families, working adults, and retired people. While providing recreational opportunities, these openspaces will also function as green infrastructure, mitigating the impact of flooding, storm surge, and snow storms. 30
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SITE ANALYSIS (Group work)
SITE DESIGN (Group work)
Green Space
Transportation
Frontage
Entrance
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25
50
75
100 ft
DESIGN PRINCIPLES Sea Level Rise
Landuse
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IN
A DU RT ST RI
AL
COMMERCIAL
IA NT
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Stromwater Management
E SIDTAIL E E R RE FE
Diverse programming
Art
L F CO HOO H SC URC CH
GO IN VE ST RN IT M UT EN IO T RE N RE SID TA EN IL TI AL
Residential
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ED
US
E
A green infrastructure network mitigates the impact of large storm events by absorbing runoff and reducing pressure on existing storm sewers.
Multifunctional piers
Economic
Entertainment
M
Light up streets
Education
Safer
Environment
Support various waterfront activities in fields of commerce, entertainment and transportation to attract people with different interest, such as art displays, water taxi and bike lane.
By turning the ground floor of the building into a public facility facing the street, and supporting the design of outdoor spaces, more eyes can look towards the street and make the street safer.
Two new piers support both marine and entertainment activities, improving the connection between the neighborhood and the surrounding city.
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20
40
65
80 ft
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C
B A
Section A
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Section B
Section C
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1. Keep two main circulation and create them into corridors to connect different parts of the city, which can also carry people to go through. 2. Use the site not only provide a entertainment space for community, but also to reactivate a wider urban area. 3. Use yellow as a key color to connect different zones in the site and use this energetic color to light up the dead part of the city. 4. Waving different materials and colors to make this space more playful and exploreable for young people.
MODELS 38
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02 NATURE
WORKING WITH
GATEWAY TO WATER Year: 2018 Studio: Site / Ecology / Design Type: Individual work
Transform the isolated landfill into a energetic gateway which connects the upper city and the river. At the same time, be ready for future environmental changes.
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DESIGN PRINCIPLES
TIDE ANALYSIS IN NARRAGANSETT BAY
ISSUES
Sea Level Rise
Erosion&Sedimentation
Isolation Summer High Tide
Winter High Tide
GOALS
Ecological Buffer Ecology Reinforce Riverbank
Establish Micro-ecology
Economy
Acitvity
High Tide Vacant Land
Summer Low Tide
METHODS
Winter Low Tide
Low Tide
3ft Sea Level Rise
5ft Sea Level Rise
Extend Piers
SEA LEVEL RISE
1ft Sea Level Rise 44
Site Model 45
DESIGN STRATEGIES Forest
01 02 03 04 05
Harbor Lawn Harbor Beach Grate Lawn Amphitheater Overlook
Steep Slope Section A
A Section B
Lawn
Tidal Zone
01
02
Section C 03
Pier
B
Buffer
C 04 Section D D 05
Boardwalk
E
Beach
F
0
46
100
200
300
400
500 ft
Section E
Section F 47
Rhode Island has 400 miles coastline in total, and people in Rhode Island have rich waterfront lives. Shellfish fishery plays an essential role in the economic activities of this area. Design combines industry, ecology and human together. The two piers are the most active parts of this site, and the other parts are more natural. Piers and boardwalks become spines to structure the site, they will start from community and lead people from community down to the waterfront. Except piers, Salt marsh, lawns and forest are combined together to define different spaces.There are walkways meandering in the site and horizontally connect different parts of the site.
Boardwalk in salt marsh
The boardwalk extends into the water, and part of it will be submerged with the tidal change, thus providing a way for people to interact with it.
RENDERING PERSPECTIVES
Harbor Beach
The buffer is not only used to prevent erosion, but also added with walkable paths and platforms.
The stepped wooden platform extends into the woods, guiding people from the open grass into the dense forest.
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Boardwalk in salt marsh
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WITH 03 WORKING FEELINGS
SHADOW BOX Year: 2020 Studio: Body I/O Type: Individual work
I imagine my body as paper, as canvas, or as fabric that is waving under the sunshine. Shadow becomes the branch drawing on it. I feel the environment, feel the light passing through leaves, and feel the blurry shadow. My body then is not a solid entity, but a fluid medium that carries the shadow moving in the space.
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DEVICE
WALKING IN THE SHADOW
The device is like an 3-dimentional scanner than can scan my body from top to bottom, and recreates a new version of “me”, now composed of light and shadow. The visulization developed from the feeling of my body and the one that build from the collected data 52
are put together to compare. They are different interpretations of the same environment. When I tried to feel the environment only use my body, the results are vague and subjective. And when I use the device, the generated image expression has become more precise, it has become a more abstract expression and the connection with my own body has diminished. 53
THE MECHANISM
Light: Compressed, Transparent
Shadow: Stretched, Expanded, Dense
How to generate a new body: Body
Data
Visualization
5 4 2 3 1
Visulization (from real body)
Visulization (from real Arduino data)
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WITH 03 WORKING FEELINGS
DISCOVER THE LIGHT Year: 2018 Studio: Design Principle Type: Individual work
Working with ground and vegetation to play with view and light.
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Section
Topography
Water Flow
Vegetation
View
SITE NARRATIVES
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SITE INVESTIGATION
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Parti
Circulation
CREATE NEW SPACE Four platforms were created, trees and retaining walls help to define the boundary and can also guide people’s view. The whole journey is about light and shadow. Not only is the light and dark space interlaced here, the effects produced by trees and walls are different at different times of the day and on different days of the year, so every time you come here, it will provide you with a new experience. Several Process models were made to experiment the effect of vegetation on light and shadow. As people move slowly from the bottom of hill to the top, they will first at an open field and then go into woods, after passing through woods, there is a overlook platform where they can have the view of the sea. But in order to get close to the sea, they still need to go down hill and pass through another woods and saltmarsh.
Light&Shadow
View
Space
Topography
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0
20
40
60
80
100 ft
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Section A
Section B
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WITH 03 WORKING FEELINGS
SHADOW THEATER Year: 2020 Studio: Plant: Form and Space Type: Individual work
START WITH FILM NOIR Inspired by film noir of last century, by referring to the film composition, I want to use plants and their light and shadow effects to create different spaces. I tried to temporarily ignore the color, instead, I focused on the texture created by leaves, bark, trunk and canopy of plants, and place them back into the three-dimensional environment.
Imagine landscape as a room, and use light and shadow created by plants to shape spaces and provide different spitial experiences.
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FRAMES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW CHANGE
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WITH 04 WORKING GROUND
MYCELIUM TEST Year: 2020 Studio: Material Assemblies Type: Individual work
Find out the potential of mycelium in construction.
Mixed with: Mycelium, water, flour, twine
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WITH 04 WORKING GROUND
ECO-BASIN Year: 2018 Studio: Constructed Ground Type: Individual work
Redesign the terrian of the parking lot to provide a route that meets the requirements of ADA, and transform the site into a space that welcomes seagulls.
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HIGHER PATHWAY LEVEL +10.00 LOWER PATHWAY LEVEL +7.00
HIGHER PATHWAY LEVEL +10.00 LOWER PATHWAY LEVEL +7.00
PLANTING
PATH
STAIRS
PATH
PLANTING
PATH
BEB
B PLANTING
PATH
STAIRS
PATH
PLANTING
SECTION B SCALE: 1" = 8'
PATH
BEB
B
SECTION B SCALE: 1" = 8'
HIGHER PATHWAY LEVEL +16.00 HIGHER PATHWAY LEVEL +5.00
HIGHER PATHWAY LEVEL +16.00 HIGHER PATHWAY LEVEL +5.00
WALKWAY
RIVER
SIDEWALK
PLANTING
ROAD
SIDEWALK
PATH
PLANTING
PATH
STAIRS
PATH
PLATFORM
A NAME:
ERQI MENG
NAME:
WALKWAY
ERQI MENG
80
RIVER
DATE:
02 / 04 / 19
DATE:
SIDEWALK
02 / 04 / 19
PLANTING
COURSE NAME:
CONSTRUCTED GROUND ROAD
COURSE NAME:
CONSTRUCTED GROUND
SIDEWALK
PATH
COURSE NUMBER:
LDAR W207 PLANTING
COURSE NUMBER:
LDAR W207
SCALE:
PATH
SCALE:
1" = 8'
1" = 8'
SCALE BAR:
STAIRS
0
7.5
TITLE:
PATH
15
30'
7.5
SCALE: 1" = 8'
PLATFORM
SITE SECTION
A
SECTION A SCALE: 1" = 8'
TITLE:
SCALE BAR: 0
SECTION A
15
30'
SITE SECTION 81
+10.00
+8.00 +7.00
concrete
lawn underlay
surface course
C
SECTION C SCALE: 1" = 2'
+8.00 +8.00
+4.00 +4.00
lawn underlay lawn underlay
concrete wall
concrete wall
surface course
surface course gravel
gravel
D
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D SECTION D
SECTION D SCALE: 1" = 2'
SCALE: 1" = 2'
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WITH 04 WORKING GROUND
PAVEMENT DESIGN Year: 2020 Studio: Tech & Materials II Type: Individual work
This seminar builds on the class Material Logic to investigate and test landscape materials and construction methods with an emphasis on prototyping and digital fabrication. Students will learn to take an idea from concept to prototype to 1:1 construction. Through research, lectures, and site walks, this course will build student’s understanding of current landscape construction methods and ask them to develop new materials and assemblies to respond to specific site and design considerations. Through exercises, students will advance their CAD and Rhino skills, as well as learn how to prototype ideas through the use of 3d printers and CNC machine. 84
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