DIGRESSIONS

[DIGRESSIONS]

"The model of plot......may be a digression on each point in order to reach the center."

- PETER BROOKS, <Reading for the Plot>

996 and Courtship

Academic | 2016.10-2017.01

Myth of the System

Professional | 2019-2020

Evolution of Residences

Academic | 2017.10-2018.01

Iteration, or Repetition?

Academic | 2016.03-2016.06

Malls are Dying

Academic | 2018.03-2018.06

Supplemental Projects

S, M, L, XL

996 and Courtship: A Boon for the City

According to Jack Ma, once the wealthiest person in China, it was a huge blessing for Chinese people to work in the "996" system, working from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, six days per week. And Shenzhen, the youngest metropolis in China, is often named the city of "996".

The cluster of skyscrapers in the city, coming out in explosive growth, is the imagery of raising capital. They are solitary castles in the modern world, but the gold rush in 21 century is driving people to be part of them.

Inside the mechanic castle, the employees gradually realized their working condition is not better than that of batteries —being fixed in one position and releasing energy, then charged within the minimum time. Meanwhile, the relationship with others is also simplified to the most extent. The primary goal here is too straightforward to clarify.

Now a high-rise is imagined. Like humans develop a close relationship by confiding in others. The erecting building exposed and bent itself to the city, gaining a chance for people being confined inside of the tower to take a breath of the fresh air, and welcoming all curious outside citizens to climb on it as a weekend hiking tour. Eventually, the admired but forbidden one is no longer untouchable.

[CES TOWER]

High-Rise

Instructor: Prof. Zhigang Ai

Site: Nanshan, Shenzhen,China

Academic work | Fall 2016

The site is located at the East of Shenzhen University, the center area of High Tech-park, which refers to the silicon valley of China. Through four layers deprived of the site, we can have an overall understanding of its road network, transportation, programs, and context.

▼ FACTS

150m 100m 24m Residential area

LOVE DILEMMA

Shenzhen University

Bus Station

Bus Station

Yuehaimen Metro Station

Transportation

Context Gaoxin South Road(2) Keyuan South Road(3)

Office area Science and Technology South Road(2)

Programs Baishi Road(3)

BATTERIES

In Shenzhen city, the current new wave of the internet proved an economic elixir. It seems everybody wins what they want in this game: The people in tech industry are well paid when compared with other occupations. Internet giants arise and city booms. The most important thing is that the capital became unprecedentedly powerful at the moment. Under this situation, we might regard reality as a social experiment to belie Jack Ma's theory on blessing.

Along with the practice of "996", most tech-workers have to meet their potential dating partner with intensive arrangement during the only spare time they have left. Company extols the efficiency of those single individuals in work, but who will admire their effort in building intimacy with others?

▼ MOTIVATIONS

In current reality, the 996 working system is inevitable, but it should emerge into a healthier lifestyle. I resort to traditional Chinese landscape painting. It offers a potential resolution to organize the verticle space with its "three distances" concept, where intimate encounter may happen during casual uphill hiking.

1-Keep a distance.

▼ STAIR UNITS

The plots of conventional Chinese love stories were refined into four si g e w rds—友(frie dshi ), 恩(attracti ), 緣(dati g), 離(brea u ). Those words match with the stages in a tragic love story. The four conventional stories are <Butterfly Lovers>, <Madame White Snake>,

<Meng Jiangnus Bitter Weeping>, and <The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl>. Then four stone-like units were developed, as a metaphor for traditional love stories' plots, playing a crucial role in outdoor platforms' verticle transportations.

2-A central site axis for commuting people.

3-Three levels' dialogue with the environment.

4-Entrance for various groups of users.

5-Diverse dialogues.

6-Possibility for verticle transportation-outdoor stairs.

4.

OUTDOOR PATH DIAGRAM /

The

The

Insulation

Tempered

CONSTRUCTION LOGIC

Core-truss:

Reinforced-concrete & Braced Core

Mega-structure: Core-truss & Belt Trusses

Myth of the System: An Icon

of Anti-Iconism

With infinite expectation, the government authority of Qianhai hosts an international competition in which a world landmark will be designed to represent the image of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Bay Area is another financial and technology hot spot in Shenzhen under the nation's top-down planning

The new coastal city of Fabersociety's mind has its own rebel. It pursues not outlandish form, but a volume as light as clouds. It is a simple and powerful materialization of new public ideals. A landmark grew out of the concrete jungle but into an uncertain state, creating a sense of ritual for the city; with various festivals, it presents various states and truly becomes an indicator of the urban atmosphere. After the long process of reviewing and adjustment, seven competitors, including our team, were selected.

However, the bid award committee eventually agreed that the first prize was vacant due to the failure for all teams to reach the corresponding level of the first prize. The absence of a winner is not rare to see, but someone who experienced the whole process is prone to remain skeptical about a system. To what extent would political leaders' personal aesthetic preferences shape our cityscape?

[CUB-EACH]

LANDMARK ARCHITECTURE

Director: Alejandro Lara, Long Zuo

Teammates: Yunjie Jiang, Yaxue Chen

Site: Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

Professional work 2019-2020

Contribution: physical model 50%, design development 70%, rendering 50% Selected drawings are exclusively done by me

Notes: This work property belongs to Fabersociety and BARCLAY&CROUSSE ARCHITECTURE

▶ EVOLUTION

Satellite photo shows how the Qianhai zone, which had never been part of the continent until recent decades, evolved into the nowadays urban context.

◀ CONTEXT

By long land reclamation, this area acquires a tremendous amount of buildable land, on which the unprecedented cityscape will be shown.

▼ CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT DIAGRAM

1- Reorganize the coast line

2- Breakwater is buried under the site boundary to enclose a relatively stable beach

3- Strengthen the anti-wave foundation within the selected range to create a bathing area

4- Create a multi-layered, three-dimensional swimming experience

5- Lightweight frame, perfectting the cube

6- Cloud-like roofing softens volume and provides a unique shade and experience

As a landmark standing at the estuary, CUB-EACH pursues not outlandish form but a volume as light as clouds.

◥ MASTER PLAN

1.

4.

2.

5.

3.

1984.

2002.

2021.

6.

▶ RENDERING

1- Gravity Pin Structure: hold the middle segment as a keystone element

2- Tension cable: reinforce teh rigidity of the long span structures

4- Full Structure: element plays a role in both the aesthetics and the structural performance

3- Self-Bracing Strcuture: creat a strong structure to withstand windloads

2.

3.

Premier Li Hongzhang, an advocator of the Self-Strengthening Movement, was on a carriage with Major-General Roger during his first trip to North America In 1896. It was a massive milestone that the first time the Emperor of China sent a personal representative to North America since the Qing Empire isolated itself from the rest of the world out of its utmost pride. And Li, with a reputation for welcoming foreign influence, which leads to fate to bear the blame for failures which might have been avoided if he had had his way, was one of the principal founders of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company. Even Liang Sicheng, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture, denounced Li in 1951 for "selling out" the country, but he failed to see the lasting impact of the company that Li started on Chinese architecture.

In 1984, Yuan Geng, the first CEO of the China Merchants Group that developed from China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, was reporting to Deng Xiaoping. Yuan had founded the Shekou Industrial Zone, making it the first special economic zone in Shenzhen as part of Deng Xiaoping's reformist policies. Though Yuan was never ranked high in orders of precedence in China, which indicates he was not a political giant, he was still highly respected for his value that plays a vital role in shaping Shenzhen's spirit. Under consensus on chasing efficiency, pursuing justice in law and embracing liberals, a city has been its unprecedented prosperity. Its solid foundation in the economy, the emergence of new industries, and the constant population growth rate drive it to the next stage of history.

Wang Yang, who became one of the most powerful politicians of China in 2018, was having a conversation with President Xi Jinping in front of an engraved rock sign for the Qianhai zone established in 2010 based on the existing area Shekou. This new planned zone aims to strengthen cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen so that Pearl River Delta will eventually realize its grand urban integration plan. Under this background, international competitions are launched, excellent designers and professional teams are invited, the most creative schemes with a global view are collected. Everyone wants to take credit for inventing a future city. Though few people are aware of a question hanging in the air—Are Hong Kong people having enough motivation to participate in this game?

PROCESS DIAGRAM

◥ MODEL IN MATERIALS ▶ STUDY MODELS

The Convergence of Heavy and Light, the spiritual expression of a landmark

Event 1: Top-down planning

Event 2: Launch competition through invitation and open registration

Event 3: Through prequalification, 10 more competitors will be selected from the open applicants to participate in the competition.

Event 4: After review, 4 candidates for the first prize will be selected to enter the bid award procedure, with suggestions for scheme optimization given thereto. In addition, the jury will select 3 excellent prize winners from the other competitors.

Event 5: Scheme optimization within 3 weeks

Event 6: Award of Bid

Role 1: Hosts- Authority of Qianhai ShenzhenHong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation

Zone of Shenzhen

Shenzhen Bureau of Urban Planning and Natural Resources

Role 2: Organizer- Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou

Free Trade Zone Investment Development Co. Ltd

Role 3: Operator- Shenzhen Center for Design

Role 4: Competitors

Role 5: Jury-7 professionals+2 hosts

Role 6: Decision maker- Mayor

Role 7: Citizens

Evolution of Residences: Verticalization of Urban

Periphery

A stunning change in the residential environment has happened for the past few decades in Shenzhen. The city appeals to people from all over the nation to settle down in order to buoy up the economy. But now, various challenges are looming, such as confined living space, insane house prices, the deficiency of community facilities, and political disability.

According to Bertrand Russell, the three vital elements leading to citizens' happy lives are world government, approximate economic equality and stationary population. Since the population culminated in a pandemic, the other two factors became crucial considerations when the design was rethought.

In this project, a series of public connections fulfill the essential programs for the community and offer an equal opportunity for inhabitants to share their diverse customs and values, among which the most important thing is that here people will learn to participate and administrate their own internal affairs in the name of the Community Property Committee.

SOCIAL HOUSING

Instructor: Prof. Chuan He, Prof. Shan Chen

Site: Nanshan,Shenzhen,China

Academic work | Fall 2017

U its: For most people in Shenzhen, the foundation of life is about housing, which brings them a substantial mental burden. Then I start by studying a classic plan to figure out what role the housing play in people's daily lives when they are in different stage of life.

▼ BACKGROUND: DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSING

P a ed Ec y: before the 90s, the housing typology of Shenzhen is simple. They are influenced by culture from Hakka, Nanyang and the Soviet Union in sequence.

C ecti Shenzhen is a city of immigrants. The social community aims to offer a platform where people from different backgrounds can exchange their culture in daily activities. Eventually, understanding will be reached among inhabitants.

Voting: Well-Known for its citizens' civic spirit, Shenzhen often fails to provide a public space to encourage the communities' election activity, through which inhabitants can make their own decisions with consensus.

Prerequisites: V te Rate＞66.67% A r va ＞50%

Mar et Ec y: After the 90s, Real estate developers arose along with the economy's boom and the housing policy reform. Initially adopted from Hong Kong, highdense commodity housing became the mainstream in housing market. Meanwhile, the illegal buildings in the urban village are growing secretly.

Hakka traditionnal house Nanyang shophouse Khrushchyovka Hong Kong housing style Urban village Commodity housing

Shenzhen housing style

SECTION DESIGN/ TIME PROPORTION DIAGRAM

Based on previous analysis of people's lifestyles, I started the section design to meet the daily demand of inhabitants of different ages. And the time proportion diagram shows that the spaces' position relates to the using frequency and users.

▼ DESIGN STRATEGY

Plan the position of buildings, the public path, and the sunken garden.

▼ SPACE TYPOLOGYS

Through the study of various units plan that had appeared in Shenzhen, a series of units typologies are developed on a grid to meet the demand. And outdoor space, in a public size, is consisted of slopes and cores.

A secondary layer to create a semi-primate connection for events and transportations.

Make full use of the capacity in the Northern side to block the noise of the urban road. But twist the massing to improve ventilation.

Lower the front tower for the sight corridor. Connect those with Northen blocks to realize a loop in the sky.

The units are designed in various areas to meet the demand of different inhabitants. In general, the minor units are set at the North. Extending from the core of the building, Corridor intersects and creates sunken courtyards that are the ideal place for public affairs.

▼ ▼ RESIDENTIAL UNIT TYPE

There are five typologies of units that can be organized to meet the demand.

▼ COMMUNITY PROPERTY COMMITTEE

After analyzing the Hong Kong and Shenzhen community autonomy system, an architectural resolution comes out to bridge the gap.

Procedures of forming an Owners' Corporation(OC) Hong Kong

owners (≥5% in shares): convene a meeting

meeting o % o ners

votes o the o ners ≥5 %) ass the reso tion o ners ≥ % in shares) s ort the reso tion

a ication or the registration o the o ners as a cor oration

Decision making

genera meeting: votes o the o ners ≥5 %) a roves on irmation

Procedures of forming an Community Property Committe Shenzhen

owners (≥2 in shares) or 2 o ners: e est

re arator gro e treet ice)

re arator or

ointment o anagement ommittee in 5

hresho : owners(≥2/3) an o ners ≥ 2/3 in shares)

atten e o ners ≥5 %) an atten e o ners ≥5 % in shares) s ort

a ication or the registration

Decision making a or reso tion enera reso tion

hresho : owners(≥2/3) an owners(≥ 2/3 in shares)

atten e o ners ≥5 %) an atten e o ners ≥5 % in shares) s ort

hresho : owners(≥ 3/ in shares)

atten e o ners ≥ % in shares) s ort

Iteration, or Repetition?

the Gap in Generations

There are no flaws in the primary school of Shenzhen: modern equipment, teachers with top educational background, parents with a decent income. All factors above lead to comfortable travel, elite hobbies, and the most intelligent guidance for our next generations.

However, after one generation saw the world unprecedently, the cycle of history is happening. It is irrelated to physical satisfaction. It means a trend of ideology advocated by the next generation standing ahead of the curve without awareness. In other words, we are in the process of historical retrogression.

Confronted with authority as well as political correctness from parents, teachers, and principle, is it possible that we could chase a possibility with a new gesture and narration? Primary school is not only a place to acquire knowledge and form congruent values. It should be spaces where students are able to evoke their driving force and arouse their passion for life.

By analyzing the existing situations of primary school, I tried to develop a method to shape the spaces of a unique school. The school itself is like a bizarre castle surrounded by a running river, watching the congenital innocence of young students who are having their mental growth in daily chasing.

[RIVERRUN]

PRIMARY SCHOOL

Instructor: Prof. Chuan He, Site: Futian, Shenzhen, China

Academic work | Spring 2016

ANAYSIS

The site is located in Nanshan district, Shenzhen city. Even though various residential and official areas surround the block, the site itself doesn't enjoy an urban atmosphere. On the contrary, as a primary school serving the urban village, a rail bridge passes through the north, a hill at the west, and some village buildings at the south and east.

▼ SPACE PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT

While students are growing up in school, a variety of interests and behaviors arise, then there comes the trend of the year. In daily school life, young students are required to conform to the rules. Hence somewhere outside the classrooms is preferred by them. established a model to collect the most common schools trends before classifying them. The model includes both positive and negative trends with concerns about convenience, safety, and supervision from teachers. In the end, it came to two typologies of space: infinite track and activities corridor. Based on two typologies, conventional school evolutes, leading to the salient features of the design.

▼ SCHOOL TYPOLOGIES

With such a short history, five famous primary schools emerged in Shenzhen: Yuanling, Liyuan, Luoling, Shiyan and Cuizhu. By the grid in the size of 1m*1m to analyze plans and functions of those schools, it is clear to see the basic demand of a primary school in Shenzhen. And how serious is the situation: schools lack grounds to play.

▼ TIME DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS

In this analysis model, a standard schedule of young students is concluded. We can tell how they apportion energy in various means of interaction with other individuals every day. Apparently, the most occupying activity happens in school during the daytime. And a series of playing construction are developed from a cubic so they can learn in an agile way.

◢ FORMING PROCESS

LAYOUT

According to the school regulation, the athletic field should face south and north. Then the teaching programs are arranged on the west side, closed to the mountain.

CONNECTION: Connect the building to create courtyards, making more capacity. So the buildings can be lower and more sunlight will be able to come into the classrooms easily.

CORES: Integrate the columns and some other verticle transportation elements into mega cores, which frees the plan, and there is more space for students' daily activities.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

The plan developed from a round prototype. Classrooms are devided into several sectors, which makes podium a geometry centre so that students would be less abstracted.

From core to the periphery: Atrium-activity space-classroom-balcony. From liveliy to quiet.

Malls

are Dying: Growth of The New Desire

People pronounced a splendid encomium upon consumerism, though solid economic viability does not always connote righteousness in all aspects of our life.

Often regarded as the father of shopping malls, Victor Gruen pronounced an architectural typology doomed due to disobeying the original intention. In his mind, a shopping mall ought to stand as an expansion of community rather than a concealed and isolated box.

Of necessity, gathering demand and consuming desire, some of the human instincts, last forever. And a new space is proposed to satisfy the sophisticated desire of modern people. It contains tremendous virtual possibilities through the electronic screens that help expand the boundary of the commercial world. At the same time, more physical capacity is utilized to blur the line between community, nature, and stores. Beyond the congested shopping area and well-organized route, the indoor spaces with oval plans are only encouraged to concentrate on the essential functions and enrich people's experience in reality.

[MALL OF XIN-ZHOU]

SHOPPING MALL

Instructor: Prof. Zhigang Ai

Site: Futian, Shenzhen, China

Academic work | Spring 2018

Surrounded by crowded buildings, the only open space for the site is the front river, which offers an opportunity for the mall to have a major facade to present its character to the city and attract people.

▼ PHASE-1: GATHERING SPACE/ COLLECTIVE MEMORY

It is human nature to stay together, but not until the 1950s in America did people succeed in creating an entirely indoor space to spend their spare time. Without a doubt, the efforts to make a place with a specific function are due to the constant economic growth.

For China, it was vague to say where people should do what. And various open spaces like parks, squares, and outdoor stages satisfied Chinese hunger for interacting with others. Nowadays, major cities in China have stepped into a developed statement, but it takes time for people's minds to adapt to the stunning-changing physical world.

▼ PHASE-3: NEW ELEMENTS OF MALLS

For the new desire, those elements should be rethought.

-Screens take the place of redundant objects (posters, shop windows, merchandise...)

-Open shopping route led to space odyssey

-Tangent ellipses recreate the standard store's space

-Smaller stores for experiential consumption

▶ PHASE-2: THE RISE OF CONSUMERISM

The Households Debt of Chinese soared in 20 years. In this process, consumerism arose where people may get annoyed by its pervasive impacts. Then here comes the question: since the electronic screens, blessed by high-tech, are able to satisfy our desire in many aspects, is it possible that we can have a vague place again, where the community, nature, and the business world merged subtly?

The essential programs and potential vision corridor define the solid separation and gap in each floor. Then the circulation and verticle transportation outline the plan's base under new elemental principles.

OF THE 3TH/ 4TH FLOOR

Revolving belts and Internet Celebrities' Spaces are the expressions based on foundation of Oval spaces,

The nature is introduced to the square from front river through the open corridor.

◀ NEW ELEMENTS-CONCRETIZATION

In the mall building, three space typologies are the concretization of the new elements, which work together in combinations to promote the interaction.

▼ PLAN OF THE FIRST FLOOR

The first-floor plan connects the community and nature by an open square surrounded by entities with essential programs.

◤ LIBRARY+STUDIO+CAFE=URBAN EXHIBITION

The Cylinder plays a role in presenting commercial activities to the outside. Each level has a unique mechanic device on the floor, which rotates automatically as long as people occupy the space. Then the activities will be exposed to the public in terms of time.

▲ STANDARD STORE

Based on an oval plan, the standard store's space consists of two major focal points and a series of congruent shops. By following principles, It ensures people have a space odyssey while shopping. -Fixed points enjoy the best position, but it is only used for temporary Pop-up shop. -Congruent shop shares equal indoor area and electronic screen in the same size.

◥ INTERNET CELEBRITIES' SPACE

As the prelude to the mall, a space is customized for internet celebrities. The flexible screens, a metaphor for architectural texture, delicate cafe houses, and check-in points globally play a vital role. Actually, the stars in exquisite makeup are not the only ones who fulfill their own desire. In this open space, all people are having a dialogue with each other—the internet celebrities become the attractions within the mall.

Supplemental Projects: S, M, L, XL

INTERIOR RENOVATION

Construction: Julin Hu

Site: Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

Individual work | 2019

Selected drawings are exclusively done by Yifan Tang

VILLAGE HOUSE

Instructor: Long Zuo

Site: Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

Professional work | 2021

VILLAGE COMMUNITY

Instructor: Dr. Mladen Jadric | Teammates: Andreea Suteu, Kaiping Zhang

Site: Burgenland, Austria Workshop | 2016

XL URBAN DESIGN

Instructor: Alejandro Lara | Teammate: Yaxue Chen Site: Dongguan, China

Professional work | 2020

"Interruption and digression bring forward the imagination and displace our assumptions about the world of discourse."

SANDRA

SCHOR, <Reclaiming Digression>