Guangbin Zhen
portfolio April 2014 gz2204@columbia.edu
Bank of Post-Life
Brooklyn, New York Columbia University Core Studio II Bank of Post-Life aims to help the neighborhood explore the concept of death and after-life condition. The clients of the bank sign up for a “checking-out� account, and at the moment of death they will receive full service of funeral rites and deposit their bodies as bone ash, or cryopreserved, or have themselves shipped to the cemetery. The affiliated anti-ageing research center offers them the opportunity to stake on future technology to reanimate themselves. It is an ideal space for people from different religious backgrounds to unify their notions of what post-life would be.
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4
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3 2 16 1
6 5
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6 1. customer reception 2. meeting room 3. temporary file storage 4. bathroom 5. large storage 6. archive floors 7. lobby 8. bone ash floor communal area 9. public elevator entrance 10.elevator access to chapels 11.ramp access to research floor 12.vitrification/medical center 13.bridge access to crematorium and cryonics center 14.crematorium 15.funeral rite chapels 15.structural outline 16.anti-ageing research institute
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passage connecting the crematorium and chapels, a space of “reflection�
anti-ageing research center
connecting bridge
interior of the liquid nitrogen production silo
crematorium
overall program distribution
cryonics institute
funeral rites chapel
bone ash hall
elevator access to chapels
customer archive
customer center
anti-ageing research institute
evolution from concept models shows the intricate linear process within a loop circulation, weaving the spirit of post-life together
Upper West Side Natatorium Manhattan, New York Columbia University Core Studio I
This project intends to bring back the ecosystem which used to dominate Manhattan Penisula. Learning from the purification water process of the wetland with the help of various aquatic plants, the natatorium contains a similar system to remove the pollutants from the used water in the swimming pool. The used water in the pool that needs to be changed will be pumped up to elevated ponds or directed to the ground ponds with reeds, water lilies etc. After sometime, the water will be filtered by the plants and sand, and then will be redirected back to the pool. These treatment ponds provide an opportunity for the visitors to learn more about botany and ecology, and more importantly the historic environment of Manhattan. Formally, the building are composed of hexagon cells that resemble some plant cells seen under microscope. The swimming pool is given a central focus, so that everyone can have a visual response with the pool while they tour around the building.
North River Water Pollution Control designed capacity: 170 million gallons/day actual capacity: 150 million gallons/day year of operation: 1986 population served: 588,772 plant staff: 109
B
site
D
A
C
E
North River Treatment Plant Service Area treatment plant and capacity CSO (combined sewage overflow) direction of grey water flow
plant name F
capacity
A Wards Island
275
B
Hunts Point
200
C Bowery Bay
150
D Tallman Island
80
E
Newtown Creek
310
F
Red Hook
60
diagram of filtering system
conceptual collages of the site being flooded
roof with oculus
plant cell organization
facilities pond
reception pool
pond
auditorium
structural concept pond
program organization
facilities pond
reception
pond pool pond
auditorium
pond
pond
scaling
filtering tower with treatment ponds
facilities pond
reception
pond pool pond pond
auditorium
distorting
pond
education center
facilities
auditorium
pond
second floor
reception
pond
pool
pond auditorium
pond exploding
valley mountain
reception
changing rooms
folding first floor cafĂŠ
swimming pool
ramp
ground treatment ponds (outdoor access)
playground
men’s room
reception male changing room
men’s room
lady’s room
lady’s room
female changing room
deducation center
open to below treatment ponds coach’s lounge
reception area
treatment ponds
swimming pool
entrance
open to below
auditorium
café
treatment ponds
10
20 ft
first floor plan
N
0
Columbus Avenue
0
10
20 ft
second floor plan
treatment ponds
education center
reception area
coach’s lounge
entry walkway natatorium
connected to city water supply
mechanical room
filtered water pipe
drainage pipe
water pump
iceland 133g/person/day north korea 58g/person/day
Engaging the process of food production, Fowl Exchange is a social paradigm in the Sahelian area in Agadez, Niger, a gathering center for the Tuareg nomads. The Tuaregs have had serious conflicts with each other and their government due to limited access to basic nutrition –especially protein sources. Inspired by the noble soup kitchens organized by Raoul Wallenberg, this project uses the simple chicken, (along with a few other fowl), as agents of social and nutritional revival. Fowl Exchange harvests both solar power and natural rain to supply a series of constructed grounds upon which the Tuareg care for their fowl in a civic farming environment. Far less costly than camels and able to provide quick value both in terms of meat and eggs (also for trade), the chicken facilitates the re-inscription of one’s home territory as the Promised Land you knew it to be.
canada 105g/person/day
kazakhstan 104g/person/day
china 89g/person/day
Fowl Exchange
Agadez area, Niger University of Michigan UG4
greece 118g/person/day
luxembourg 123g/person/day
mongolia 72g/person/day
US 114g/person/day
haiti 41g/person/day
israel 126g/person/day tunisia 93g/person/day UAE 104g/person/day mexico 92g/person/day
guatemala 57g/person/day
india 56g/person/day
venezuela 71g/person/day
bangladesh 49g/person/day nicaragua 62g/person/day mauritania 86g/person/day suriname 55g/person/day
thailand 57g/person/day
eritrea 47g/person/day
liberia 36g/person/day
brazil 84g/person/day
indonesia 56g/person/day
ecuador 57g/person/day democratic republic of congo 25g/person/day peru 67g/person/day australia 106g/person/day
bolivia 56g/person/day
mozambique 38g/person/day
less than 38 g/person/day 38 - 52 52 - 63 63 - 73 73 - 81 81 - 89
daily protein intake per capita
89 - 101 101 - 115 115 - 133
china 101 germany 7 japan 12
croatia 3
haiti 407
US 11 iraq 389
afghanistan175
iran 147
pakistan 267
algeria 139
iceland 7
mexico 149
russia 42
canada 1
honduras 468
india 319
guyana 306 yemen 438 mali 1291
burma 463 ehiopia 732 laos 663
nicaragua 254
sierra leon 875
democratic republic of congo 468 indonesia 262
australia 1
mozambique 547
brazil 135
peru 203
angola 1355 bolivia 394 argentina 69
less than 10 per 10,000 inhabitants 10 - 100 100 - 200 200 - 300 300 - 400 400 - 500 500 - 6000 600 - 700 700 - 800 800 - 1000 1000 - 1350
population suffering from protein-energy malnutrition
more than 1350
location of Agadez in Niger and precipitation of the area LIBYA
ALGERIA
AGADEZ
MALI
precipitation 0
N
I
G
E
R
mm/year
CHAD
100 Tahoua Tillaberi Zinder
capital: Niamey Maradi
250
Dosso
BURKINA FASO
NIGERIA BENIN
500 750
pepper
Agadez: desert with green
mixing chicken
city of Agadez and the river nearby as an ideal site for chicken husbandry
cutting
garlic
chickens carried by camels
serving
Tuareg people raising chicken
urban area of Agadez
the river supports natural lives in desert
ketchup flour
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conceptual drawing of cooking process showing cultural elements in this everyday activity
22:10
lean body
strong legs
wild African rooster
heavy breast
recessed legs
domestic standard American rooster
site analysis of Agadez
oasis formed by the river Tuareg nomad emmigrating direction
popular Tuareg settlement outside Agadez
toward the Sahara desert
city of Agadez
partial forest of Kirboubou
the Tuareg people near Agadez
Agadez is an ancient city founded by the Tuareg people as a trade center. Investigation into the city of Agadez in Niger shows the importance of a nearby river, which provides water for the residents as well as the Tuareg nomads who move around in the valley. In view of the convetion of the Tuareg people transporting their food source including fowls on top of their camels, I propose a farming structure raised above ground in order for the fowls to stay in a comfortable climate condition. Hundreds of these structures, or exchange points will be set up near the site for the Tuaregs to settle around, offering a place for gathering, cooking, keeping food source, and a centripedal force to link the community together. This aims to suggest a new urban typology for the nomadic groups.
section drawing showing a festive day in the community. The nobles are having a private feast. Some are praying, some are dancing, some are preparing food, and some are having guests at their own tents.
community Tikoubi population: 58 fowl numbers: 154
solar power panels
community Ayedaz population: 69 fowl numbers: 178 community Bourazeyg population: 114 fowl numbers: 294
gutter for rain collection
walk-on floors
cistern units
1.light allowable metal mesh 2.soil with plantation 3.filter fabric 4.moisture rentention 5.water feeding system 6.feed tray 7.egg collection tray 8.drip irrigation pipes
poultry farming units section
bamboo scaffolding
4 ft
communal/storage/pray/slaughter area
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poultry farming units 2
8 3 4 10 ft
community Makerbou population: 107 fowl numbers: 289
community Hamalil population: 74 fowl numbers: 145
steel structural base
community Petiki population: 82 fowl numbers: 142
community Kibaraz population: 85 fowl numbers: 183
0
project distribution around the site in Niger
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concrete foundation
self-sustainable system of camel’s body
2 mi
structural components and section of a typical chicken unit
Harlem Park Public Bathroom Manhattan, New York Columbia University Core Studio I
Crime data in the area shows that many of the drug abuse and prostitution cases occurred in public bathrooms around the city. Public bathrooms are common places for crime because it is an enclosed and easy to find place, where the users are offered temporary territoriality and privacy. Territoriality and privacy are distinct conditions. For example, in the bus, each passenger with a seat has his territoriality but not privacy. This leads me to question the static states of territoriality and privacy in bathrooms. The diagrams study different conditions where there can be equal territoriality and equal privacy, no territoriality and no privacy, unequal territoriality and equal privacy. By introducing two doors fixed at ninety degrees, it is possible to introduce contingent territoriality and privacy. My design responds to the social awkwardness between the two users in the bathroom. The doors have round edges which look like walls. But they rotate and separate the functions in the bathroom while changing the spaces usable between the two users. The interior is kept simplest, and all the mechanical systems are hidden behind the plastic enclosure. But the outside is covered with glasses so the pipes and steel structures are visible from outside.
equal territoriality
no territoriality
unequal territoriality
equal territoriality
unequal territoriality
equal territoriality
contingent territoriality
equal privacy
no privacy
unequal privacy
equal privacy
equal privacy
equal privacy
contingent privacy
study of privacy and territoriality in bathroom
four different conditions of space controlled by rotating door
skylight
1. square tubing frame
vent
2. inner plastic wall
garbage bin
sink baby changing platform
3. ceiling with skilight
toilet
toilet tank
4. plumbing and ventilation
waste pipe
water pipe
5. roof and glass walls
diagram of piping system
water supply system sewage system
animated rendering of the use of bathroom