EoYS21_MArch_5

Columbia GSAPP 2018-2021

Shuang Bi Master of Architecture

Graduation Portfolio

FOLIO OF WORK

01 03 05 07 09

Fluid Ground

04

A floatable barn system

Park & Tower

32

Rethinking NYCHA in our current time

Play It Out

58

Urban fitness infrastructure design

Nameless Theatre

88

Building system integration

“Tri-elliptical Pyre” Shape-finding with genetic algorithm

100

02 04 06 08 10

Dunescape

20

Tomkins Cove quarry: Extraction, succession, and retreat

Stacks

44

A branch library prototype

Disassembly Required

66

Deconstruction manual for Amazon warehouse workers

Prada Transformer

Super-Tall Skyscraper system mapping

96

108

D

01 A Floatable Barn System Edgemere, Queens, NY

What is the ground? The dictionary defines it to be a solid surface of the earth. It defaults to be dry. People in the modern world have applied numerous technologies to maximize this dry surface: landfills, dams, roads; however, they still can’t stop the boundary between land and water from shifting closer to us. We have been living with water for centuries: the humidity in air, rain, snow, canal, sewage, paddy field...Why is water, the cradle for life, now a threat to us?

Jan - Apr 2021 | 14 weeks Advanced Studio VI Critic: Jaffer Kolb, Ivi Diamantopoulou

FLUID GROUND

Edgemere, this low-lying water front community is constantly at risk for flooding from heavy rains and high tides. Instead of elevating the buildings to stay away from the water, there is a softer way to react to the more constant and intense wetness in the neighborhood.

Challenging the default dry ethos, this project seeks to embrace water by transforming the pre-engineered barn into a device sensitive to the transient wetness in our environment. It interacts with water throughout the weather: allowing ventilation to regulate humidity, channeling rain for plant growth, and raising floors with groundwater levels.

By letting water into our everyday domain, the design disrupts normality and disorientates our lives. The ground is no longer solid, uniform, and stable; it fluctuates with the changing wetness in the environment. The relationship between land and water is in flux throughout the year: ground versus water, ground as water, and the ground is water.

The new fluid reality in the frame of a ready-made barn structure will recast our understanding of the boundary between wet and dry...

Spring 2021

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

6

FLUID GROUND

7

Spring 2021

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

8

FLUID GROUND

9

Second Floor

Ground Floor

Spring 2021

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

10

FLUID GROUND

11

Low Water Level

Library

Spring 2021

Mid Water Level

Study Lounge

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

12

Wood-shop

High Water Level

Resiliency Workshop

Kitchen

Light Dining

Cafe

FLUID GROUND

13

Ground Versus Water

Spring 2021

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

14

FLUID GROUND

15

Ground As Water

Spring 2021

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

16

FLUID GROUND

17

Ground Is Water

Spring 2021

Core Studio IV One Bar Five Obstructions

18

FLUID GROUND

19

E

02 Tomkins Cove Quarry: Extraction, Succession, Retreat Tomkins Cove, NY

Tomkins Cove is one of a network of abandoned stone quarries in the Hudson Valley - former sources of construction materials for the development of New York and other regional cities.

In 2019 Tilcon, the quarry owner proposed converting it into a landfill and then ultimately into 199 acres of public waterfront recreational green space by hypothetically reversing the extraction process.

Opposing to this reclamation method that could bring enormous environmental harm to the Hudson River area, the studio proposed a artists’ residency program inside the quarry, with an effort to address

Jan - Apr 2020 | 14 weeks Advanced Studio IV Scales of Environment Critic: Lindy Roy

DUNESCAPE

By casting shells on the waste piles in Tomkins Quarry, my project creates a new concrete landscape that hosts a short-term residency for musicians, dancers, and other performing artists.

The goal is to recast the way people experience the quarry by as much of the found conditions as possible while transforming it into habitable space and mitigating the issues mining the land created.

Guiding Principles of the project: Recast the Experience of the Quarry Use architecture to shift, modulate, and complicate how people experience the quarry.

My approach is not moralistic—it does not treat the quarry as a “good” or a “bad” thing, but rather as a record of how we have understood, engaged with, used, and transformed this piece of land. My project documents this and invites people to consider the resulting forms in a: aesthetic, ecological and material way.

Minimal Intervention To not erase what has happened here, I use only materials found on site. In this way the project is a continuation of the human intervention in the quarry, using the same ingredients in a new way to create a novel experience. So that (History becomes legible geography) Mitigate Issues At the same time, to make this a habitable space, I design interventions that create program areas while mitigating issues like dust and the potential landslides that make the space uninhabitable

Spring 2020

Core Studio IV Scales of Environment

22

DUNESCAPE

23

Arrival Point Proposal Site

Rock Surface Fine Granite Landslide Weathered Soil Waste pile Compact Soil

Waste Piles Typology

Waste Piles Site Photos

Quarry Land Disruption

Spring 2020

Core Studio IV Scales of Environment

24

DUNESCAPE

25

Spring 2020

Core Studio IV Scales of Environment

26

DUNESCAPE

27

Spring 2020

Core Studio IV Scales of Environment

28

DUNESCAPE

29

Stepping down from the shell, here you are to enter your retreat

The journey from arriving on the shell, to space in between and inside the shell, to finally outside, leads artists to contemplate their relationship with themselves, with other people, and with nature.

Spring 2020

Core Studio IV Scales of Environment

30

DUNESCAPE

31

R

03 Part to Whole, after The Nuclear Family Bronx, New York, NY

NYCHA Housing in NYC, influenced by Le Corbusier’s model “Towers in the Park”, have ailed to be executed as what he visioned in a Modernism ideal. Steel fence, floodlight, concrete paving, everything is degrading the “park” into a “prison yard”.

Sep - Dec 2019 | 14 weeks Core Studio III STATES OF HOUSING Critic: Adam Frampton Teammate: U Kei Long

PARK & TOWER

Aiming to continue the NYCHA typology to our current tie, we argue that its architectural problems result from the overpowering consideration of physical efficiency to that of shared space for the community. The goal is to bring back the public realms of various scales to the design.

The first guideline is to guarantee a functional rather than simply visual openness on the ground. We planned landscape park that opens off of the street, maintaining a sense of connectivity with the city beyond. We also used the podiums to preserve part of the street walls and to connect the new and the existing buildings.

The communal space continues from the ground into the triangular hub inside the tower.

Though each residential wing has its unique combination of unit types and demographic groups, they are all linked to the hub area that hosts the public programs for every three wings around.

The roof terrace is what eventually brings all tenants in the block together. Open across seven wings, it provides a view to the Bronx neighborhood as well as Manhattan to its South West.

With a balance of physical productivity and social engagement, “Towers in the Park” is back to life, meeting the actual needs of people living together in a communal environment.

Fall 2019

Core Studio III STATES OF HOUSING

34

PARK & TOWER

35

Ground Floor Plan

Fall 2019

Core Studio III STATES OF HOUSING

36

PARK & TOWER

37

Typical Floor Plan

Fall 2019

Core Studio III STATES OF HOUSING

38

PARK & TOWER

39

Fall 2019

Core Studio III STATES OF HOUSING

40

PARK & TOWER

41

Fall 2019

Core Studio III STATES OF HOUSING

42

PARK & TOWER

43

S

04 Branch Library Design New York, NY

Together, the three discrete objects stacked through an independent or collaborative system, generate a novel structural, formal and programmatic strategies for the branch library that address heterogeneous media, activities and constituencies.

Jan - Apr 2019 | 14 weeks Core Studio II | The Library Critic: Emmett Zeifman

STACKS

Stack refers to two architectural instances in the process of this branch library design : the library stacks (libraries’ organizing structure) and the vertical stack of discrete floors (modern buildings’ organizing structure). As a generative technique, we explored stacking discrete found objects to create a new organization of the library, which produced a coherent typography of structure, program and the activities inside.

The concrete tube is the primary stacking element among the three types of objects used. Its variations in scales and arrangement generate a collection of spatial qualities and rhythms. By stacking floors, each with a distinct organizational diagram, the assumed hierarchy of program is flattened into sequential spaces inside the tube or the voids in between them.

As an integration of function and construction method, storage and seating furniture is precast into the concrete culverts to generate a synthetic image of the structure, the building and the activities within.

Another element of the stacking vocabulary is the concrete arch on the ground floor. Sitting in Sara D. Roosevelt Park—the city’s “largest playground”—the first level of the library is lifted up for the activities and visuality of the park to continue underneath. The stacks of the last object, steel element evolved from joist hanger, host two structural cores of the library. Its intersecting with the tubes on each level generates a stacking logic that guides the vertical sequence of the building.

Spring 2019 Spring 2019

Core Studio | The Library Core Studio II TheII Library

17 46

STACKS STACKS

47 18

Spring 2019

Core Studio II The Library

48

STACKS

49

Spring 2019

Core Studio II The Library

50

STACKS

51

1. Lobby 3. Children’s Library 5. Bathroom 7. Community Room 9. Bathroom

Spring 2019

Core Studio II The Library

52

2. Kitchen and Cafe 4. Teens’ Library 6. Reading Area 8. Digital Working Lab 10. Auditorium

STACKS

53

Fall 2018 - Academic

Spring 2019

Core Studio II The Library

54

PLAY IT OUT

STACKS

55

Spring 2019

Core Studio II The Library

56

STACKS

57

T

05 Urban Fitness Infrastructure New York , NY

To argue against the “heritage” of athletic clubs in Manhattan, the fitness stops are trying to bring public fitness back to the street through their physical openness and the new urban images they will generate.

Oct - Dec 2018 | 10 weeks Core Studio I | Broadway Stories Critic: Stephanie Lin

PLAY IT OUT

Outdoor exercising is hardly possible in the Nomad area. In many highly gentrified neighborhoods in NYC like Nomad, the concept of “fitness” is not “public” anymore.

Social media is becoming the new platform for “Downtown Athletic Club” , and competing sports clubs are narrowing physical activities only to pricey membership, leading to people’s misuse of the infrastructure as workout device.

Responding to the problem above, my project investigates into the hidden urban spaces that can potentially re-frame the image of public fitness. My approaches to the segregation of health is through reshaping or reusing the existing infrastructures as new urban gyms in -- Citibike stops, bus stations, as well as privately owned public spaces. Each place contains a user-defined workout device(s), and the connection between them is reinforced by creating a map of different routines that link these stops.

Types of activities are suggested by the materials of the surface, which are terrazzos with various sizes of aggregates. A wall with bigger stone pieces indicates a climbing wall, while a path with smaller gravels suggest a running track. The intention of playfulness and flexibility of the exercise program increases the interaction between users and surfaces around, which also depicts its modification of the existing infrastructure.

Fall 2018

Core Studio I Broadway Stories

60

PLAY IT OUT

61

Fall 2018

Core Studio I Broadway Stories

62

PLAY IT OUT

63

Fall 2018

Core Studio I Broadway Stories

64

PLAY IT OUT

65

Y D

06 A Guide To Dismantling Amazon Warehouse and Building Workers’ Community The story starts in amazon warehouses during covid. Regardless of the surging death toll in the U.S., Amazon refused to shut down its facilities or to acknowledge the full impact of COVID-19 on its workers; instead, it sped up its operation, taking advantage of the economic desperation caused

by COVID-19 to increase its market power and dominance...

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED [Amazon is] taking advantage of the economic desperation caused by COVID-19 to increase its market power and dominance.

— The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Sep - Dec 2020 | 14 weeks Advanced Studio V Network of Care Critic: Laura Kurgan Teammates: Yuan Li, Lin Hou 1

Chapter I

Call To Action: Amazon Is Ruining Your Community

2

Based on Amazon’s exploitative business model, our project is a manual that guides its warehouse workers to take apart their job site and to rebuild their community with warehouse components.

233 x

90,000 - 100 million sq ft

The most common type of facility, serving a wide range of purposes. UPS will pick up from here.

Crossdock

394 x

~150,000 sq ft

across

Responsible for sorting packages by zip code which are then delivered to an Air Hub, Amazon Delivery Station, or to the USPS post office of the zip code.

Prime Air Hub

11 x

809 242 40

Amazon logistics facilities built

Sortation Centers

83 x

By the end of 2020, there were

Receives and consolidates products from vendors and then ships these products to other fulfillment centers within Amazon's network.

states.

Amazon is still looking to build more...

9,000,000 sq ft

Packages in fulfillment centers will be flown to the central sortation hub in Hebron, KY, where packages will be sorted and flown again to their regional fulfillment centers.

Delivery Station

counties, and

Location Strategy I: Close to Major Cities

B

10 x

This map shows that nearly all Amazon warehouses are located in urban counties, which have populations of over 10,000.

In urban areas, they are often the last step in the chain before packages reach customers. Courier companies and Amazon Flex drivers typically handle these short-range deliveries.

Source: MWPVL International

5

Chapter I

Call To Action: Amazon Is Ruining Your Community

6

Rural Suburban Small Metro Medium Metro Large Metro 7

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

68

Amazon’s most-frequent customers are concentrated in the affluent neighborhoods of big cities.

60 - 100,000 sq ft

Patterns Of Development — How Did Amazon Find Your County?

Your Warehouse Decides Amazon’s Success

Fulfillment Center

The manual consists of four chapters. The first chapter explains why the workers should say no to Amazon. We use GIS tools to explain Amazon’s warehouse site selection strategy. By overlapping the warehouse locations with the Social Vulnerability Index, we select three types of counties and examine Amazon’s impact on them. The second chapter describes the components of a warehouse and the third chapter provides disassembly instructions. Lastly, we used the story of three counties to show how workers have rebuilt their communities after deconstructing their warehouses.

How Many Are There in the U.S.?

Which Type of Warehouse Is Yours?

Source: Christine Wen, God Jobs First; DeadMalls.com; CDC Social Vulnerability Index 2018 Database

Chapter I

Call To Action: Amazon Is Ruining Your Community

8

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

69

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

70

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

71

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

72

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

73

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

74

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

75

76

77

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

78

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

79

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

80

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

81

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

82

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

83

Fall 2020

Adv Studio V Networks of Care

84

DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

85

86

87

S

07 Integrated Building System Brooklyn, NY

Sep - Dec 2019 | 14 weeks Architecture Technology 4 Critic: Sarrah Khan Teammates: Alina Abouelenin, Camille Brustlein, Sarah Bisignano Zamler

NAMELESS THEATRE

Terracotta Facade Parapet Detail

Sustainability Diagram

Fall 2019

AT4 Integrated Design – Building Scale

90

Stud Wall Plan Detail

Nameless Theatre

91

Level 1 Floor Plan

Level 3 Partial Plan

Fall 2019

AT4 Integrated Design – Building Scale

92

Nameless Theatre

93

Curtain Wall Axon Detail

Curtain Wall System

Fall 2019

AT4 Integrated Design – Building Scale

94

Curtain Wall Section Detail

Nameless Theatre

95

A

08 Seoul, Korea

Oct - Dec 2018 | 10 weeks Architectural Drawing and Representation I Critic: Bika Rebek

PRADA TRANSFORMER

prada 2018 서울 패션쇼

prada 2018 서울 패션쇼

서울 패션쇼

AL

SP

CI

H

AR

ST AI W

2018 fall

Fall 2018

Architectural Drawing and Representation I

98

W DO

T

EX

IB

NE

SH

OW

I EC

A M

N IO IT

N

2018 fall

Prada Transformer

99

L

09 “TRI-ELLIPTICAL PYRE”

Shape-finding With Genetic Algorithm Reno, Nevada

The project seeks to demystify the design process for a pavilion by operating through a legible methodology and generative process. The goal is to achieve certain qualitative and quantitative goals within the structure while optimizing them as variables balanced against one another. The process allows this system to be adapted to any pavilion composed of beam elements.

Jan - Apr 2020 | 14 weeks Generative Design Critic: Danil Nagy Teammates: Daniel Kim, Anirudh Chandar, Jacob Li

The Design Problem The pavilion seeks to maximize its shading (through overhang) while minimizing material usage and member deflection giving us clear constraints that need to be balanced. The design was composed of three vertically stacked ellipses that control the shape of the pavilion at three fixed heights. The pavilion, composed of beam elements, would be the form resulting from the interpolation of points on these 3 ellipses. The cross section of each beam is assigned in increments based on industry standards in response to the amount of stress applied on each beam which in turn depends on its length and overhang. The interior of the pavilion is designed to allow for human occupation, creating fixed constraints.

Design Space Metrics

Spring 2020

Generative Design

102

“Tri-elliptical Pyre”

103

Among the 1750 designs from the optimization process, we selected 15 that were equally highperforming based on trade-offs between the shadow area and the material cost. We added two more evaluation metrics to further differentiate the results: the shadow area per material cost and shadow area per deformation distance. By comparing the results based on these 2 metrics, we found that designs of high values of shadow/cost tend to have 50-54 beams, while those of high values of shadow/displacement tend to have a top ring size within 20’ to 22’.

Spring 2020

Generative Design

104

“Tri-elliptical Pyre”

105

Spring 2020

Generative Design

106

“Tri-elliptical Pyre”

107

T

10 Skyscraper System Mapping New York, NY

Jan - Apr 2021 | 14 weeks Building Science & Technology Elective Critic: Nicole Dosso

SUPER-TALL

62 Floor High-rise

Second Floor Low-rise

Mechanical Floor

Mechanical Floor

Typical Floor

Basement Level

110

111

g i