GAO Wanqi-MArch Urban Design UCL

Wanqi Gao 2021Portfolio Apply for Urban Design MArch Program, University College London

01 Rebuilding 'Vein' / 02 Reimagine Tradition / 03 Vanishes in a Flash / 04 Landscape for Children

Rebuilding 'Vein' Wool-thread model based urban river front renovation Individual Work

Since the 20th century, road construction has become the core of urban development.

Complex overpasses and subway lines are regarded as urban arteries that constantly create vitality for the city. But at the same time, the river, which is regarded as the vein of the city, has gradually been ignored by urban development, and has even been occupied and polluted.

The Dameisha River is a typical example : a river less than 500 meters long is cut off by seven roads and viaducts. The space on both sides was occupied by urban land. Functional flood control renovation makes river hardening and ecological damage. In addition, the huge number of tourists brought by the scenic spots around the site are constantly invading the normal functions and ecological environment of the river.

In this context, I try to reconstruct the landscape and social life inside the site by combing the relationship between the river and the city, and tried to use the algorithm to assist the design generation.

Site Location Analysis

Shenzhen Development Timeline

1840 Shenzhen was just a small fishing village without any urban construction.

1900 Most aborigines in Shenzhen live on fishing and live in poverty.

1979 Shenzhen became the first group of Special Economic Zone.

2000 The Shenzhen government has formulated many policies to attract young people.

2020 Shenzhen has become one of the most famous international metropolises in China.

Site Type Recognition

Radar Analysis Diagram Site is located in the most popular tourist area in Shenzhen.

Through the analysis of the radar chart, it is found that the natural ecological type of land is in a state of neglect and waste.

Nature/Ecology

Community/Residence

Shopping/Entertainment

Tourism/Leisure

Site Space Situation

Relationship Between River and Urban

1.Lack of spatial experience

2.Urban roads occupy river space

3.River water pollution

4.lowering of river water level Ecological destruction

6.Residential areas occupy river space

5.Viaduct divides river space

River Condtions in Shenzhen Since the 20th century, the importance of rivers in urban public spaces has been gradually ignored. The river space is polluted and gradually becomes a forgotten urban resource.

The Dameisha River is a typical example: this 500-meter-long river is cut off and covered by multiple highways, and the space on both sides of the river is occupied by urban land.

The flood control reform hardened the river bank and damaged the ecology.

Analysis of River Problems

Comparison of Water Cycle Processes

Nature Water Cycle

With the advancement of urbanization, a large amount of land has hardened, making it difficult for natural precipitation to penetrate.

Precipitation will flow into the city's drainage network, and finally bring a large amount of heavy metal elements into the natural river.

This is an obvious vicious circle.

Urban Water Cycle

Tourist Season Event Lava Map

Residents: Commuting Traffic

Residents: Daily Diet Visitors: Tourism Residents: Work Residents: Entertainment Residents: Leisure & Exercise

Site Livelihood

Site Issue

Ecological Cycle System / Design Strategy

1.Conflict And Pressure

Residents Student Office worker Villa residents Tourist Precipitation Temperature

Site is overcrowded in the peak season, but in the off-season the space is wasted and the utilization rate is low. Site has conflicts and pressures between low and peak seasons.

Tourists

Tourist season Population

8083 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 11 12 Month

The standard construction of urbanization makes the site landscape experience and lifestyle singular, and the site lacks cultural characteristics and spatial identity.

Eco Plaza

Original Path

Buffer/Shunt

Attractions Special Events

Space Experience

Social Gathering

Elevation Change

StudentsS

taff

Community Culture

Urban Vein Ecological Corridor

Corridor Bridge

Urban River

Fruit Picking

Algae

Community Activity

Plankton

School

Urban agriculture

Outdoor Classroom

Life Diversity

Shopping

Fish

Bird Watching

4.Monotony And Absence

305,000

1

The river is covered and cut by multiple urban roads and viaducts, making the river landscape space experience a fracture, damaging the site function, and dividing the site space.

Use

Cultural Diversity

Landscape View

3.Invasion And Segmentation

Population Change

Residents

Community

2.Waste And Deterioration The river in the site is left unused and wasted. Blindly hardening of the revetment leads to the deterioration of river ecology and the reduction of use value, which gradually forms a vicious circle.

Daily Social Community Activities Festival Celebrations

Plant Scenery Multi-level Revetment Communication Space

Landscape Diversity

Community Activity

Artificial wetland

Mall

Natural Science

Various Space Options

Ecological Diversity

1.Off-Season Gathering Point

5.Comprehensive Site Main Nodes Due to rapid urbanization, There is a lack of connection between different parts of the site. It is in a state of division in space, and a state of division in culture. I hope to build a lifestyle based on river ecology and organically combine different parts of the site.

2.Peak Season Gathering Point

3.Main Traffic Node

6.Wool-Thread Model+Site Path Planning Connection + Interaction The Wool-Thread Model is used to integrate and connect t he sit e, find t he sho rt est connection between each node. And through path planning to increase the overall relationship within the site.

4.Rainwater Runoff Point

Based on the path planning, the landscape ecological transformation and functional enhancement of the site river were carried out, hoping to build a community ecosystem based on the river and landscape corridors.

Master Plan

Bridge Flow Line

Bridge Generatrix Bridge Visual Line Bridge Main Entrance Spiral Stairs

First Floor Flow Line Riverside Walk Slow Pass Line Fast Pass Line Main Entrance

Functional Partition Design

Ecological Green Space Town Square Under Bridge Ecological Green Space Bridge space Eco Campus Urban Green Corridor

Site Type Section

Site Activity Planning Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

1.Riverside Plaza

Fruit Picking Beach Tourism

2.River Green Space

Birdwatching Natural Education

3.Wetland Floating Island

Wetland Experience Under Bridge Market 4.Eco Campus/Natural Education

Admire Flowers

5.Covered Bridge Landscape

Community Party

Site Type Axonometric Drawing

1.Riverside Plaza Delonix regia Azalea Litchi Grapefruit Mango Taxodium distichum Phragmites australis

2.River Green Space

3.Wetland Floating Island

4.Eco Campus

5.Covered Bridge Landscape

City Interface River Landscape

Detailed Plan

The construction of landscape corridor bridges can provide community residents with a daily travel environment that is not disturbed by passengers. The corridor bridges connect multiple important nodes in the site to meet daily travel needs.

Urban Farm / Nature Class

Detailed Plan

The landscaped bridge near the primary school provides a safer way for students to get to school, avoiding direct access to the motorway. The open space around primary school was transformed into an urban farm and outdoor classroom.

Space Under the Bridge

Detailed Plan

Renovate the space under the bridge and use the ecological corridor to activate the space under the bridge.Letting the river become the center of community life again, and activate the vitality of the community.

Community Ecological Corridor

Detailed Plan

The ecological corridor adopts a permeable pavement, and residents can complete their daily travel needs through the corridor during the tourist season. In the off-season, the landscape bridge can be a place for community activities.

Reimagine Tradition Recommender system based future chinese medicine market design Individual Work

Traditional Chinese medicine, as a traditional culture, has been circulating in China for a long time. In southern China, many families add elements of traditional Chinese medicine to their daily diet to keep fit.

The Qingping Chinese medicine market in Guangzhou is a centralized wholesale market. A large number of Medicinal stores and purchasers gathered here.

However, the emergence of Tiktok in recent years has brought a new marketing model. People can operate on the mobile phone and directly buy interested goods. In addition, Tiktok has also brought a promotion and elimination system based on video traffic, triggering a benign competition.

Under the impact of this new model, the traditional marketing model represented by the Qingping market is experiencing a great impact, and the traditional minority culture such as traditional Chinese medicine is slowly declining.

Against this background, I hope to inject new vitality into traditional culture by integrating new media operation mode.

Site Location Analysis

1. Low Entry Barriers

2. Poor Sanitary Conditions

3. Lack of Competition

4. Impact from New Media

The entry barriers for the traditional Chinese medicinal materials market are too low and overall supervision is lacking.

The medicinal materials processing equipment of most merchants in the market does not meet the specifications, and there are certain hidden food safety hazards.

Most merchants have a fixed source of income, sales channels are too single, and the market lacks healthy competition.

Under the impact of new business models such as Tiktok, the position of the professional Chinese medicinal materials market has been declining year by year.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Market

1.Internet Celebrities

2.Artificial Intelligence Assistance

3.Active Competition Mechanism

4.Online Consumption Process

Tiktok has produced a large number of content creators. The origin of medicinal materials can be directly connected with consumers.

Tiktok uses artificial intelligence to understand users and uses algorithms to recommend content.

Tiktok uses an active competition mechanism to promote content updates and stimulate healthy internal competition.

Logistics system + online media platform = perfect shopping process.

New Media Marketing Platform:Tiktok, etc.

Operation Pattern of Traditional Chinese Medicine Market

Spatial Pattern of Qingping Market:

01 Main Entrance For Visitors

Medicinal herb grower

Courier

Shop owner

Shop worker

02 Residential Area

03 Core Stores(Zhuji Road)

04 Truck Unloading Point

05 Medicinal Materials Market

06 Arcade Commercial Street

07 Qingping Medical Building

08 Core Stores(Tiyun Road)

09 Core Area(Urban Village)

Consumer

Pharmaceutical company researchers

Operating Pattern of New Media (Tiktok / Youtube etc.)

Question 01: User clusters Tiktok's Collaborative Filtering Recommendation Mode

Tiktok uses algorithms to understand users.

Users with similar preferences and characteristics will be divided into the same user cluster and receive similar content recommendations.

In this way, Tiktok can produce accurate user portraits to help product marketing.

Question 02: Flow Pool Recommendation Mode

New Qingping Market Model

Spatial Expression of New Qingping Market Model

Generation Logic of Three Levels

Top-level generation logic

Middle-level generation logic

Bottom-level generation logic

Space Effect of Three Levels

第 3 层级效果图

第 2 层级效果图

第 1 层级效果图 更近 更具体 人视角 体验感 沉浸

Vanishes in a Flash Understanding construction process through bamboo installation

In this project, we try to use bamboo, a construction material with Chinese characteristics, to create the atmosphere of the space in this project. We hope to express the oriental beauty in our mind through a landscape architecture.

In the process of design and construction, one of the biggest problems we face is how to transform the ideas in our minds into reality. With the help of professional structural engineers, we determined the construction process and material preparation list, and anticipated several possible emergencies and response plans.

In the end, our project was successfully completed in Beijing and won the second prize of International Garden-making Festival.

Hand-drawn Derivation Process

What are the material properties of bamboo?

In my opinion, bamboo can become a stable structural material on the one hand, and a flexible skin texture on the other, which is also a manifestation of Chinese philosophy.

Therefore, I searched for the most suitable form by hand-painting, hoping to reflect the characteristics of the two materials of bamboo at the same time.

1:10 Model Derivation How to determine the order of construction?

Rope Fixed Support Rod

Bamboo Structure

Connection Node

Through the 1 : 10 model, we studied and tested the building method and node connection method.

Finally, the whole bamboo structure was divided into three parts, and each part was built in the order of 'Foundation-FrameworkSkin'

Positioning Grid

Bottom Structure

Project Drawings

Construction steps?

How to locate the node?

The characteristics of bamboo?

Site Analysis

A

C

A

B Preliminary Measurement

B

Preliminary Preparation

C

Site Situation

Construction Process

+ +

Step 1: Positioning Grid

Step 1

Step 2: Bottom bamboo frame

Step 2

Step 3: Middle bamboo frame

Step 4: Bamboo frame on both sides

Step 5: Bamboo strip epidermal texture

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Finish

Landscape for Children Research children's needs through a landscape bonsai craft course Team Work

More than 20 years have passed since the launch of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative. However, relevant practices in China are still insufficient and laggard.

After the 1980s, most cities in China are undergoing rapid urban construction. In this context, most of the childfriendly projects have turned into slogans for developers to attract investment.

Due to problems in the existing design process, the true needs of children are not reflected in the design plan.

In addition, because adults and children have different standards for interesting spaces, most children's parks are not liked by children, resulting in a certain waste of space.

In this context, I organize some community activities to explore children's ideas and needs. It is hoped that through the landscape bonsai craft course, We can analyze and summarize children's preferences for space, and make suggestions for the existing child-friendly urban design process in China.

What is children's opinion?

I organized two offline research activities and convened more than fifteen groups of families to ask children their views on the existing children's playground in the city. They use orange boxes to indicate locations they don't like, and blue boxes to indicate locations they are interested in.

Reasons why children are interested

Adult's opinion about these photos

Why? These children's parks are excellent and meet the standards in the eyes of adults, but most children are not interested in such children's parks. why? Is the existing child-friendly project design workflow correct and reasonable?

How can we truly understand children's thinking?

The multi-sphere model

Trends of China's child population

Status and Challenges

showing four hierarchies of factors that influence children's development based on the reality of Chinese cities.

China's rapid urbanization not only has a great impact on the physical space of the city, but also changes the urban population structure.

Trends of Children's Urban and Rural Population in China

Studies have shown that the total number of children in China is declining, but with the development of urbanization, the total number of urban children is increasing rapidly. This means that more and more children will live in cities.

However, the rapid development of urban construction has ignored the rights of children, resulting in a serious dispersion of reachable spaces for children in cities.

Current project workflow of Chinese designers

Issue and Strategy

Let us learn from the children!

Step 1: Knowledge of landscape design We use metaphor to explain the professional concept of landscape design to children, and use fairy tales to deepen the impression of children.

Step 2: Landscape bonsai craft course

Step 3: Organize and analyze By analyzing the process and results of children making landscape bonsai,we try to summarize children's interest and ideas about space.

Challenge

Colorful

Sociality

Competition

Satisfaction

Exploration

Storytelling

Special Material

Reward

Children ' s narrative expression of space

Children's needs

By analyzing the landscape bonsai created by children, we found that many spaces have fairy-tale imagination and a strong sense of atmosphere. This may indicate that most children are more interested in spaces with a sense of scene and story.

Space types 1.Space for nature experience:

Children farm

Green space

Water space

Sandpit

Children's graffiti wall

Interactive zoo

Micro-landform

2.Play space

Trampoline 3.Adventure space

Tree house