Portfolio of Haoyu Wang Selected works 2016 - 2020
Haoyu Wang 70 Amherst St. Cambridge MA 02142
Cell: 916-281-5554
Email: why19930708@gmail.com
EDUCATION Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Master of Science in Architecture and Urbanism
09/2018- 05/2020 Cambridge, MA
University of Miami
08/2012- 05/2017
Bachelor of Architecture (Minor in Art)
Coral Gables, FL
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE Villas of Paradise Project – Research Assistant under Thomas Lopez, UM-SOA • Produced 3D models for documentations of villa collection
08/2016- 01/2017 Coral Gables, FL
• Contributed in architectural drawings for publication
Tokyo Pencil Building Project – Independent study at UM-Open City Studio • Documented vernacular pencil buildings with in-field study and data collection
06/2016- 03/2017 Coral Gables, FL
• Assembled booklets for publication
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Creative Café – Interior Designer • Proposed design schemes for the interior space
03/2018- 06/2018 Zhengzhou, China
• Designed and assembled furniture modules
Cure & Penabad – Architectural Intern • Proposed unit layout schemes for Guatemala Condo project
11/2017- 03/2018 Coral Gables, FL
• Assisted in producing construction document sets for multiple projects
Shigeru Ban Architects – Architectural Intern • Participated in design development for housing projects in South Korea
08/2017- 11/2017 Tokyo, Japan
• Prepared models and detailed drawings for Nikki Resort project • Drafted project descriptions in Chinese for an international conference
Shangzhu Art Studio – Architectural Designer • Collaborated in schematic design for the building expansion • Participated in producing construction document sets for the project
SKILL Fundamental • Model-making, drafting, painting, DSLR photography
Software • Adobe Creative Suite, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, Autodesk Revit, Sketchup, 3DsMax (with V-ray)
Languages • English (fluent), Chinese (native), Japanese (basic)
06/2014- 08/2014 Dali, China
A CITY OF PLACELESSNESS Architecture & urban design
TURNING POINT Urban Design
TOKYO PENCIL BUILDING Urban research & architectural design
FLOATING PARADISE Visionary infrastructure design
SHINJUKU STATION Urban research
4
22
36
50
60
A CITY OF PLACELESSNESS Digital Nomads and Tallinn’s Urban Future Architecture & urban design MIT - SMArchS Urbanism Thesis [A design proposal in partial fullfilment of the thesis] Thesis advisor: Rafi Segal Reader: Brent Ryan Site: Tallinn, Estonia Feb - May, 2020
Placelessness describes a state of people and activities that are not confined to fixed places. It directly correlates to digital nomads: people who utilize remote work and personal mobility to avoid restrictions of fixed places in their living. Digital nomads represent a borderless workforce with potentials of evolving into a placeless population under future technologies and further public engagements on digital work. My thesis takes digital nomads as a stimulus to explore the potentials of placelessness in shaping an alternative urban future. As part of the thesis, this proposal applies experimental design strategies onto a former industrial site of Tallinn to demonstrates new spatial forms that blend placeless people into the local society during their transient stays in the city. The project speculates future urban impacts of a placeless population in Tallinn based on the emerging digital nomad community in the city and Estonia’s political visions of a tech-driven economy with economic engagements of digital nomads. The project takes urbanist approaches to accommodate an alternative work-live habits informed by digital nomads while bridging this placeless population with the local people in public life and economic activities.
A FUTURE URBAN GROUND FOR PLACELESS PEOPLE Estonia has been developing a borderless digital nation under e-Estonia movements which promote digital work for a tech-driven economy and encourage international tech workers, including digital nomads, to contribute their innovations and workforce into local tech industries. These visions also informs a potential population of placeless people to be added to Tallinn’s future identity. Their flexible forms of residency and worklive-habits under digital connectivity will challenge the existing paradigms of urban life and social structures.
PLACELESS PEOPLE
ESTONIAN TECH VISIONS
LOCAL RESIDENTS
transient presence
local tech industries
unemployment under deindustrialization
digital work
Digital Nomad Visa Program E-Residency
tech entreneurship
remote business connections
social segregations
industry 4.0 visions
go placeless
local digital market
local tech workers
Placelessness in work-live habits: a future vision of placeless workers with digital connectivity under industrial 4.0
SITE CONDITIONS
HELSINKI, FI - 2h
The project situates on a lage brownfield in North-
MARIEHAMN, SE - 10h
ern Tallinn. This 1.2km2 urban void consists multiple large-scale industrial complexes surrounding the
ST PETERSBURG, RU -14h
former Kopli Freight Station. This brownfield qualifies
VISBY, SE - 23h
as a promising site to accommodate future placeless people for its availability of space, critical location
STOCKHOLM, SE - 15h
for its accessibility, and most importantly, the socio-spatial challenges faced by local people where a placeless population can be introduced as a driver to alternative solutions. abandoned industrial sites Former manufactories, ship yards, and railways
Old
Ci
r
rbo
a ty H
ltic n Ba tio a St
relevant public space/ amenities Local attractions/ amenities that support digital work Tallin inn n Ai Airp r or rp ot
500m
SOCIO-SPATIAL GAPS
A SLEEPING TOWN
public amenities
ISLANDS OF VISITORS
existing urban renewls
The brownfield tears the
The closure of industries and
Existing urban renewal proj-
high-density residential
the lack of public amenities
ects and proposals driven by
neighborhoods apart while in-
transforms the neighbor-
high-end commercials and
forming social gaps between
hoods into a sleeping town of
real-estate developments
the middle class living on the
commuters without public life
disregard the needs of local
south and former industrial workers on the north
communities
300m
MASTERPLAN Given the enormous scale of the site and intricate socio-economic conditions of the local society, the masterplan reintegrates local neighborhoods while establishing 3 hierarchies of space in cope with different aspects of the overall visions: - revitalize local industrial identity through placeless workforce under industry 4.0; - encourage digital nomads to participate in remediating the employments faced by local people; - accommodate flexible live-work habits of placeless people as informed by digital nomads
150m
1. PUBLIC GROUND Space that serve activities beyond local scales with easy access to critical transportation nodes and enormous industrial buildings to preserve. Industry 4.0 Park - shared unmanned production for tech works - technology demonstration & public promotion
Baltic Station Nomad Center - public events of digital affairs - tech business connector
2. INTERMEDIATE SPACE Space that intersect different neighborhoods which is designed to mobilize interactions between digital nomads and local neighborhoods. Tech Education & Career Center - coaching & working collaboration between digital nomads and local people Linear Park - social amenities along a recreational trail - architectural typologies for digital work
3. COMMUNITY GROUND Space neighboring existing residential blocks that accommodate people of variable residencies and reconnect the once-isolated neighborhoods. Estonian housing clusters - shared housings & communal amenities - residential blocks as part of the linear park
Nomad Storefront - shared storefronts and plug-in dwellings along commercial strips
Post-socialist housing - integrated complex for collective living & working 100m
PUBLIC GROUND - INDUSTRY 4.0 PARK
their unmanned production lines during their stays
Situates upon the enormous Volta Industrial Quartor,
and operate them remotely upon leaving. This also
the new Industry 4.0 Park serves as a testing ground
allows them to participate in local industries through
for Estonia’s visions of a tech-driven economy with
collaborative projects with Estonian stakeholders.
participations of international players including giant business and digital nomads.
Accessibility for materials and visitors Convenient access to seaports not only ease ma-
Sharing of unmanned production
terial transportation for production needs but also
While businesses would like to establish long-term
allows the Industry 4.0 Park to function as a demon-
production and assembly lines on site, digital no-
stration site where the government and businesses
mads and other placeless individuals can initialize
can show their works to global visitors.
100m
Unmanned Production Info Center (guided tour, business connector) Workspace (offices of local business and nomad hubs) Commercials (experience shops, retails, eateries, etc.)
TYPOLOGY: DEMONSTRATION FACTORY A demonstration factory not only offers shared production lines to tech businesses and digital nomads but also put unmanned production technologies on display to visitors and potential clients. The roof terrace of a factory incorporates informal workspace for placeless tech workers including digital nomads to work on their devices while supervising their productions in person. It also leads to visitor’s entrance to the factory, where visitors can see the production lines below, explore products at the attached storefronts, and potentially learn more from the tech workers on site.
INTERMEDIATE SPACE -
The open campus offers business incubators, labs,
TECH EDUCATION & CAREER CENTER
and various forms of workspace for digital workers
The closure of Baltic Manufactory poses risks of
and startups. Digital nomads and other tech work-
unemployment to former industrial workers living in
ers offer public speeches and individual coaching
the neighborhoods. The enormous site and industrial
sessions to local people on topics of digital work and
buildings are repurposed as a Tech Education & Ca-
tech entrepreneurship. In addition to helping local
reer Center where placeless people can share their
people on their career paths, these interactions will
knowledge and experience in digital work and guide
also forge opportunities of hiring and working collab-
local residents onto alternative career paths.
orations between the two distinctive groups.
Collaborations between local and international stakeholders in operating the Tech Edu & Career Center
100m
School facilities (former industrial buildings) Nomad space (permanent/ temporary work lounges) Commercials Recreational trail
TYPOLOGIES: NOMAD SPACE Nomad spaces are architectural amenities to spatially support digital work. They can be in forms of enclosure, covered open space surrounded by greeneries, or transportable structures to be deployed on site during peak seasons of digital nomad visitings.
A nomad space may maintain a neutral spatial quality without preset of specific programs in an effort of maximizing the adaptability for instant uses. In addition, it can incorporate structural and digital technologies, such as adjustable openings, AR enhanced environments, hologram-ready space, to shape a desirable environment for individual and collective work.
COMMUNITY GROUND -
The community ground also responds to ‘sleeping
ESTONIAN SHARED HOUSING CLUSTER
town issues’ of local communities by opening the
The community ground reinvent local forms of
shared amenities, such as work lounges and social
housing to spatially supports flexible work-live habits
space, to local people. The positioning of amenities
through the sharing of accommodations, amenities,
addresses accessibility from other clusters and from
and personal mobility. It targets a broad range of
the recreational trail to encourage movements of
placeless people with variable forms of residen-
people across blocks.
cies including digital nomads. The peak seasons of placeless people visitings will also bring temporary housings and amenities which can be assembled at their reserved spots.
Collaborations between local and international stakeholders in owning and serving the community ground
100m
Shared housings/ temporary housings Communal amenities (communal lounge/ work pods) Commercials Recreational trail
TYPOLOGIY: SHARED ESTONIAN HOUSE The traditional Estonian wooden house is reinvented for the worklive habits of placeless people. A compact bedroom unit offers basic amenities for domestic life and digital work while encouraging tenants to explore communal amenities outside instead of self-isolating in rooms.
TYPOLOGIY: COMMUNAL LOUNGE Each housing cluster has a communal lounge within walking distance from the shared houses. It provides space and amenities for daily work, social activities, and indoor recreation.
TYPOLOGY: NOMAD STOREFRONT & PLUG-IN DWELLING Placeless people can book a Nomad Storefront at commercial strips to promote their works and serve local people during their stays. They also have options to assemble an integrated work-live space by having their temporary homes plugged into the back of their storefronts.
TURNING POINT From a Power Plant to Tangshan’s New Identity Urban design MIT -Tsinghua Joint Studio: Tangshan in Transition Instructor: Brent Ryan, Lorena Bello Team work with Charlotte Ong Contribution: research & analysis, design development, graphic presentation Site: Tangshan, Hebei Province, China Jan - May, 2019
As one of the most significant industrial cities in northern China, Tangshan is moving into a post-industrial stage and facing challenges of her incompetitive economy, aging population, and environmental pollution. Tangshan Power Plant emblemizes these challenges with its scheduled termination in 2030. Turning Point is not only a reference to the river meander bounding the site but the opportunities presented as the power plant transforms from an icon of heavy industry into an opposite figure that serves the future of Tangshan in environmental remediation, production, education, and public engagements of a new urban identity. Given the limited size and the critical location of the site, our objective is to transform the power plant into a demonstration park in which cutting-edge technologies and strategies for environmental remediation and urban agricultural production are proposed, tested, and demonstrated to the public. The demonstrations not only perform as educational instruments for active learning, but also serve as paradigms for the rest of the city to take further actions on relevant topics. In addition, the site will also reintegrate into the public life of the local population with recreational amenities for the youth and programs for social interaction for the elderly.
TH HE N NE EXU US OF OF ECO COLO LOGI LO GIICA CAL CO C RR RID IDOR O S
RE ESI SIDE D NT DE NTIA IA AL NE NEIG IG GHB HBOR O HOO HO OOD OD
POWER PLANT AT THE NEXUS
Environmental pollution
Although the power plant site has a limited footprint
the next major challenge following the planned
of 0.24 km2, it situates at the nexus of both ecological
relocation of industries
and social layers of the urban fabrics which brings tremendous potentials for its future. Ecologically, the site sits at the intersection of two future green corridors: the Nanhu Park in the Southwest to the proposed Donghu Park in the northeast. The Dou River, which meanders around
Aging population local residents have been working in the industrial districts since 1980s
Children parents send kids to live with their grandparents and attend local schools
the site, will serve as another green corridor after water remediation.
Limited public life The monotonous Danwei housing blocks lack
On the other hand, the residential blocks around
amenities for recreation or social interaction
the site is declining with obsolate housings and amenities, industrial pollution, an emerging aging
Incompetitive economy
population, and banal educational resources for
underserved household commodities and weak
younger generations.
innovative work
DESIGN APPROACHES
CREATING OPEN SYSTEMS + REINTEGRATING WITH THE CITY
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION NOT EXTERNALITIES
PRODUCTIVE REUSE OF INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES
INCLUSIVE SPACES FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTIVE LEARNING + EXPERIMENTATION
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
EDUCATIONAL AIR PURIFICATION
AGRICULTURE
PRODUCTION RESEARCH + NEW TECH
WATER REMEDIATION
ENVIRONMENTAL
RECREATION FOREST RESTORATION
SOCIAL
PRIMARY INTERVENTIONS
ORIGINAL CONDITION
ADAPTIVE REUSE
ACCESSIBILITY
GREEN NETWORK
PROGRAMMATIC NETWORK The rich programmatic layers including environmental remediation, consumable green productions, recreational amenities, and public spaces are interlocked as an intense network and collectively shape a demonstration park which put the future of Tangshan’s environment and production on display. SKYWALK GALLERY
active learning
CLIMBING WALL
recreation
cover
overview URBAN WATER
polluted water
public engagement
ACTIVE REMEDIATION
irrigation
INDOOR AGRICULTURE LAB
PUBLIC POOL
purified water
GREEN HOUSE/ AIR COLLECTOR
URBAN WATER
back to river
DEEPWATER TANK heated air
AIR PURIFIER
cleaned air
agricultural production retreat riverbank
WETLAND PARK connect GREEN NETWORK
field testing
MARKETPLACE
taken place
passive remediation AIR PURIFIERS ON DISPLAY
demonstration
host ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABS
WATER REMEDIATION SYSTEM The water remediation system flows through the site as a secondary meander of the Dou River. The polluted water is pumped from the river, run through multiple levels of remediation, infused in agricultural irrigation, deepwater research, emergency storage, and eventually returns to the river through a public pool. SKYWALK GALLERY
active learning
CLIMBING WALL
recreation
cover
overview URBAN WATER
polluted water
public engagement
ACTIVE REMEDIATION
irrigation
INDOOR AGRICULTURE LAB
PUBLIC POOL
purified water
GREEN HOUSE/ AIR COLLECTOR
URBAN WATER
back to river
DEEPWATER TANK heated air
AIR PURIFIER
cleaned air
agricultural production retreat riverbank
WETLAND PARK connect GREEN NETWORK
field testing
MARKETPLACE
taken place
passive remediation AIR PURIFIERS ON DISPLAY
demonstration
host ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABS
WATER PUMP Polluted river water
gas+air to air purification system AIR STRIPPER TOWER remove chemicals ACTIVATED CARBON FILTERATION fuel, PCBs, dioxins, radioactive wastes AEROBIC REACTORS+ ECOLOGICAL FLUIDIZED BEDS mini-ecosystems with aquatic biospheres
ARTIFICIAL WETLAND PHYTOREMEDIATION removes organic matter/ suspended solids
PRODUCTIVE GREENHOUSE irrigation of consumable green production
VERTICAL FARMING irrigation network links to vertical farming
DEEPWATER TANK deepwater researches, emergency water usages, diving training
PUBLIC POOL brings public attentions to water treatment
the purified water flows back to the river
How Tangshan kids want to spend their weekend: swimming inside a cooling tower
PRODUCTIVE GREEN The layer of productive green consists of greenhouses scattered on the artificial wetland and an indoor vertical farming system inside the former turbine hall. The green products are put on sale in the stalls of an open-air marketplace which bring back nostalgic forms of Chinese urban life to the elderly. SKYWALK GALLERY
active learning
CLIMBING WALL
recreation
cover
overview URBAN WATER
polluted water
public engagement
ACTIVE REMEDIATION
irrigation
INDOOR AGRICULTURE LAB
PUBLIC POOL
purified water
GREEN HOUSE/ AIR COLLECTOR
URBAN WATER
back to river
DEEPWATER TANK heated air
AIR PURIFIER
cleaned air
agricultural production retreat riverbank
WETLAND PARK connect GREEN NETWORK
field testing
MARKETPLACE
taken place
passive remediation AIR PURIFIERS ON DISPLAY
demonstration
host ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABS
Market stalls between productive greens and wetland are attractive to both elders and teenagers
Another school tour destination: an indoor agriculture lab transformed from a turbine hall
LANDSCAPE RESTORATION Landscape of the neighboring Dachengshan park extends across the street into the site and reaches the waterfront where a wetland park is created by retreating the original riverbank back for 50 meters. The park is covered by shrubs to stabilize the soil and performs as a passive water remediation mechanism. SKYWALK GALLERY
active learning
CLIMBING WALL
recreation
cover
overview URBAN WATER
polluted water
public engagement
ACTIVE REMEDIATION
irrigation
INDOOR AGRICULTURE LAB
PUBLIC POOL
purified water
GREEN HOUSE/ AIR COLLECTOR
URBAN WATER
back to river
DEEPWATER TANK heated air
AIR PURIFIER
cleaned air
agricultural production retreat riverbank
WETLAND PARK connect GREEN NETWORK
field testing
MARKETPLACE
taken place
passive remediation AIR PURIFIERS ON DISPLAY
demonstration
host ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABS
Driving and jogging in a forest? This is actually the street in front of the power plant.
This will be the new view at your balcony if you live in the old Danwei housings across the river
A DEMONSTRATION PARK The site performs as an urban-scale educational instrument in environment and production. The former industrial conveyors are transformed into skywalk galleries which connects major programs on site. Other recreational programs with opportunities for active learning will also attract teenagers to visit. SKYWALK GALLERY
active learning
CLIMBING WALL
recreation
cover
overview URBAN WATER
polluted water
public engagement
ACTIVE REMEDIATION
irrigation
INDOOR AGRICULTURE LAB
PUBLIC POOL
purified water
GREEN HOUSE/ AIR COLLECTOR
URBAN WATER
back to river
DEEPWATER TANK heated air
AIR PURIFIER
cleaned air
agricultural production retreat riverbank
WETLAND PARK connect GREEN NETWORK
field testing
MARKETPLACE
taken place
passive remediation AIR PURIFIERS ON DISPLAY
demonstration
host ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABS
A gallery of the 2030s is not only holographic panels on former industrial structures but also active labs on display
When teenagers are climbing on a cooling tower, can they spot their grandparents in the market?
TOKYO PENCIL BUILDING The wisdom under straitness Urban research & architectural design UM Tokyo Open City Studio Instructor: Teofilo Victoria; Adib J. Cure; Steven Fett Individual work Site: Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Research: May - Jun, 2016 Design: May, 2018
Instead of monumental masterpieces, our cities are mostly composed of vernacular architecture which possesses spectacular adaptability to variable scenarios of urban life and shapes the present culture of a city. Pencil building (ペンシルビル) refers to tall buildings in dense and irregular street blocks with extremely limited widths on their facades. In the old neighborhoods of Tokyo where lot sizes constantlys shrink due to increasingly frequent land redistribution, these skinny buildings represent bottom-up response to spatial and social pressure of urban life in Tokyo. Although many appear to be humble, pencil building is becoming a significant typology in the vernacular architectural world of this intriguing city. Tokyo Open City Studio 2016 offered me an opportunity to study thoroughly on this topic. During the in-field documentation, I was fascinated by the variety of pencil buildings evolved in different neighborhoods and their harmonious existence within their urban contexts. 2 years after the initial study, I returned to this topic and rebooted a design proposal of pencil building on a tiny site in Jimbocho. My personal experience of living in Tokyo during my internship in 2017 refreshed my understanding of Tokyo urban life and encourages me to explore further possibilities of pencil building through design interventions.
PHASE 1: RESEARCH - The City of Pencil Building As part of a typological research on pencil building and Tokyo urban forms, walking through different neighborhoods of Tokyo and picking symptomatic pencil buildings to document offered valuable understandings on this topic. With information regarding languages of facades, urban contexts, and program preference of pencil buildings in each neighborhood, the 61 samples documented in 7 neighborhoods provide primary images of this typology for further study and design practice. In collaboration with UM faculty and multiple architecture studios, including Atelier Bow-wow, this research will be continuously developed and will result in the publication of a bilingual book.
18th Century
Early 20th Century
1950s
the force of nature
modernization
call for private land
Tokyo’s pre-modern street net-
Modern urban zoning and lot
Postwar reconstruction of Tokyo
work was organically shaped by
division was introduced during
was based on an established
topography
Meiji Period
private landownership
1960s
1970s
Post 1990s
more housing demand
bubbles arose
the rise of pencil building
The increasing population of
The economic bubble accelerated
The increasing inheritance taxes
postwar encouraged landowners
redistribution of lots in order to
drive further lot redistribution
to divide lots for profits
accommodate more properties
while buildings get taller for more vertical space
Akihabara 秋葉原
Aoyama 青山
Ginza 銀座
Jimbocho 神保町
Kanda 神田
Shibuya 渋谷
Shinjuku 新宿
PHASE 2: RAPID DESIGN - Scholar’s Shelf Jimbocho is flourishing as a ‘scholar district’ with a large collection of bookstores, used-book markets, publishers and other educational resources. Under the increasing demands on temporary housing brought by wandering scholars, the neighborhood has to squeeze every square meter to accommodate more properties of rentals, bookstores, and coffee shops. In a cramped alley at the center of Jimbocho, a tiny parking space with a 21m2 footprint can be an opportune site to experiment vertical stacking of mini properties in the form of a pencil building. In the strictly ordered society, Japanese youth are used to live without disturbing others or being disturbed. On the other hand, many have to live collectively in order to take a share of the limited spatial and social resources. For the sake of satisfying individual needs while maintaining a harmonious mutual living environment, a mix-used building has to constantly respond to new demands. Incoming Jimbocho scholars need a bookshelf-like collection of urban amenities where up-to-date amenities present in replace of obsolete ones. As variable and adaptable as the characteristics of a vernacular pencil building, my Jimbocho Scholar’s Shelf is an architectural cabinet where programs constantly update to fulfill instant demands of visitors and tenants. It addresses both the elements of contemporary Tokyo urban life and evidence of former radical approaches in the 20th Century of Japanese architectural movements.
Revisiting Metabolism
Vertical Stacking of Properties
Instant building renewal
In contemporary Tokyo where social
In high-density neighborhoods of
Upon request, the landlord of my
and spatial demands constantly
Tokyo, vertical stacking of properties
shared house in Yoyogi-Uehara
drive building renewal, can we rex-
has became part of the vernacular
called 2 workers to build this tempo-
amine Metabolists’ ideas of ‘perma-
architectural language.
rary bathroom in 2 days!
nent trunk’ and ‘ephemeral leaves’ through pencil buildings?
Primary Framework
Building System
Primary Cabins
Temporary Cabins
steel structure lifetime [25-50 years]
staircase, elevator, a tube of integrated pipes circulation [15-25 years] pipework [10-15 years]
dwellings, domestic amenities lifetime [10-15 years]
commercial properties, seasonal amenities, exhibitions lifetime [0-5 years]
9F - MUJI HUT+ by MUJI JAPAN MUJI has been advertising its HUT project as a versatile typology. How about having it as a top-floor secrete teahouse with a mini garden?
7F - Onsen in the Straitness by Shimizu-yu Sento What’s better than a classic Japanese onsen with snow outside and steam inside the cabin in a winter day?
5F - Open Kitchen by Atelier Bow-Wow Cooking and eating with sunlight can be a nice experience; even better with a random visual greeting from the neighboring building.
3F The Showcase ex. ‘Bubbles’ By SANAA The neighborhood might expect to see something more than ‘Bubbles’ on this 3.3m x 3.3m open-air deck.
1F - Lobby by Scholar’s Shelf Group A Japanese domestic evening starts with a ‘ただいま’ (I’m back) while you are taking off shoes at the entrance.
Next F - Coming Soon? The flexible steel structure allows the building to potentially grow taller. Chances are the Scholar’s Shelf will have additional offerings.
8F - Capsule ‘Jo 畳’ by Scholar’s Shelf Group While capsule hotel is labeled as a ‘futuristic Japanese experience’, it can also be traditional with ambiguous light and shade through Shoji panels.
6F - Capsule ‘Uchu 宇宙’ by Kisho Kurokawa Arch. Will new materialis and fabrication technologies ground Kisho Kurokawa’s visions of a futuristic capsule living?
4F - Paper Bookroom by Shigeru Ban Architects After all, Jimbocho never lack amazing bookstores. We might expect Ban-san to do something bolder with his approaches of paper tube architecture.
2F - Shipping Container Cafe by Starbucks While Starbucks is testing ideas of shipping container cafe in the U.S., it might also be interested in promoting this trend here in Tokyo.
NOMADIC PARADISE From Urban Utopias to the Future of Placeless Life Visionary infrastructure design MIT MAS.S60 Sci Fab 2019 Instructor: Joost Bonsen, Dan Novy Individual work Site: oceanic plate Oct - Dec, 2019
The shaping of a mobile world with exchanges of people and information across borders has long been reverberating in urban utopias such as New Babylon by Constant and Archigram’s megastructure proposals. In recent years, digital technology further detaches our cultural attributes and work-life habits from fixed places, contributing to the rise of digital nomads and other perennial travelors who move across borders while being digitally connected to work and social activities. On the other hand, the increasingly turbulent political and environmental states across the globe lead to refugee crisis at variable scales. These dynamics can shape a future world where a significant placeless population are constantly in search of their next destinations in endless journeys. The visions of a future placeless life encourage me to revisit the urban utopias of the 20th Century and imagine radical forms of a built environment that can accommodate this notion of placelessness. The project of Nomadic Paradise takes an infrastructural approach to create a floating space that moves on water and supports instant journeys of placeless people. While the project envisions a mobile built environment with ever-changing spatial patterns in response to various demands, the design is based on existing spatial typologies and emerging technologies of engineering, digital fabrication, material processing, and mobility. The project evolves from the assignments of Sci Fab course at MIT Media Lab.
Urban utopias of the 20th Century, such as the Non-stop City by Archizoom and New Babylon by Constant has been reflecting social anxiety of placelessness
The pick of avant-garde architectural movements in 1960s envisioned megastructures to support mobile built environments
The shifting life-work habits under digital connectivity and the crisis of refugees under political and environmental issues has been shaping a placeless population in the 21st Century
Advanced technology of engineering has made megastructural visions of a floating ground possible in forms of semi-submersive platform
Future technologies of digital fabrication and 3D printing in architecture will allow instant space to be created upon temporary structures
Oceanic materials such as seasand and plastic wastes can be collected and processed to build and ‘print’ temporary amenities
Future forms of autonomous mobility, such as heavy-duty drones, autonomous vehicles, and solar boats, can serve both passengers and materials at variable scales
An infrastructural unit of Nomadic Paradise is a semi-submersive platform which can self-navigate on water and dock with other units to create a mobile city. It utilizes existing and emerging technologies of architecture, material processing, and mobility to build temporary amenities that will accommodate instant demands of placeless people.
[1] INFRASTRUCTURAL FRAME [2] MAIN DECK [3] LOGISTIC CORRIDOR [4] VERTICAL CIRCULATION [5] DRONE LANDING [6] CONVERTABLE DOCKING PORT [7] CONSTRUCTION BED [8] SEA-SAND CONCRETE PRINTER [9] BUILD-BY-ORDER AMENITY [10] PONTOON [11] OCEANIC MATERIAL COLLECTOR [12] PASSENGER DRONE [13] FREIGHT DRONE [14] AUTONOMOUS BOAT [15] SERVICE ROBOT
With materials directly collected from the ocean and advanced technologies of digital fabrication and 3D printing architecture, each unit of the Nomadic Paradise can be seen as a giant 3D printer that build instant amenities upon order and recycle them after use. By building amenities of required functionalities on individual units and docking units with each other, stakeholders can establish spatial orders on a Nomadic Paradise and assemble a desirable built environment for either a working-holiday journey, a refuge, a emergent evaculation, a temporary urban extension, or even a post-apocalyptic survival plan for humanity.
fishery +marketplace
marketplace +roof terrace
PLEASE SEND THE DESIGN TO NOMADIC UNIT SERVER FOR CONSTRUCTION co-working space +laboratory
working lounge + terrace
collective living + SOHO
install-by-order dwelling + multi-purpose cabin
collective living + vertical garden
commercial complex + activity center
school + cultural center
religious site + hospice
public pool + retail commercial
raised green space + pavilion
ocean research center + energy lab
medical services + life research
smart farming + food lab
autonomous production + fabrication lab
PARADISE ASSEMBLY We are on board! Units are docking with each other according to the masterplan. MASSACHUSETTS BAY, US, 1231-2059, GMT-4
PLACELESS LIFE
Life at our placeless ho
has always been exciting
fresh sceneries everyday
greetings from ports of d
ent cities on the way
MIAMI, US. 1-8-2060, G
PARADISE PREPARATION Our Nomadic Paradise is ready with housings and amenities built on 16 units, now looking forward to our journey to Lima! BOSTON HARBOR, US, 12-31-2059, GMT-4
E
ome
g with
DISPERSAL
y and
Farewell to our 34 friends
differ-
who will be heading to Brazil
y.
through South Atlantic. Team
GMT-4
Lima will continue our journey on the rest of the Paradise.
ARRIVAL
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA,
The journey ends here. I will
1-14-2060, GMT-5
miss all of you and our moments. See you again soon and have a wonderful time in Lima! TERMINAL CALLAO, LIMA DISTRICT, PERU, 1-28-2060, GMT-5
Visiting g my y friend at Un nit #11...
We W e hav ave n ne ew ne ew neig ig gh hb bors ors co or omi m ng g!
My y ord rd der off 5 x 5
Th This hiiss poo ool ussed ed to be be a the hea a
cabin is arrivvin ng! g
attter a er th er he e las ast ti t me me I was as her ere
Its su It Its summ umm mmer er in th thi his is tim imez imez ezon zon one one
How Ho w long llo ong g wili l we e sta ay he here re in Ja ap pa an?
SHINJUKU STATION An Urban Process upon Infrastructural Space Academic - urban research & documentation MIT 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation Instructor: Rania Ghosn Individual work Site: Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan Oct - Dec, 2018
From modernists’ ideological urban planning models of the early 20th Century to the postwar movements of megastructure, architects had been struggling for an urbanism that can be interpreted and manipulated in the dimension of architecture. However, their heroic ideologies, as criticized by Reyner Banham, eventually evolved into an order that architects themselves could not understand or manage. On the other hand, infrastructure provides perceivable connections between architecture and urbanism. In 1999, Stan Allen brought his proposition of an infrastructural urbanism, under which infrastructure is seen as a medium for architects to understand an urban process and to contribute in the process through design practice. In the megacity of Tokyo, a train station is considered the most vital piece of infrastructure in a neighborhood as it connects the neighborhood to the highly developed urban railway system which most people use for daily commuting. As the world’s busiest train station with a daily average of 3.64 million passengers, Shinjuku Station can be understood from an architectural and urbanist perspective as an expanding ‘urban thing’ which generates an urban process upon infrastructural space by defining, creating, and modifying the urban structure of Shinjuku area. This research evolves from the individual’s assignment of Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar at MIT.
SHINJUKU STATION AS A MULTIPLAYER GAME Tokyo’s thriving urban railway network consists of multiple public and private transit services. Throughout the history of railway developments of the 20th Century with unsettling political and social dynamics, Shinjuku has gained attentions from various railway stakeholders for its significant position in economic circulations. While the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and the relocation of Tokyo Metropolitan government to Shinjuku in 1991 marked significant
1923 JR East Lines +Keio Line +Odakyu Line
transformations of the area, the evalution of Shinjuku Station is a multiplayer game with national railway system, municipal transit service, and private corporations joining at different times. This progress not only shapes a major transportation node but also contributes to a unique physical form to the station. Instead of a monumental masterplan, Shinjuku Station generates a loosely integrated
1959 +Tokyo Metro Lines +Seibu Lines
compound. While the form seems arbitrary from an architectural perspective, the flexible arrangement for the sake of expansion demonstrated Stan Allen’s idea that infrastructure encourages tactical improvisations under an overall strategic mechanism.
1980 +Toei Shinjuku Line
2000 +Toei Oedo Line
Year
Player list
Inputs Player JR started a new game...
1910
JR East
... JR completed its main station building;
1915
JR East Keio
1923
JR East Keio Odakyu
1952
JR East Keio Odakyu Seibu
1959
JR East Keio Odakyu Seibu Tokyo Metro
1980
JR East Keio Odakyu Seibu Tokyo Metro Toei
2016
JR East Keio Odakyu Seibu Tokyo Metro Toei
Keio built an underground terminal;
Player Odakyu started a conversation with JR; Odakyu and JR expanded the main building;
Player Seibu started a conversation with JR; Seibu and JR expanded the main building; Seibu rejected the main building invitation; Seibu built a satellite station;
Tokyo Metro built an underground terminal;
Toei started a conversation with Keio; Toei and Keio expanded the underground terminal;
JR East built new buildings and artifi cial ground platforms; ... Enter new approaches to continue...
Underground tunnel network Buildings with direct connections to tunnels
AN UNDERGROUND CITY Instead of a spatial order imposed by a masterplan like Maki’s vision in 1962, Shinjuku Station advanced its multiplayer mode of development and created its own urban form upon infrastructural space. One of the most significant forms is an underground city that spans from the station to the hinterland of Shinjuku area. It consists of networked tunnels with aligned commercials built by a collaborative force between transit companies and commercial businesses. Driven by economic factors, tunnels built in different eras reflect the temporal economic conditions from their physical forms. Interestingly, the evolving form shows characteristics similiar to Maki’s 1962 plan which took a top-down approach.
Shinjuku Redevelopment Plan by Fumihiko Maki, 1962
1970s - competition of space Detailed Section of an underground tunnel built in early 1970s by the collaboration of Odakyu and the municipal government of Shinjuku
Post-bubble tunnel A portion of the underground tunnel built in late 1990s by Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the municipal government of Shinjuku with a significant difference in retail-hallway ratio comparing to the one above
Axon-section of an underground street in Shinjuku-Ni-Chome
AN ELEVATED CITY In addition to the underground city, Shinjuku Station is taking further steps to build layers of infrastructural space above the ground which inform a growing elevated city. In 2016, JR East completed an extension of the station in collaboration with the Ministry of Construction. The project incorporates an enormous artificial ground platform spanning above railways while connecting to railway terminals and multiple office towers. With increasing pedestrian traffics, the platform is becoming a new urban space with thriving public life supported by numerous small-scale commercials and cultural amenities.
A portion of the South Extension project by JR East
SHINJUKU STATION AS AN ‘URBAN THING’ As Shinjuku Station sequentially expands and integrates into the urban fabrics, it generates an urban process in which transportation infrastructure and civic programs are multiplied in both horizontal and vertical layers. While the space and structures can be interpreted from an architectural perspective, the process happens under a ‘multiplayer’ mode with collective forces that intervene in economic, political, and social dimensions. As an ‘urban thing’, Shinjuku Station can be an instrument for architects to revisit infrastructural space as an urban concept and find inspirations for relevant design interventions.
space of transportation infrastructure space of civic programs