WORK SAMPLE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS
MARCH / MLA
HUI YANG
ARCHITECTURE OF UMWELTE Wustl Degree Project Graduate Bird nest + children's rehabilitation center Instructor: Adrian Luchini; Antonio Sanmartion Individual work
The project started with the theory of umwelt, which is firstly brought up by a German biologist, it means the world as it is experienced by a particular organism. The project intended to reasonably construct a space works for a new programmatic
hybrid based on understanding the user’s umwelt (pattern) . The Program for this project is a combination of bird nest and children's rehabilitation center.
The site located at Hudlin park on the east side of Forest Park, which used to be an important bird habitat for migratory birds. It was a part of forest park until the 1950s when Kingshighway changed its route. After that this site is isolated from the rest of Forest Park. During the same time period, a rapid growth of human activity and construction turns this area from a natural site into a highly developed area. So, this first passion for this project is to invite birds back based on researches about the bird’s environmental preferences.
FIRST FLOOR PLANS In addition to birds, childhood cancer patients and their care givers are also essential users of the project. Children love playful spaces and are curious about nature. Architecture and landscape are interwoven in this project. The elongated shape surrounding the forest allows daylight to permeate and expose great views. According to some research, more than 80 percent of cancer children survive after treatments. However, survivors have difficulty with their social and academic life because they spent a long time in the hospital when they were away from ordinary life. So, it is critical to maintaining as much of a regular day to day routine as possible. Classrooms, playgrounds, workshop, training room, cafeteria, and bird observation rooms are designed on the first floor to provide opportunities for studying and peer activities.
SECOND FLOOR PLANS Compared to adult patients, children are more afraid of the hospital environment. Bird observing provides a vital source of mindful distraction, and it also helps children to maintain hope. Children of different age group have different space preferences. Children from 1 to 4 need more care from parents, and they are more dependent, while children from 11 to 14 need privacy and peer interaction and activities. Different care units are designed for different age groups to meet their particular needs.
SECTION PERSPECTIVE In terms of structure. The structure is not only used to support the building but also worked as a vital story teller. The building is built atop an existing underground parking garage. So, transfer steel beams designed to support the building. The building mainly used steel structure. There is a special truss like a ribbon flowing around the building, which is also used to emphasize the architectural language of this project.
FRAMED SKY Wustl 2018 summer abroad studio Graduate Catalonia Culture museum Instructor: Adrian Luchini; Mariona Benedito Individual work
The project is a branch, satellite or addition in another location of the Catalunyan Cultural Center, a facility dedicated to the celebration of Contemporary Catalunyan identity which serves as an annex to the Born Cultural Center.
A PUBLIC ARCHIVE FOR VENICE Wustl 2018 spring option studio Graduate Archive-Library Instructor: Robert McCarter Individual work
The studio program, a new public archive of Venice, proposes a publicly – accessible copy of the State Archives of Venice. This program includes public reading rooms, book storages, meeting rooms, lecture halls and so on. This new Public Archive is to be made as an “addition” to Louis Kahn’s Palazzo dei Congressi. The project starts with an exploration of the entry space, where main ideas of the project are generated. A courtyard that opens to the bottom water is surrounded by large book walls with long vertical cuts. This is a place to celebrate meeting and sits at the center with all the other spaces around it. Space of books and space of reading are always weaving together. All the cuts on the
Site model is a group collaboration
wall welcome direct light and reflective light to indoor space, as well as the sounds from the water. The exact location of the project site was given after the first exploration, which is narrow and long and very close to Kahn’s building in the city-owned Arsenale in Venice. So, the final shape of the design follows the outline of the existing building and has half of the space built in the water. There are two cores on the two ends that keep the ideas from the first exploration connected by a linear space of books, the large one faces Kahn’s building, and the other one at another side.
PLANS
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
SECTION PERSPECTIVE The section perspective reveals the idea of the center courtyard which is surrounded by walls of books and spaces of reading. In addition, a variety of height could be clearly observed in this drawing. Heights of spaces were set according to functions. The entry hall is higher than reading rooms that are higher than book storage spaces.
MATERIALITY & CONSTRUCTION DETAILS
The first rendering shows the space quality of the “bridge of books� which connect the two heads. It is divided into two parts: reading rooms on the left and book storages spaces on the right. Reading rooms require higher spaces than storages, so there is a height difference between the two.
BRIDGE OF BOOKS
The second rendering shows the idea of center courtyard which is surrounded by book walls and sitting above the water.
COURTYARD
SEAFRONT INHABITANCE Wustl 2017 Fall Core Studio 419 Graduate Residential Instructor: Antonio Sanmartion; Emiliano Lopez Matas; Jan Ulmer Individual work
In my selected portion of the "la merce" speech, the author described the 1940’s Barcelona as “far from the sea,” “sad, gray, dirty, poor,” “buildings and churches still in ruins.” So, I overlapped the map of 1940’s Barcelona with the present Barcelona map to visualize the change of shoreline and used the dark background as well as photos at that time to explain the atmosphere. Then I built a concept model from a selected portion of the drawing. My final proposal, which located at the only open plaza space at the site, was much inspired by the first concept model. Firstly, the organic shape was used in my final proposal as commercial space, which was placed at the north side of the site, so that the residential area at the south side can have
enough sunlight and great views of the sea. Secondly, the linear shape of the residential space was kept at the final proposal. Every two apartments in each level share one staircase to avoid long corridor which is forbidden by the city’s building codes. Thirdly, the idea of the opening towards the sea was used. Every apartment has a window sticks out and faces directly towards the sea. At the same time, since the angle of the windows are slightly different from one another, directly view from the parallel apartment building was prevented to provide privacy. The part of the site that closed to the beautiful beach and shoreline used to be a plaza surrounded by restaurants. It is crowded with tourists and visitors from all over the world. So, restaurants and lobbies were designed at the bottom level of my residential buildings to provide space for all these people.
A “la merce” speech was given to each student at the very beginning of the semester. The student was supposed to visualize several paragraphs of the speech. In my selected portion of the speech, the author described the1940’s Barcelona as “far from the sea”, “sad, gray, dirty, poor”, “buildings and churches still in ruins”. So, I overlapped the map of 1940’s Barcelona with the present Barcelona map to show the change of shoreline and used the dark background as well as photos at that time to show the atmosphere.
4 Projects selected from 2015 - 2018