Christine Xiaohan He_Portfolio 2020

PORTFOLIO ARCHITECTURE// URBAN//

2015-2020 SELECTED WORKS

CHRISTINE HE

Christine Xiaohan He

1. VEHI-CO-LIVING

AFFORDABLE HOUSING STRATEGY | COMPETITION

2. MOTIF: A STUDY

GEOMETRY COMPOSITION | THESIS

AIA ASSOCIATE, LEED BD+C christinehexiaohan@gmail.com | 480.246.9735

EDUCATION Master of Architecture, May 2019 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United State Joint Educational Program, Architecture, May 2017 Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United State

3. DEVOURING MOTHER

Bachelor of Architecture, June 2017 Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Project Designer, Arshia Architects Residential, single family design

Beverly Hills, California – July 2020 to Present

Project Designer, DLR Group K-12 design

Los Angeles, California – August 2019 to April 2020

Professional Intern, Gensler Workplace Design

Los Angeles, California – June 2018 to August 2018

4. GONE HOUSE

MULTI-MEDIA TRANSLATION | STUDIO

HISTORICAL CONTEXT RENEWAL | COMPETITION

LANGUAGES Mandarin (native) English (bilingual oral and written fluency)

CONTENT

* Architecture for me is a very inclusive topic, and a lot of time, cultivating this topic from the outside may be just as important as cultivating within the discipline itself. Before starting my journey in architecture study, I was very into Biology as a high schooler. I was lucky enough to be on the school Biology competition team and got in touch with more in-depth courses. Among all, the most fascinating course for me is Ecology and Ethology. I was amazed by the systematical beauty of nature and consistently reflect the knowledge I learned to the world around me. It was even more intriguing when I looked at human society to trace the similarity and differences, which, when I think back, I believed it fell into the realm of Anthropology and Sociology. It was a semi-detached yet deeply involved experience when I tried to understand human behavior as a human being.

That curiosity of humans’ singular and social behaviors continued into my architecture journey. In my projects, I was trying to stay observant and trying to communicate with my users, not through words or theories, but the structure, the atmosphere, the place-making, as a fable, a metaphor, an immersive play composed by the scale, the texture and sequence of travel.

The interaction between the human body and the man-made artifact fascinated me, as to understand how people read a three-dimensional environment and how a space influence people both physically and mentally. My early projects like micro-living units and self-building ark design were focused on understanding the human scale and instinct in building as a primitive behavior and shelter as a basic need.

However, a human is not a machine, and a community is not only a cluster of people, therefore cannot be simply “packaged” in or “transplanted” without systematic thinking. That had also influenced me to focus more on socially responsible development for new and renewal projects, especially at the urban scale. From the Shenzhen urban village re-development to San Francisco affordable housing challenge, the more I participated in the projects related to social issues, the more I realized that ethical development is a common topic applicable internationally. No matter for net-zero design in a climate-changing global setting or social-emotional learning space design for a generation facing a social dilemma, architects shall act as an advocate of change.

As for now, Ecology and Ethology have never left me in my architecture research and practice, and I still hold my initial curiosity about human beings. They remind me, constantly, that not only how a butterfly transforms in its cocoon, but when it flaps its wings, a tornado is building up at the other end of the sea. *

STATEMENT OF WORK

Yeah, the address VEHIco-living shows exactly here. as it says. I have heard that after the pandemic, San Francisco had some new design to make housing more affordable. Maybe that’s the new design.

Are you sure we are at the right place?

It looks like a parking structure, a weird one.

Let’s find out!

Okay.

Looks like some chill people living here.

Is that girl doing yoga on the balcony on the seventh floor?

It was July, 2022. Two years after the global pandemic.

Cityscape and people’s life have been hugely changed.

Housing around Balboa Park, San Francisco

VEHI-CO-LIVING

July, 2022

Balboa Park, San Francisco

Affordable Housing

“A REVOLUTION OF HOUSING ISSUE!” “Make San Francisco affordable again!”

You are here!

Post Pandemic Living: How to Retrofit Our City to (Two Years ago But Still) New Normal?

APPLY TODAY AND FIND OUT!

Wait for the roof deck, honey.

Look how people are connected.

On-site art studio and library... can it be even better ?

This is a vertical community, too!

I don’t know you, but I am ready to dance!

WOW! The interior view is so different.

Look at these units with garage doors.

Here it is. Parked right at our unit.

Wanna check out our up-stair neighbor?

Isn’t that amazing?

Feels like they layered a single-family community into a vertical village. In parking structure style.

Ha!

Interesting. Units are linked by ramps? Smart!

Here you are. A house parking complex.

Oh nice. A common space for a little gathering

But housing is such

with the Tech Boom in Bay Area dated back in 2012. When Silicon Vally became a thing and capital flowed in, San Francisco as a go-to city of culture and job opportunities had risen up as a pop star in the US renting market. The city itself was so desirable that even if it had kept in the top rent of the nation for years, it didn’t stop people from moving in. Housing affability here was so ridiculously poor that a ‘new homelessness’ was born for SF: people have jobs, cars, all the stuff expect a decent place with reasonable price to stay. They simply cannot afford it.

covid-19

?

PA ND 2 EM 020 IC 20 22 ?

BO 201 OM 2 CH

TE

EC

ON OM Y

C R 20 AS 08 H

IT ALL STARTED

Yeah, that is exactly what this project is about. When the architects brought up this proposal, they predicted that people would accept remote working more with more advanced telecom tech. Of course, the public and local government highly doubted that. Then it came the global pandemic and lock down, and everyone was forced into a huge virtual / telecom / remote / digital experiment, and the prediction of the architects just was expedited like, 20 years. Everyone went digital at one blink.

...It brought the perfect ground for this project.

Empty parking structures in SF downtown was soon plugged in by living units and occupied by people .

a

basic human need!

Housing, or shelter, is an essential way to protect people from the severe natural environment that is not inhabitable, or a basic personal fortress from violence. It also gives people a feeling of well-being and helps to maintain a will to survive. For example, prolonged exposure to cold can cause excessive fatigue and weakness (exhaustion). An exhausted person may develop a “passive” outlook, thereby losing the will to survive.* Space influences people in profound ways.

... ...

People who can afford a car but not a home choose to live ‘nomadically’. I mean technically the car can serve as a shelter, but the size of a shelter does matter, you know? And of course you cannot cook or shower in a car that’s for sure.

Will there be a way to

unpack

the car like unfold a living space?

‘CaMorrek’ doc · Living units attached to existing parking structure · vehi-co-living with space to unpack and build community · Works with most marking structure, suits various space need, easy to apply with huge flexibility

Space!!

...you know, like a dock for cars, just plug in and out when need more space? * “3 Reasons Why Your Shelter Is Crucial to Survival”, by DNews, https://www. seeker.com/3-reasons-why-your-shelter-is-crucial-to-survival-1765364648.html

Unit A Compact unit to enjoy alone

Unit b Loft designed for couple and nuclear family

Yes / No Do you see the guy over there? I think they are adding some living units to that existing parking structure.

The construction is all automated.

Unit C Horizontal design for easy access Here you can choose different types of prefabricated units to suit different lifestyles. I think I like Unit A!

REPETITION The structure of the Repetition requires rigid grid for two (or three, in space) directions. The grid shall be visually emphasized.

MOTIF * A decorative design or pattern.

* A distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition.

Apartment Building Tödistrasse Zürich / ADP Architektur Design Planung AG Project Year 2016

* [Music]a short succession of notes producing a single impression; a brief melodic or rhythmic formula out of which longer passages are developed. * An ornament of lace, braid, etc., sewn separately on a garment. * [Biochemistry]a distinctive sequence on a protein or DNA, having a three-dimensional structure that allows binding interactions to occur.

MOTIF BINNINGEN II / LÜTJENS PADMANABHAN Project Year 2014

The structure of the Motif preferred multilayer of grids to allow elastic evolve. Main grid shall keep overall rigid and visually emphasized, with the sub-grid to keep obvious relationship with.

“...are made one at a time and joined together to create larger works. ... may be varied or rotated for contrast and variety, or to create new shapes. ... can be any size, but usually, all the motifs in any given work are the same size. The technique used in a motif may vary greatly, but there is almost always some unifying element, such as texture, pattern, or color, which gives the finished piece more aesthetic appeal.[1]” ——Motif in textile arts “...a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition: The motive is the smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity.[2]” ——Motif in music

RANDOM Boissonnet Building / TRIBU architecture Project Year 2014

STRUCTURE

The structure of the Random keeps loose. Though necessary control lines can be used to organize the overall expression, at least one direction of the grid shall be intentionally challenged.

“In a narrative, a motif establishes a pattern of ideas that may serve different conceptual purposes in different works. ... makes frequent use of motif to connect different moments that might seem otherwise separated by time and space.[3] ...the recurring motif of ‘eyes’ is connected to a constantly changing flow of images, and sometimes violent manipulations, in order to call into question our ability, and the narrator’s own, to accurately perceive and understand reality.[4][5]” ——Motif in the narrative

[1] “54-40 or Fight Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine.”, Antique Geometric Quilt Designs.

[2]White (1976), pp. 26–27.

[3]”Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Thomson Gale. 2004. HighBeam Research. 26 August 2010 [4]Saini, Tinku (1996), Eye disbelieve, Tinku Saini, University of Washington, a rchived from the original on 2007-12-27, retrieved 2008-01-31 [5]McCoy, John (1995), The Eyes Tell All, University of Texas at Austin, archived f rom the original on 2013-09-16, retrieved 2008-02-01

: A STUDY

FIXED

3a

REPETITION The units in the Repetition are fixed, and keep the same throughout the expression, which shows the uniformity.

Repetition shows a rigorous structure with the same units (or same set of units).

Random uses different units to collage the overall objective. No hierarchy nor structure is needed to show.

Use Homogeneity To Show Homogeneity

Use Uniqueness To Show Uniqueness

2a

3a 2a

2a

2a

ELASTIC

3a San Cataldo Cemetery / Aldo Rossi Project Year 1971

Winton Guest House / Frank Gehry Project Year 1987

Hospital de Los Inocentes / Filippo Brunelleschi Project Year 1419

2a

bb 2a

3a

MOTIF The units in the Motif are elastic, which required a certain relationship within the Motif units keeps the same, while the periphery form issue can be resolved due to specific conditions.

REPETITION

MOTIF

cc 2a 3a bb 2a

3a bb 2a

3a cc 2a

cc 2a

Basilica Palladiana / Andrea Palladio Project Year 1549

RANDOM FIXED RATIO

3a

RHYTHM

2a

RHYTHM The units in the Rhythm keep a fixed ratio, and evolve in scale to serve the overall expression. The units keep the same with the only difference in scale.

Laurentian Library / Michelangelo Project Year 1571

3a

Sydney Opera House / Jørn Utzon Project Year 1973

Motif implies structure while using adjustable units to comply with different local situation.

Rhythm implies overall gesture by emphasizing differences between similar units.

Use Uniqueness To Show Homogeneity

Use Homogeneity To Show Uniqueness

3a 2a

9/2a 3a

6a

15/2a Greenhouse as a Home / BIAS Architects Project Year 2018

4a

5a

UNIT

AXONOMETIC CUT

SQUARE

CONCAVE

SHEAR / OBLIQUE

PROFILE: VARIATION #1 REPRESENTATION

OBJECT MODEL

PROFILE: VARIATION #2

OBJECT

OBJECT 2.0

MOTIF EVOLVE FROM 2D TO 3D OBJECT MODEL

AXONOMETIC CUT

MODEL PHOTO

Site Plan

The project is an extension of Hitchcock's movie Psycho.

Norman Bates, the hero of Psycho, is a murderer with a dual personality. At daytime, Norman is the gentle owner of Bate's Motel, but at night he becomes the vicious mother who tries to protect her son by murdering young ladies and detectives around Norman. With architectural language, I try to seize the essential moment of these murdering events, and the devouring mother, who has already died for decades yet still occupying her son's mind and body, is what I believe the ultimate of events. Past will never pass, the memory of murdering remains in Norman's brain and composes a swirl of the landscape around the tumble hybrid house.

DEVOURING MOTHER

First Translation with Site Plan and Elevation

Study model

STORYBOARD OF NEW BATE'S MOTEL New Bate's Motel opened at downtown Phoenix. Followed the advice of the architect (me) and the psychologist (also me), Norman agrees to face the internal reality and build the new motel with the hybrid style of his old motel and his mother's gothic villa. The landscape, which can partially serve as parking function, is abstracted from his past experience, which contains bitter as well as sweet. However, once the new motel is completed, crowds of people start gathering around it to protest of this architecture of murderer. The angry noise is so loud that the police have to intervene. Norman Bates, crumbling inside of his new motel, have to face this nightmare with eyes wild open.

Study model

To find a way to respect and react to the historical buildings and create a refreshing power within the old town is the point of this design. Meanwhile, the new building should contain a special sense of modern.To answer the challenge of the site, a concept of folding space is raised. Changeable space paradigm contains a vague modern spirit and avoids resembling historical architectural form. To deal with the high building density, I take a very good use of existing grey space. Disperse units are organized by frames, which makes it possible to protect the surface of initial buildings and reserve the street space. Interior design complies with the envelope structures. The foldable design can divide the use time and the spare time. The invisible units will be no barrier of sunlight and will not increase the density of initial context. In addition, the foldable units can fit personal needs.

The old town is now the base of creation. Surrounded by art school, the artists like to choose the old town to live. With the low rent price in old town, working class also choose to live in it. High building density, various historical building, poor building quality, confusing path are the major problems of the site.

GONE HOUSE

3D Space

Only 'FOLDING' the space can the sunshine not be block

to Fold

Some larger service centers are hiding inside the mountain

2D Surface

Houses are hanging on the counter gables to make room for walking path beneath

SOLUTIONS

Disperse units rely on frames to make room for streets Foldable interior design clearly divides use time and spare time Invisible units do not impact sunlight or increase density Changeable units fit personal needs

Artist Entrepreneur

Migrant Workers

Work in Shops

Daytime

Social

DAY

Work on site 7:00

Commuter

Alone

17:00

Recreation

Company NIGHT

Traveler

Travelling

7:00

17:00

Night

Have fun!

MOUNTAIN & MOUNTAIN

HISTORICAL BUILDING Folding Light

Folding Table

BUILDING SCALE

Building & Mountain

Folding Chair Folding Bed

20 PC U-shaped structure 50x50 PVDF U-shaped pipe 20 PC U-shaped structure

CONTEXT CHANGE IN SITE

Future

Event

Sweden Parish Established

Flood moves poor people to the mountain

Population goes up and families start building saving

Students come back to cities

Many families move out of the site for parking lot building

More families move for road building

Migrant workers flood in the site and locals move out

Green space replaces unlimited extension of buildings

Extension contiues Temporary dwells built

Government directed re-building takes place

Historical Building with large green space

People Context Change

Historical Building with large green space

Cabin

Self building

Extension

SERVICE CENTER

LIVING UNIT

THREE STATUS OF UNITS

FOLD Enough Sunshine

Locationing

Unit

semi-FOLD Various Space

Radius

Net

Occupy for Night Use

Site

Site