Xinyi_Liu_Portfolio

Armory Renovation and Extreme Scale Design

The Living Armory

Academic Studio Design Work

( In Collaboration with Preethi Ganesh)

Roles: Architecture Design, Sustainability Design, Rendering, Technical Drawings

Site: Kingsbridge Armory, Bronx

Sep.-Dec. 2023

Professor : Laurie Hawkinson

What if the Armory could Bring the Outside in?

What if the armory could bring the outside in?

Imagine a sanctuary where the boundary between exterior and interior dissolves , revealing a harmonious coexistence between nature and architecture.

“The Living Armory” is an architectural endeavor that transforms the conventional notion of an armory into a dynamic living space.

Three unconditioned vessels, inspired by organic forms, serve as immersive outdoor environments, blurring the boundaries between nature and architecture. These vessels act as extensions of the surrounding conditioned spaces, creating a seamless transition between the built environment and the outdoors.

The upper floor becomes a canvas for the unpredictable , allowing the outside city elements to infuse the spaces with life and spontaneity. Through our proposal, imagine open adaptable areas that respond to the pulse of the city, harmoniously integrating the energy of the streets with the tranquility of the surrounding natural vessels.

Plans

Programs

Sports Block

Swimming pool (pool + deck): 1500 m2

Dancing: 1000 m2

Sports: 1000 m2

Locker rooms + showers: 500 m2

Health Care

Waiting rooms + medical cubicles: 1000 m2

Cultural Block

Art studios: 1000 m2

Exhibition: 1000 m2

Library: 1000 m2

Theatre: 1000 m2

Collective Café / living (‘3rd space’): 1000 m2

Restaurant: 500 m2

Large event space

3,000+/- people

Other Offices: 500 m2

a.Perspective view of the open performance vessel.

b.Perspective view of the central vessel from the parking lot.

θ = Sun altitude angle on winter solstice

Summer: Stack effect

The vessels help to drive natural ventilationand cool down the large space

Winter: Greenhouse

The vessels get covered by a cap and help to capture the light and heat of the sun.

Informal Plane

Big Trusses

Formal Programs

1-1 Section

Night View: "The vessels" would be lit up with different vibrant colors at night.

Subway Entrance View

Main Perspective View

Soil-Friendly Cohousing Community Design 02

Multi-Storage

Individual Academic Work

Jun.- Aug. 2023

Site: Kensington

Professor: Fuminori Nousaku, Mio Tsuneyama

Embrace a lifestyle that shares and sustains

The Soil-Friendly Cohousing Community project aims to transform the residential block and lifestyle in Kensington. The existing block structure, approximately 180 meters long and 65 meters wide, offers an ideal foundation for fostering community.

Emphasizing sustainable and soil-friendly living, the design reimagines the traditional cohousing concept. By decentralizing communal spaces into compact, functional units dispersed throughout the community, this project prioritize greenery and encourage shared resources like gardening tools and workshops. The layout preserves existing trees as central hubs for activities, fostering a sense of unity and environmental consciousness. The small unit design promotes interaction and minimal waste , with a focus on neighborhood-built simplicity

Research

Kensington Residential Prototype Analysis

Common Cohousing Community System More

Marine Waste Disposal Skyscraper Design

Purge Island

Individual Academic Work

2022 SKYRISE International Competiton

Best Student Award, Top 5 Apr.- Jun. 2022

Advisor : Ting Song

Collect Trash and Turn it into Treasure

Top view

Marine plastic pollution is a growing concern due to the vast quantities of plastic pollution that enter the ocean. An estimated 710 million metric tons of plastic waste will enter aquatic by 2040.

And those plastic has a terrible effect on marine ecosystems and wildlife.

'Purge Island' is a future skyscraper designed to collect and reuse marine plastic, and trapped wildlife will also be rescued during its cruise.

The whole building looks like a giant floating iceberg that fits into the natural environment and shows humbleness and solitude, indicating a sense of atonement from human beings.

Scientists, staff, tourists, artists, volunteers, and other potential groups are expecting to share space on 'Purge Island.' Wildlife and plastic are studied by the corresponding scientists. Waste disposal machines are paid by tourists' accommodation fees. Volunteers earn their travel by serving the crew, while artists make their living on board by creating products through processed plastic material.

Background

1. The Pathway by which Plastic Enters Oceans

Global primary plastic production: 270 million tonnes

Global plastic waste: 275 million tonnes per year

Coastal plastic waste: 99.5 million tonnes per year

Mismanaged coastal plastic waste: 31.9 million tonnes per year

Plastic inputs to the oceans: 8 million tonnes per year

3.Plastic Waste Generation per person, 2015

Structure Inspiration

Cruise Ship Structure

2. Influence of Plastic Waste

Plastic Debris Wildlife Humans Effect

3 Key Pathways

Entanglement

Major Entanglement cases have been reported for at least 344 species to date.

Effect Major

Ingestion

It can significantly reduce stomach capacity, leading to poor appetite and a false sense of satiation.

Interaction

Fishing gear, for example, has been shown to cause abrasion and damage to coral reef ecosystems upon collision.

4. Leakage Prevention & Collection

MACROPLASTICS

Food Chain

These chemicals may bioaccumulate up the food chain through ingestion at multiple trophic levels.

Microbe

Incineration

Collection Prevention

Landfill Organisms

Part 2 How to save the wildlife ?

Part1

How to deal with the plastic?

Waste collection

Waste classification

Material sent

Artists handcraft

'Purge

Exhibition

Formation

3. Extract the highrise part to analyze and adjust its structure. Choose a tubular-truss

1.

system to form the shape looking like iceberg.

2. Streamlined shape echos vessels which tackle the wind and the water pressure well.

4. Strengthen the structural nodes and build the frame for the facade.

6. Insert a 'CORE' area to encourage different groups to communicate and share space.

5. Creating flexible floors between the high-strength floors.

5. The 'CORE' area offers various public activities.

system and use 'Karamba 3D to test the structural strength under wind pressure.

Eco - deck Perspective

Survived wildlife comes out of the indoor habitats to take a walk and enjoy the fresh air.

Ventilation compartment (500 mm)

Curtain wall truss support beam I-beam 600*200

Profiled steel plate composite floor (80 mm concrete 6 mm W steel layer)

Double-layered glass (12+12A+10)

Docking claw

Truss Point-supported system

Ventilation perforated steel bracket

Core Area Perspective Main

Detail Section Design

Survived marine wildlife lives in the big tank to rehabilitate while tourists could interact with them. 1. Sea water vapor rises 2. Fresh air enters the double-layer curtain wall cavity 3.

layer

04

Shuncheng Street Renovation and Ceremony Design

Citywall Fair

Individual Academic Work

'Celebrate! Bravo! Cheer!' Summer Workshop

Aug.- Oct. 2022

Site: Xi'an citywall

Prize: Design Competition for Street Around Best Creative Award

Professor: Jennifer Birkeland

Xi'an Citywall Site Research

Moon Festival Research

Moon Festival's Time Development

Different Traditional Activities

An Encounter Across Thousands of Years

The street to be renovated in this design is Shuncheng Lane along the city wall in Xi'an , and the section from Hanguang Gate to Zhuque Gate is selected for the design. Now the city wall is mainly used for tourism , and the complete city wall is repaired for tourists to climb, ride around the city, etc. But in the off-season, almost no one climbs the heights to play, and the value of the city wall is not well played.

The selected Shuncheng Lane continues a traditional morning market event in old Xi'an. However, the current morning market is very crowded due to the narrow Shuncheng Lane, too many trucks parked to sell, and too many residents buying. In order to solve the problems faced by the morning market in Shuncheng Lane, as well as the issues of idle city walls, less interaction with local residents, and fewer openings that affect residents' entry and exit, a market space with three-dimensional traffic were designed.

In order to further increase the utilization and give full play to the value of the city wall, various festivals, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, can use the existing structure to convert it into an event space. For example, the Mid-autumn Market, the Moon Tower provides climbing and viewing of the moon, guessing lantern riddles, and various activities and performances in the enemy platform space on the city wall.

Citywall's Location Citywall's Main Components

Section view

Morning Market alongside the Citywall

Concept Proposal —— Vertical Street Formation

Traditional Wood Tenon and Tenon Structure —— Nature, light and simple, easy to construct, and does less harm to the existing city wall.

2. Basic vertical street module has three floors. The ground floor is designed for special sales on pickup trucks; the others are for everyday sales and breakfast. he flows are marked on the diagram.

1. Use modular grids to divide the street for later organization.

3. Combining current market traits, design the start/end knots which allow customers to confirm prices using a public electronic scale.

4. Transportation knots for stall keepers to transfer cargo and for customers to park their bikes and motorbikes.

5. Moon Tower knots for people to climb up to the city wall and go down to the Ring park. Tea arts and other activities are also can be held in it.

6. The layout of the vertical street and the position between each knot.

Basic Vertical Street Module

Morning market

Common

Selling by Pickup Truck Family

Climb across the Wall

Moon Festival's Celebration Image

Structure of G Factory Textures

Weave a Spectrum of Potentialities

The old factory building in Building G to be renovated is located in the industrial training center of Hunan University. Its unique bent structure and single ample space have historical and cultural value and renovation value.

The main users of the activity center are students on campus and nearby residents. The student population of the industrial training center covers a wide range of intertwined subjects. Residents living nearby are mostly highly educated groups, such as retired teachers. Students occasionally eat at family restaurants run by residents. There is a height difference of 5m between the residential area and the site, and there is a precious century-old camphor tree on the site. The complex and straightforward materials and lush green plants in the park create a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.

According to interviews, both residents and students hope to have a place for activities and leisure. During the conversation, the concept of the center's "public lecture hall" was proposed, that is, a public space where students and residents can apply for sharing and giving lectures.

Through the superimposition of various blocks, this project allows the activities of the two groups of people to intersect to a limited extent, which is partly parallel and partly intertwined. It can not only create a connection but also use some functions independently to achieve a grasp of movement and stillness, which is in line with the overall quiet temperament of the park.

Hunan

Factory

Residential Area

Ceramic Workshop

Teaching building

Concept Proposal ——Parallel & Interweave

Prototype Extraction

Arcade -flow, transportation

Cycloidal Arch -quiet, peace, meditation

Butterfly Arch -Light and active

1. Keep the main Structure of G factory.

2. Change the roof into a transparent corrugated panel to absorb sunlight and remove part of the roof to let the structure be exposed.

From the part to the whole, starting from the "public lecture hall" of the ideological center, a small-scale subsidiary lecture hall is attached in parallel and then connects each functional space through an arcade, growing a complete form from the part, following the composition of "parallel interweaving" way.

3. The distance between each bent frame is 6m. According to this size, the size of the placed block is constrained.

4. Place the space block of the self-study room facing the student group.

5. The self-study room and small studio are arranged on the outside of the frame, and the functional blocks are placed rhythmically and repeatedly, forming an elevated entrance space at the same time.

6. The roof garden Cafe space where right next to the old Camphor Tree, is for residents, and it is parallel to the student blocks.

8. The original racks of the old factory building are exposed, and new columns are erected to increase the commemoration of the overall space.

9. The book bar block is inserted on the upper floor to lead out to the terrace to increase the openness, and the terrace meets the bottom bike parking as well.

7. Insert two strip-shaped exhibition blocks to eliminate the height difference of the site to attract people and help to form an atrium gathering space.

10. The OPEN EAT space is placed in the sunken square, which helps to build an active and interactive dining place for residents.

Prefabricated Roof*1

Prefabricated Base*1

Prefabricated Slab*3

Single Unit

Air Tigntness

Small Space Design Assembly and Transportation

Different Scale Cluster Design

Group Work

Group Work

Group Work

The 4th Hunan Dreamers Construction Festival

“The Glowing Ears”, First Prize Team Member: modeling and drafting, construction detail design

The Second Virtual Design Competition-Mars Virtual Design “Seeker”, Second Prize

Team Leader: concept forming, modeling and rendering

HNU Students Innovation Training Program

“Plug-in Isolation Ward and It’s Design After Epidemic Situation

Team Leader: overall planning, research and design

Model

East Elevation

South Elevation Construction

Hole punching

Latex adhesive reinforcement

Joint Cutting

'Arch' Process Handmade Model

Green Skin for High-rise Building Design

Stadium Design Model

Tensile/ Compression Surface