Jia Zhuang- MLA Portfolio

Personal Statement I was born in 2002 in Harbin, a city in the north of China, which is famous for its heavy industry. The lack of control measures at that time led to serious air and water pollution here, so when I was a child, the Majiagou river next to my house always emitted a very bad smell. However, with the government's strong push for sustainable urban development, my hometown has changed drastically. Green spaces and public infrastructure have increased throughout the city, the river has been transformed from a stinking ditch into an eco-scenic spot, and there are more tourists coming here. Because of the ecological transformation and urban renewal action, the Majiagou River has become a vital ecological corridor in the Harbin City, which makes me deeply perceive the power of space design and has piqued my interest in the field of landscape Architecture, especially in conjunction with environmental problems.

My undergraduate curriculum included landscape design, architectural design and landscape planting design, which helped me to build a solid foundation for my spatial design skills during my three year studies, and also helped me realize that my field of interest within Landscape Architecture is how to maintain ecological diversity and build a sustainable and harmonious relationship between human and nature through landscape design in the face of the climate change crisis. With this interest, I have participated in the internship in Suzhou Design Institute of Zhongyifeng Holding Group Co., Ltd and Suzhou Sulv Garden Virescene Engineering Supervision Co.Ltd. Through these practical trainings, I enhanced my ability to use computer graphics such as AutoCAD and Sketchup, understood the whole process of space design project. Whatr’s more, these internships have helped me to set goals for my future career plans. I would like to work as a landscape designer to solve ecological problems, or as a consultant or officer in the field of environmentalism in a non-governmental organization (NGO).

It is precisely because of my academic interests and career planning goals that I am keen to pursue postgraduate studies in the Landscape Architecture programme at your university. Firstly, it is a programme that focuses on the practice of contemporary landscape design. Through the design studios in this course I can learn theory while applying it to real projects in a contextual way. Secondly, I have had a look at the showcase of work by graduating students who studied this programme. The students' works mainly focused on climate change, community awareness and biodiversity issues, all of which were topics I am interested in and have researched in my portfolio. Being able to study in this programme means that I can continue to develop my academic areas of interest and build my professional skills. These are the reasons why I would like to apply for your programme and I am very much looking forward to getting into this programme for my further studies!

Master Plan

Site analysis

Main Idea

Topic Overview

Current Situation

Activity Analysis

Crowd Needs Analysis

City Bird Park Renovation of Suzhou Egret Park based on the consideration of the relationship between human settlements and migratory birds

Suzhou Industrial Park mainly has four major lake wetlands, only one wetland belongs to the natural wetland on the outskirts of the city, and the rest belong to urban constructed wetlands. Due to the continuous development and construction of the city, the richness and species diversity of bird communities in the city are declining with the increase of urbanization, and the number and diversity of bird species in residential and industrial areas with a higher degree of urbanization, the number and diversity of bird species are significantly lower than the wetland habitat with a lower degree of urbanization. In this case, the construction of a park suitable for humans and urban birds to cohabit is urgently needed for urban construction. In this project, based on the bird species, living habits, existing site conditions, and the needs of the surrounding people for the park, I created a wetland park habitat for city birds that can coexist peacefully with human beings based on the concept of nature and above nature.

Mortise and tenon is the main structural method of traditional Chinese architecture, furniture and other instruments, and is a connection method that combines concave and convex parts on two components. The protruding part is called a mortise ; The recessed part is called tenon.The structure of the mortise and tenon components can be condensed into a square structure with interspersed relationships, which can be used as a space for birds to stay and nest.

Location：China,Suzhou Academic | July 2022 - December 2022 Individual work

Analysis of bird habits Bird Flight Altitude Analysis

Food Chain Construction Analysis

Seasonal Analysis

Master Plan

Road Analysis

Surrounding Analysis

Overview of the road

Bike path

Dedicated roads for scientific research

Plank

Habitat Analysis

By setting up a variety of berthing environments, it can meet the living habits of migratory birds, while taking into account the needs of human excursions and scientific research.

Site Analysis

Revetment Platform

Sand and gravel natural mooring

Shore viewing gallery

Shore eco-trail

Vegetation mooring

Functional partitions

Population density analysis

Perspectives

Understory Space

Feeding Area

Design of Landscape Structures Size Comparision

Analysis of Structure Height and Bird Flight Altitude

Shared Orchards

Set up a large area of understory space, reduce artificial paving area and traces of human interference, maintain the ecological environment of native vegetation in the field, and protect the richness and diversity of species in the field. At the same time, the empty understory space has multiple potential functions that can be freely used by visitors.

Node Illustration

Understory space

Shared orchards

Lawn feeding area

Waterfront Bird Zone

Set up a large area of understory space, reduce artificial paving area and traces of human interference, maintain the ecological environment of native vegetation in the field, and protect the richness and diversity of species in the field. At the same time, the empty understory space has multiple potential functions that can be freely used by visitors.

Shared orchards meet the needs of birds for berry plants, while fruit trees bloom to attract insects and enrich the bird's food source.

The overhead gallery of the Relatives Bird Activity Area is equipped with some bird parking spaces to meet the interaction and play between humans and birds and increase the interest of the landscape.

Viewing Platform Aerial view of the venue Waterfront Bird Zone

Birding Platform

Penthouse Interior

Mortise and tenon structure Deduction

Structure Distribution

Ground Foor Platform

Birding platform

Viewing platform

Stop bird gallery frame

The viewing platform is located in the distant bird activity area, and the entrance of the platform is connected to the elevated boardwalk, which reduces the noise impact caused by the gathering of people at the entrance on the ground. The walls feature multiple birding panes sized to fit the size of the bird whose flight altitude matches the height of the structure.

The Bird Gallery is placed at multiple boardwalk nodes and scattered throughout the site to provide space for birds to stay and roost. At the same time, birds are gathered near the structure to promote human-bird interaction. The height of the gallery and some of the structures interspersed can prevent visitors from disturbing the birds, and can only be viewed but not touched.

The bird-watching platform is placed in the distant bird area, which is convenient for researchers to investigate and study the living conditions of birds in the site, observe the changes in the number and species richness of birds in the site, and then adjust the maintenance strategy in time.

Stop bird gallery frame