01 The Waterfront Art Performing Center 02 The Design of Future Airport 03 The New Andy Warhol Museum 04 The Hacking Infrastructure 05 The Habitat on Mars 06 The Spiritual Space 07 The Future School of Architecture 08 Professional Projects
Galveston Waterfront Center
Yuan Ji & Julie Alavarez Project Location: Galveston. TX Project Type: Cultural Center Project Year: 2016 Spring
Galveston Waterfront Cultural Center Project Concept: Floating structure creates engaging city space at street level. Inviting the community into the cultural center above with an integration of indoor and outdoor space. The idea of the project is to create floating space with a extended canopy to embrace the upcoming visitors, and using the space under the canopy as an open space where hold the public events and activities. Which to increase the indoor and outdoor interation to facilitate its cultural significance.
The project located at Galveston. TX along the river
The industrial and commerical area converge under canopy
The cultural center is under the canopy
Lift the entire program up to create the floating space
Reduce the weight of the floating space make it lighter
The conceptual mass of the cultural center
Restaurant
Mechanical Patron’s suite Central Circulation
Theater
Black Box
Central Circulation
Cores
Project Programs The Galveston Waterfront Cultural Center consist one main theater, a small black box, a public restaturant and a patron’s suite, there is a central staircase to connect the black box and the rehearsal theater. The rehearsal theater occpied 4 floors, and the black box occupied 3 floors, and the major mechanical room are located at the top floor where close to thre canopy.
Egress
Cool Air
Stack Ventilation System The central circulation strategy is good for the use of stack ventilation system
Cool Air
Canopy Surface
Structure System The project of the cultural center is based on a steel structure system with a glassed facade. The huge wall cores at the middle connect the canopy and the ground, and the column at the back side of theater and black box work as tension column which transfer the loads to the ground, in general, the entire floating space is hanging on the canopy.
Canopy Structure Columns Trusses
Glass Mullion
Exterior Glass
Trusses
Tension Column
Loading Force
Loading Force
There are two pairs of staircases at the middle of the project, which work as vertical circulation for the cultural center.
Restaurant
Mechinical Room
Black Box Theater Staircase
Section Perspective The section perspective drawing of the cultural center show the project programs in a three dimensional perspective, which can better helps us understand the spatial conditions of the interior. The black box and rehearsal theater are facing each other with a central staircase.
Project Elevation The elevation of the project shows the general form of the project in a straight view, the building canopy hold the space underneath which created a floating soace at street level, when people see the cultural center in a far distance, the entire project is floating in the air, and such space also created shadowline at ground level, whuch provide natural shading strategy for people inside.
Level 5000
Level 4000
The Visibility and Transparency The use of the glassed facade can ensure a great visibility and transparency between indoor and outdoor environment, people from outside can have a grasp on the activities take place inside.
Level 3
3000
Level 2000
Level 1000
Structure Physical Model The structural model is an exploration on the way of how to build a canopy structure and it’s strucutre frame. I developed a joint system to interlock the canopy frame with eachother, and the holes within the structure is a real solution for building ventilation.
Level 6000
Level 5500
The Floor Plan Detail The use of BIM software to detail the floor plan in order to find a better solution for interior circulation, and a further development on the program elements and its spatial arrangement.
The Short Section Cut The short section cut reveals the spatial condition of underground parking, the center theater space, the structure of the floor and canopy, and it also shows the floating condition of the project.
The Interior Restaurant View
The Public Lobby Area
The Longitude Section
1/4” = 1’-0 Physical Model
The Galveston Waterfront Cultural Center
FUTURE AIRPORT A EXPERIMENTAL EXPLORATION OF FLUDITY AND MOVING SECTION DESIGN Fall 2017
Structure Transformation and Exploration After analyzing the stucture, we were asking to transform and expand the origianal structure into something more complex and dynamic. By amplifying the arch structure, we created somehting that morphologically different but origin from the case study. We also considering the joints of the structue in order to serve the future purpose of the development of the project, the transformation of the structure suggested the future direction of the project, we are asking to consider the section of the structure to think about the project.
Structure Transformation and Exploration After analyzing the stucture, we were asking to transform and expand the origianal structure into something more complex and dynamic. By amplifying the arch structure, we created somehting that morphologically different but origin from the case study. We also considering the joints of the structue in order to serve the future purpose of the development of the project, the transformation of the structure suggested the future direction of the project, we are asking to consider the section of the structure to think about the project. After the first couple weeks of analysis, we applied a rule set to further explore the potential of the transformation, we designed topology for each section that it constantly moving, which created a floating condition. The weightness and light condition transformed solidity into fludity. For further development of the project, we are taking the fludity and moving as the major concept of our project.
The Moving Condition In the process of exploring the morphological transformation of the structure, we applied a ruleset that we created, and the ruleset we designed created some interesting effect, that it stranformed a 2D object into a 3D moving condition, which is something unexpected. Each section of the structure moving in different directions, when people moving inside the structur, they will experience the structure is in a kinetic rather than static condition.
Section Designed By Ruleset By analyzing the original structure, we designed a ruleset for the transformation of each section, because we want to create a logic for the transformation of the object, any radom change of the original structure we considerit to be meaningless. The ruleset we designed created some interesting effect, that it transformed a 2D object into a 3D moving condition , which is soemthing unexpected.
Airport Site Plan
Airport Interior R
Rendering
Exterior Skin
Secondary Structure
Interior Skin
Primary Strcuture
Floor Plates
Airport Exploded Axonmetric
First Floor Plan 1:250
Second Floor Plan 1:250
15 MINUTES AND COUNTING A NEW ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM Spring 2018 Yuan Ji & Yichen Wang From the time Warhol obtained his first film camera in 1963 until his death in 1987, he actively explored the moving image, creating films, personal portraits, programs for cable television, and music videos. We see Andy Warhol’s films as a vital part of his legacy and contribution to the Arts. Design Concept We envision our museum proposal as a hybrid between a museum and a cinema. Our museum features permanent films and videos produced by Warhol as well films from new and coming filmakers. A large auditorium is placed in the centre of the museum and serves as a public gathering space for more formal art symposia and film festivals. Digital galleries surrounds the central auditorium, and each of them is spatially nested into one another and visitors can easily circulate through them. So the experience of appreciating art work is not interrupted. Our design is inspired by the intense figural nature,high contrast colors and curvature study of the selected Pop Art Painting. The study of the painting futher leads itself to 3D technique exploration. The building inherites qualities from the 3D technique study and transformed itself into a machine like creature. This art museum, as well as the digital arts, show how art embrace modern technology to produce exciting work.
Ground Floor Plan
Core Programs 1: Main Entrance
4: Lobby 5: Core 6: Restroon 7: Digital Gallery 8: Mechnical Room 9: Serivce Core 10: Freight Elavator 11:Lobby 12:Loading Dock 15: Baggage 16:Exit
Third Floor Plan
Core Programs 6: Film Gallery 7: Service Core
16: Classroom 17: Conference Room 18: Auditorium 19:Stage 20:Backstage 23:Blcony
Ground Floor Plan Programs 01: Main Entrance 04: Cafe 05: Core 06: Baggage Storage 07: Digital Gallery 08: Mechanical Room 11:Loading Dock 12: Exit
Second Floor Plan
Programs 01: Auditorium 03: Mechinical Room 05: Storage 06: Balcony
Diagram Merge The combination of different diagrams leads to a interesting graphically appealling diagram, and we decide to turn such digitial diagram physically
Physical Model The 3D printed Model is a physical representation of the diagram, which transformed the diagram from 2D to 3. The test color coating is to indicate the dynamic changes within the model.
Diagram to Space After making the mix of the diagram, we are thinking about how to embed the architectural quality into the diagram to create habitable space, and this is our digital representation of such hypothesis
Section Model The section model reveals the architectural quality of the diagram, it is a hybird between architecture and diagram itself.
Hacking Infrastrucuture
The Project focus on building a connection between city and street, and project aim to equalize the engergy between west and east side of the reforma Avenue in Mexico City and create a cultural center in the middle region. Project Year: Fall 2018
Hacking Infrastructure, Motion and Motionless Year: 2018 Fall Student: Yuan Ji, Pu Pang pu, JiaQI Sun
This project wants to create such experience that people inside the area would automatic experience and become one phase of motion, if they drive in, they have fast motion experience, if they walk in they have slow motion experience, if they stay in the tower, they have motionless experience, these experience not only gained by the speed of themselves, but also shaped by the contrast between dynamic changes of motion activities and point of view and the motion status they observe.
Habitat On Mars
A exploration of space and gravity condition on Mars to create a conceptual habitat for future inhabitation of Humankind. Project Year: 2012 Fall
The Mars Project a parametric transformation of space on a gravity-free environment Atomsphere-Grounded Petrified furrows etched in shadow. Break free of weight, climb upward. youngest dream, stand fast. Carved memories shireked. Deep Delusions Knead. Furrow flood away. Dream for beginings, untouched but carved anew. Undergrounded Hollow flames dismantle gilded spring eroded, hospitable mouth slienced. Slience flood, ebb outlawed. Sleepless etched face, steep dream unlaterable. Memory rechanneling, sore, wonder at naked testimony.
Joints Exploration The exploration of Joints in order to create a system of assembly, then adjust such system to create a landforming mechanism.
Distant, Isolated, Simple Antiquated memory drags lonely sprint to the land of mystery. A secret place around Mars, but on one knows the exalctly location. Right! imagine a perfect inhabitation in Mars for someone feels lonely, what conditions it should have? First it must be distant, a place away from sedular respass. Second, it should be srrounded by solid and continous ravines to isolates this place from other worlds. Becasue the one feels lonely do not need to communicate with any other forms of anything, they always line in their own world. Furthermore, this distant place has everything looks simple, pure fluid liquid, simple color of vegetation, and no other forms of creatures, because these conditions are accrod with the fact that a lonely person is a simple thinker who never consider anythings outside his own world, and all he needs is a place quiiet and simple, to let the loneliness continue.
The study of Parametric tansformation of geometry in order to create 3-dementional spatial transformation
Parametric landforming transformation The use of grasshopper to simulate the gravity of any conditions, the left side diagram shows a gradient transformation of landingforming process, the purpose is to explore some extreme conditions on Mars, by setting different parameters the gradient of transformation could change drastically.
The study of Subdivision The study of subdivision mechanism of a single landforming module in order to add further variation of change to the tranforming process, and also a heavy exploration on the innovation of joint connections. The amplification of a single module could make it to become a inbabitable space which is very creative way of thinking.
Cut away analysis The cut aways analysis diagram can show the internal space of the the module, which could help us underdstand the internal spatial organization. and also through the module subdivision study, the single module could be regard as a structural element, which altogether formed the entire landscape.
The Physicial Model By building the physical model, we can underdstand a lot of joint connection knowdge which is hard to imagine by modeling it digitally. The entire model was make by hand, without lazer cut, each part of the module had to be measured by hand, and carefully cutted on the desk.
Section of Landforming Transformation The above shows the section cut of the landforming transformation, the entire space are not all above the ground, it has considerable parts which are rooted deeply in to the terrain which when showing in the section, we can see how dramatic it is.
The Landforming Terrain The study of drastic transformation of terrain is a way to simulate the change of morph logical shape in a controllable gravitational environment. Becasue the project is assumed at Mars, the different gravity condition left us innovative imagination to speculate what kind of space could be formed on Mars. The puropse of this project is not create formal architectural space, but explore and parameterize space in a highly abstract way.
The Parametric Tessellation The study of the parametric transformation not only could help us to create dramatic three dementional space, but also 2D work of art. The study of parametric tessellation could give us better sense of geometry control.
The Spiritual Space
A space of self-reflection, a investigation on the relationship between architectural morphology and personal humandity development. Project Location: Rome Italy Focus Area: Exploring the relationship between form and personal development, and creating a spirtual space for self-understanding and meditation. Project Year: 2015 Fall
Project Description At a very religious country Italy where Churches are all around the place, we were going to design a spiritual space, a place for self-understanding and self-meditation. The project purpose is to define a relationship between architectural morphology and personal humanity development. First Generation of Form and The Concept of Yin Yang The project is aim to explore the relationship between spatial condition and personal development. Therefore, I applied a traditional Chinese philosophy, the Taoism to engage the project, the concept of Yin and Yang from the Taoism is the start point of my project. The world consist two oppositional forces, one positive, and one negative, and in China, people call them Yin and Yang. From Taosim, every matters are formed by these two forces, including our Humanity. Everyone has Evil and good part of personality, they are fighting with each other which shaped our humanity.
A reinterpretation of Yin and Yang
Humanity Development Men at their Birth are good in nature. (Meng Zi)
The Symbol of Yin Yang
Fighting Each Othe
Vertical Expension
Overlapping
Men at their Birth are Evil in nature. (Xun Zi) Men at their Birth are nothing in nature. (Gao Zi)
Positive Force
Native Force
Twisting Each Other
The Yin Yang Tower
Opposition and Unity in Taoism In Taoism, the opposition and unity refer to the two forces of Yin and Yang, which indicate any two contradictory forces. And they are interdepend with each other, for example, if Yin and Yang represent good and evil, without a definition of good, what can be defined as evil. And also good could become evil and evil could become good when you compare it within different contexts, therefore, for Taosim, the terms of opposition and unity represent two different status which are interdepend and could interchanging with each other. First Imaginary Form of Spiritual Space
Personality Development Based On Age If we divide our personality development by ages, tthey we can better express the accuracy of the development. Because at different age period, our good and evil part of the humanitywould expand or shrink differently.
Second Generation of Form The interlocking and rotating motion shaped the second iteration of the form generating. The sub-division of the building block provide me a better detail to further interpret the relationship between humanity and it’s expression in architectural language. Form Transformation Based on the age sub-division, the twisting and rotation of each building block increased the variation of the form tranformation and complexity, which added more accuracy for the expression of the personality in a language of form and architecture.
Tower Structure
Divide into 23 Floors
Twisting
Conceptual Form
A Boundary Sanctity and the Secularity The second generation of my spiritual space defiend as a boundary between sancityand secularity. The entire space is seperated by two streams of water, which workedas a tool of purification. We I first enter the space, I have to pass t he scared water to clear all my distracting thoughts, and them enter a smal chapel, which works as a confessional room, a place where I can confess myself and retrospect what I did in the past.
usion and Overlapping of the Humanity When we think about our humanity and personality, our good and evil nature are always interchanging with each other, in other words, there is no straight definition of good and evil. Positive force could become negative in the next second, and so do negative forces. Therefore, the form of the spiritual space should be a expression of such highy dynamic interation, using general operational transformation could not accurately represent such motions.
The Function of Confessional Room I think the creation of the confessional room perfectly defined the boundary between the sacred and the profane. Each of the people entering the confessional room will confess their crimes to the godfather to purify their inner spirits. For me, outside the confessional room, even inside the church, it’s a profane domain, because everyone could get there, not only priests but also visitors, which defined the church as a public space, only inside the confessional room is your own spiritual or sacred place, where you can tell all the evils you did and could be excused by the godfather. Therefore, the confessional room is a real boundary between sacred and the profane.
Dynamic lnteration The development of the personality is a highy complex and interchangeable process, which reqiures infinite accuracy and abstraction, the further engage and interprete of the self-development directed me to focus on the dynamic interation between positive force and negative forces. The entire form of the spiritual space would expand as my age growing, and the intensity of the interchanging process would keep increase along with my physical changes.
Overlapping Hypothesis The overlapping process start at my age of 10, when the mental development achieved certain level, the interation between Yin and Yang starts to involve. as my age goes up, the complexity of the interation become more Intense.
The Fighting Force We are growing in an environment where the positive and negative forces are fundamental matters in the world, they are fighting with each other which shaped our living environment. As a form of life who was born in such context would has nascent impact from such settings. The tension between these two forces represented the fundamental contradiction between Yin and Yang, and any pairs of antithetic forces.
The Integration of Nature and Humanity The growing environment has huge amount of impact on the development of our personality, different environment would nature different cha raters of a person, thereforeour personality and natural environment are inseparable from each other, and the morphlogicalrepresentation of the spiritual space should expression such integration between human and nature
The Kinetic Internal movement of Yin and Yang The movement of the two forces are constant, the internal condition of the spiritual space are changing vibrantly, the vertical section cut shows the internal activity of the spiritual space, where positive and negative forces are interchanigng with each other, the vast interaction between between Yin and Yang presented the infinite fighting between these two forces.
The Final Integration of Humanity and Nature As I am growing, my connection to the environment become more and more tight. I am living in the world, receiving education from the society. Receiving ton of information from the natural environment. Such as law and rules of the society. These law and information from the environment actually have huge impact to my nature development. therefore, the final morph logical representation of the spiritual space is a place with highly abstraction and with viberant interation between positive and negative forces.
The Spiritual Space The ultimate goal of my project for this semester, is by deeply exploring the development of my nature to create a form of space, which could express my nature development. And the ultimate form I created could have different meaning when apply it in different scales. It could be an architecture space I created for myself to explore my nature, or it could be an abstract sculpture which I made for better understand of myself.
Future School of Architecture
A Pedagogical research and exploration on the current school of architecture in U.S, and design a new solution for its future development.
Resea The S organ atmo
Design a school of architecture a pedagogic approach of Design
arch on School of Architecture School of Architecture project is a research based design project aim to optimize the current architecture school in North American in terms of its spatial nization, circulation efficiency, program distribution, student faculty accessibility, in total to provide a better environment which could ficilitate the academic osphere of the school.
The Future School of Architecture, a Kinetic Moving Space The first phase of the research on the North American architecture school really provoked the idea of moving object, if an architecture could make kinetic movement based on natural forces and it is self-sustainable, then the permanent rotational movement of the building could create highy dynamic spatial experience .
The Windmill Concept Designing an architecture system which has the same mechanism as windmill to use wind as the energy resources for the kinetic movement.
Subterranean Development The Project is designed to be a floating object, the architecture school itself workings as a moving lsland,the above ground part is powered by the wind engergy, and the subterranean part is powered by the ocean water.
Section Cut The section Cut of the proejct reveals the interior spatial organization of the project, and the circulation of how the Subterranean part of the project transit to the above ground part
Professional Projects
A synopsis of different projects The I had been working with in the office
Wenzhou Harbor Masterplanning No. 4 Building Location: Wenzhou, China Project Director: Mo Zheng, Martin Miller Design Firm: Antistatics Architecture Design
The Project inspired by elements from the nature: River valley and mountain. The design of the geometry and curved landscape zone as a continuation structure runs through the entire strip base. The crystal clear glass box building is inlaid in the rhythm of the green weaving. The exquisitely cut skin and the indoor tree structure generated by the parametric design are ascending, simple, and continuating, The core has become the landscape design concept of the cross-strait light and shadow dialogue, which has enhanced the picturesque scenery of the mountains along the Lancang River.
Iron Man Pathhouse Design
Location: Beijing, China Project Director: Mo Zheng, Martin Miller Design Firm: Antistatics Architecture Design The project aims to creat a furturistic feel for the client, and being divided into different moments, which include Torque, Water Flow, Melting/ Dripping, Peeling, Megnatic,Kinetic, Explosion,Mechanical, Anti-Gravity, Space- Time Travel. And there are couple of different options we proposed for the client.
UMI Play Kids Drama Education Interior Location: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Project Director: Mo Zheng, Martin Miller Design Firm: Antistatics Architecture Design
This project is designed for an educational organization which teaches English for children, we used grasshopper to generate the form of furnitures, and designed modular furniture with moveable components