INVISIBLE BOUNDARY /

A renovation of old residence

2017.06 - 2017.09

Competition Thesis Design / Individual

Site: Guangzhou, China

Key words: residential architecture, adaptive reuse Superviser: Yaoguang Lin

In modern residential areas of China, people barely know their neighbors. The walls which are also the property rights boundary, confirm every families' space and the attitude toward others. As an important unit for people to communicate with each other in the city, the form of it isolates people from knowing each other.

In Qingcaidong community, the unit space built for small families is broken. At the very start, this community is to serve as a dormitory for the employee’s family from the companies, which is the bond that bring residents together. Over the course of three decades, the demographic composition of the community changed and only a few original families still live here. On the one hand, because of the rental demand, many young people only need a bedroom with a bathroom which is affordable so some landlords rent out their suit by dividing them. On the other hand, lots of families moved out or leave the older generation to stay alone. In this matter, the love and companion from the community will mean something for them. In this project, I try to break down the boundary between suits and create an open space for bonding the peer and different groups, to create a community that people are sharing, loving and caring.

Tulou

The tulou "fuhai Lou" was once destroyed by floods. At the time of the reconstruction, the residents did not build together, but according to the original Land allocation. The family In good financial condition built first, and steal area from both sides with rectangular flat shape. The last units have almost triangle plans extruded by the units built before. Thus, People's attitude towards responding to the environment factor, including build order and other surrounding houses, forms individual diversity under the order.

The Qingcaidong community was a residential area for an electronics company originally, and residents were all colleagues who knew each other. Even the community is lack of public space to encourage social activities, but they still had a bond of the company to maintain the community in a friendly vibe.

The development and construction of new areas around Yuxiu was promoted the measures to transform the workunit housing into commercial housing. Thus, the buying, selling, and leasing have brought the flow of people among this kind of residential areas.

The bonds that maintain the relationship was disappearing, and the boundaries and order of the slab residential areas and lack of public spaces intensify the independence of individuals within this community.

The humdrum living space and public space in modern residential areas discourage people's communication. The modern residential area is the most basic residential unit in the city now. In order to improve the land efficiency, the residential area maximizes the living area, and neglects the public construction, as its side-effect, it makes the living space become homogeneous and boring.

Public Space For Communication

Villages are also very basic living units. Villages began to be built in rough planning, in which everyone responded with different attitudes, forming a very dynamic and diverse public Spaces. The abundance of public Spaces gives people the possibility to bring the whole community together. People share their lives. They hold wedding ceremonies and funerals, and celebrate festivals. Such acquaintance societies give individuals a sense of security based on contacts and collectivity.

The open space in front of the tulou is often used to hold folk activities in the village, such as weddings, ceremonies, or festival events.

The linear space in the village is mainly their traffic space, but because of its rich interface changes, it creates possibilities for other activities.

Inside the traditional buildings, there are some public space, such as patios, courtyard. They are relatively private, but still open to everyone.

PLAYGROUND IN GLASS BOXS /

A modern interpretation of the greenhouse

2021.09 - 2022.01

Master 3th Academic term thesis design / Individual

Site: Forest Playground Mariehøj, Gl. Holte

Ket words: public architecture, extension, microclimate, sustainable architecture

Superviser: Tom Mose Petersen

The site is located inForest Playground Mariehøj, Gl. Holte, outskirts of Copenhagen. In the area, cultural center, the gallery and it create the leisure life for people around it. The gallery is an local historical architecture with a unique baroque garden.

The project aims to create a "winter garden" in the natural park, creating a winter shelter for people who can still feel the outside world indoors. The glass façade of the glasshouse reflects the surrounding environment, fading into the mountains and blue sky, which is designed to respect the dominant position of the historic building in this area. Underneath the greenhouse is a form that inspired by the state of nature, in contrast to the conformity of the baroque garden, like a playground for children in a natural park, a form for people to explore, with infinite possibilities.

GL Holtegaard Gallery culture facilities

Baroque garden Axis of the baroque garden Site

The Greenhouse

The greenhouse has developed for hundreds of years. This is how the Oxford dictionary defines a greenhouse, “a greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.”

In a sense, the greenhouse is defined as an architecture type with specific characteristics for coping with scientific climate control. In practice, the greenhouses always create a comfortable environment for plant cultivation. For example, botanical gardens raise many exotic plants to provide places for nature education, and greenhouses break the limitation in different seasons and locations for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. For centuries, the development of technology has reduced the limitations of greenhouses, providing solutions and directions to many

Evolution Of The Greenhouse

1. the nobles in ancient times wanted to grow some exotic plants, like cucumbers and oranges at high latitudes.

2. people built wooden houses for storing plants to help them survive the cold winter.

3. People planted plants in containers that could be easily moved and moved them out to receive light in summer, while the house became a space where they could feast, forming the prototype of an orange garden.

4. The popularity and application of glass allowed plants to absorb sunlight even indoors,

5. Botanical gardens and winter gardens, which were plant-oriented indoor spaces, were developed.

Copenhagen Botanical Garden

The garden was first established in 1600 but was moved twice before it was ultimately given its current location, in 1870. The garden was laid out in 1874. The garden also has a special airconditioned greenhouse that can re-create environments suitable for Arctic plants.

In this section, except the glazing space for plants, there are some solid construction related to ventilation, heating, storage and etc.

Concept

1. In some garden with a greenhouse, there are always some shed built by bricks, separating from the main glazing space. The shed usually uses for storaging tools or growing muchroom.

2. In this proposal, the project try to put the concrete volume inside the greenhouse, solving the pratical issue for the greenhouse, such as toilet, heating, ventilation and etc.

3. In summer, the glazing facade is able to open, engage the interior with nature. In winter, the closed greenhouse creates a microclimate itself. People can still feel like being connected with the outside.

Concept

I used a small-scale model of the site to express my preception of the site by red line. Unlike the baroque gardens where paths and behaviors are regulated, this natural park is a place where people can move freely and create different possibilities.

The first level of intervention in the site is a multifunctional form of continuous anisotropy. It continues zigzagging through the site, reaching out in all directions to interact with the environment. The second level of intervention is a few regular, simple glass boxes, the glass material of the façade reflecting the surrounding mountains and blue sky. The form is understated and subdued, fully respecting the uniqueness and priority of a baroque garden gallery. It also hides the wild and modern form under a low-profile exterior.