A R C HITECTURE PORT FOLIO ZIXIAO (KIWI) ZHU SELECTED WORKS 2017-2019
Looking back at the past five years of studying life at SCI-Arc, Graham’s object-oriented ontology has been very popular in our school. Triple O is also widely used by designers such as Hernan Diaz Alonso, Tom Wiscombe. In such academic atmosphere, I am also influenced by it. In recent years, the intersection between different schools is getting more familiar, and the boundary between west and east coast has been blurred. The style and tendency of architecture is also constantly changing. My understanding of architecture has also been changed through these years. I used to focus on the “drawing“ of a project, which is talking about the final result of that project, while I recently focus more on the “diagram“ of a project , which is talking about the design process or my design thinking. This transition helps me to better understand what I’m doing on a project and provides me to have a more comprehensive perception on the design. Used to have an internship at MAD Architects, I had an conversation with Yangsong Ma about his interpretation of the landscape city concept, and this experience made me gradually interested in the relationship between urbanism, landscape and architectural design and enables me to view architecture not only as buildings themselves, but more as the issues of city context, the social, political and environmental problems behind architecture. From those experiences, I believe that it is significant to set my primary goal in my subsequent study career to finding more new ways of architectural design from a broader perspective and to develop my ability of design thinking.
CONTENTS ________________ DESIGN STUDIO 01 The Little Dipper & The Big Dipper House next to Santa Monica Beach & Office Tower in Culver City, LA
02 Contingent City Mixed-use Complex in Mexico City
03 Misreading House House at Boyle Height, Los Angeles
04 The Active Inlay Art Museum in Chinatown, Los Angeles
05 “The Pleating Wall” High-rise Skyscraper in Downtown, Los Angeles
________________ OTHER WORKS 06 Cloud Transparency 07 Visual Study 08 Coding Form
01 | THE LITTLE DIPPER & THE BIG DIPPER House next to Santa Monica Beach & Office Tower in Culver City, LA(Fall,2019) INSTRUCTOR Eric Owen Moss Work in collaboration with Wilson Chan
The Studio has two different scale projects: the little dipper, which is a house project; and the big dipper, which is an office tower project. The main purpose of studio is trying to find and use the same design strategy to deal with different architectural program in totally two different scale. Our project began with an interest in exploring and exploiting the unique geometries of the natural world, which is found in the form of a rock. By juxtaposing the irregular geometries of a rock and the regular geometry of a box, a series of relationships are explored in creating organizational systems and spatial conditions. The project explores the strategy of intersecting regular and irregular geometries as an operational method to regulate the forms, volumes and structural systems. With a identified structural grid of the irregular shape of the interior, the geometries are rendered as an opaque mass despite the surface being a translucent material. The composition of the forms are unified and enclosed by a transparent box, resulting in a vitrine displaying a collection of opaque rock forms.
Rock Collection
Rock to Rock Relationship
Rock to Box Relationship
Rock to Box Relationship
Rock to Box Relationship
The Little Dipper: Study Model
The Big Dipper: Study Model
Step1: Site Boundary
Step2: Slicing Box
Step3: Rocks Placement
Step4: Rocks Deformation
Step5: Rocks to Box Relationship
Step6: Box Articulation
THE LITTLE DIPPER Our little dipper project used the strategy of intersecting regular and irregular geometries as an operational method to regulate the forms and volumes created, while using its material identities to define individual spaces’ openness and enclosure.
Step1: Site Boundary
Step2: Composition Concept
Step3: Rocks Placement
Step4: Slicing Rocks
Step5: Rocks to Box Relationship
Step6: Box Articulation
THE BIG DIPPER Our Big dipper project carries on this strategy by operating upon regular and irregular geometries, while the contrast between the two are manifested with a identified structural grid of the irregular shape of the interior.
Scale: Small Resolution: High
Scale: M Resolution
House Scale
Paneliz
High-rise Scale
Paneliz
Scale: Large Resolution: Low
Medium n: Medium
zation
Structural Grid
Interior Space
zation
Structural Grid
Interior Space
Step1: Original Rock Geometry
Step2: Rock Primary Structure
Step3: Rock Secondary Structure
Step4: Floors Support Beams
Step5: Finished Floor Package
Step6: Spider Glass System
Step7: Glazing Shell
Step8: Circulation
Step9: Exterior Box Shell
THE LITTLE DIPPER The structure system of our little dipper project based on the original irregular rock geometry to operate, creating the inner structure system and using the spider glass system to hang the glazing on the rock geometry, and regular geometry box connecting the two “rocks“.
Step1: Original Rock Geometry
Step2: Rock Primary Structure
Step3: Rock Secondary Structure
Step4: Vertical Connecting Mega Structure
Step5: Horizontal Connecting Mega Structure
Step6: Mega Truss
Step7: Mega Truss Floor Plates
Step8: Suspended Floors
Step9: Exterior Box Mullions
THE BIG DIPPER Our big dipper project adapts the same strategy by generating the internal structure system and wrapping each individual “rock“ with a larger structure system. Due to a larger scale of big dipper, we use mega structure to suspend floor plates, circulation and to hanged on the regular shape glazing shell.
THE LITTLE DIPPER The stair at the bottom regular box leads you to the upper floors and each rooms, existing between the two rock geometries. Each floor has a landing area and gives you options to the left or the right “rock“.
THE BIG DIPPER Promoting foot traffic from the Metro station, Pedestrians are guided along Jefferson and La Cienega onto Corbett St. then onto the ground circulation axis, which is surrounded by mirror pools. Entering the building through the sunken plaza or the opposite rock sitting on water; circulating into the main public function of the lower section of the building (Performance Hall, Spanish Steps and Cinema)
THE LITTLE DIPPER Through stairs between the two rocks, the living room and dining room located on the second floor of the house, where the glazing rocks expose outside with better surrounding views, while the bedroom and bathroom are at third floor of the house, where the rocks are hidden behind regular shape box, and obtain more privacy.
THE BIG DIPPER Through the two internal cores, the Interchange Sky Lobby levels are utilized and occupants switches onto the 8 glass elevators on the side of the building, where the remaining floors on the top of the building could be accessed. The interior components of the building consists of communal functions, such as galleries, conference spaces and gathering spaces, while the suspended floors of the exterior compiles working/ studio spaces.
THE LITTLE DIPPER The internal rock geometries are rendered as an opaque mass while the external regular geometry shell are designed to be solid material in order to emphasize the contrast and the relationship between the inside and outside of the “rock�.
THE BIG DIPPER The rock geometries are rendered as an opaque mass despite the surface being a translucent material. The composition of the forms are unified and enclosed by a transparent box, resulting in a vitrine displaying a collection of opaque rock forms.
The model of little dipper project made to explain an overall re
The sectional model of big dipper project serves more like an elevation of the b outside the rock and between the rocks, as well as part o
elationship between the parts of the building (at 1’=1/4” scale)
building, which offers opportunity to understand the relationship inside the rock, of ground condition and site condition. (At 1’=1/16” scale)
Detail chunk model made to express the tectonics and the relationship between the parts of the building (At 1’=1/8� scale)
The model explains how two rocks come together and how land to the ground
02 | THE CONTINGENT CITY Mixed-use Complex in Mexico City (Spring,2018) INSTRUCTOR Russell Thomsen Work in collaboration with Xin(James) Chen
Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world. It has also been competing for that title with other cities over the past decades. Thus, the city is constantly changing and mutating. It is interesting to observe Mexico City as an ecology on its own. In the close reading of Mexico City and the project site, we realized that the urban block of which we were situated was contingent within the boundaries and forces of the city. For example, the slight shift of Bucareli street shapes the whole entire the west side of the block which the project resides. We noticed that the buildings inside the block are also contingent to the forces of the block as if it was a scaled-down version of the relationship of the block of the city. This type of super contingency can only happen in a city like Mexico City.
STEP1: VOID FIGURE DECISION Due to the block was partially shaped by the voids that were created external forces such as earthquakes and zoning, we started to see if there was a way of linking the voided spaces in a way that was also contingent in with the rest of the block.
STEP2: CITY GRID GENERATION Considering those void space as the intersecting points from city fabric grid, we divided the block into different parts in order to recreate a new grid system within the site.
STEP3: CIRCULATION DIRECTION The site originally was divided into three parts, while we unify the site through the site itself by operating the circulation direction following the x-y axis in the new grid system.
STEP4: NEW FORM WITH CIRCULATION These four strips of long linear space that was created from the previous circulation direction start to link with each other and generate new form, wandering within this three-dimensional city fabric world.
The project shuttle through the surrounding context, creating various types of sectional figure and showcasing different relationships between our building and surrounding buildings. A series of poche figure functions as a catalogue of those relationship, which enable people to realize that much of the public circulation and vector of the previous site is preserved as they explore the project.
Patterns Scale
Patterns Variation
The cladding system should also be contingent on the needs of building —— much like the relationship between the building and the site and even between the block and the city. The figures on the facade were sampled by the voids which were created through the block. The size of the voids is contingent on the needs of the building. For example, the figures would increase in size in areas where greater visibility of the city was preferred and the envelope would close off in areas where the project receives the most direct sunlight.
The master plan describes the building’s circulation as a vector directed project. The interior components of the building mainly consists of two programs, which are shopping mall and art gallery. The linear spacial quality gives opportunity to experience the retail store and art exhibition.
The master section express the tectonics of the building and the relationship be to the site. The linear shape offers better opportunity to explore the art gallery an situation when strip are facing the force from the c
etween our building and existing building, showing our goal of being contingent nd shopping mall, while the office tower on the left side of drawing describes the context, it will adjust the direction to fit the context.
South Elevation
West Elevation
North Elevation
East Elevation
Location Map
1/4” Corten Steel Panels
(2’)/(1’)/(6”) Foam Concrete
2” Insulation 1” Waterproofing 1/2” Nylon Membrane 3” Stainless Steel SHS 10” R. Concrete Package 6” Aluminum SHS Framing 1/16” Thick Monolithic Glass
1’-6”R.Concrete 8”x12” Air Deck
Massing Model
Detailed Chunk Model 01
Sectional Model
Detailed Chunk Model 02
03 | THE MISREADING HOUSE House at Boyle Height, Los Angeles (Fall,2018) INSTRvUCTOR Darin Johnstone
The project took the Yabuli Conference Center as precedent study, began with an interest in viewing the building from a certain angle, through the different depth of layering, in order to create the effect of flattening perception, and erase the sense of depth. This project investigate the ways that architecture can be connected to a contextual misreading of sense of depth. The aesthetic desire is to ambiguify depth and orientation in order to flattening perception and shifting orientation, thus creating blurring boundaries bewteen “Figure“ and “Ground”, “Mass” and “Void”.
The study model transformed the interior of Yabuli conferecne center into a house scale. The layering of figure and ground relationship starts to blur the reading of sense of depth from the top view of the project. Turning into a two dimensional drawing, the strategy of overlapping each floor plan ambiguifies the perception of depth and creates the misreading of layering.
Step1: Sampling Figure
Step2: Adding Architecture Elements
Step3: Flipping Orientation
Step4: Creating Layering
Step5: Generating Poche
Step6: Volume Generation
My project adopts the same strategy that overlapping the elements sampled from the context. After flipping the orientation of the figures, and recreating the depth between layers, the house generates new volumes and offers further opportunity to ambiguify the perception not only in terms of depth, but also orientation.
LEV
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EL3 ” LEV . 21’-0 V E L E
EL2 ’-9” LEV . 13 V E EL
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From the worm-eye view, the house turns to blur the reading in terms of its depth, orientation, and function. With the transition from three-dimensional to two-dimensional drawing, the project flattens the perception and create such two and half dimensional misreading effect
EL3
0’-0
’-3”
EL1
LEVEL2
ELEV. 12’-6”
LEVEL1
ELEV. 5’-0”
04 | THE ACTIVE INLAY Art museum in Chinatown, Los Angeles (Spring,2019) INSTRUCTOR Dwayne Oyler Work in collaboration with Liang Yu and Neno Videnovic
Generally, buildings are designed to solve problems on a large scale, such as society, economy, urban context, etc. The massing of the building that can be studied in depth usually Started from the city, while the details are often considered in the end. However, we wanted to try a different approach to architectural design: without thinking about the city or its function, starting with a detail, finding a beautiful form from the details, and slowly developing it into a building. We hope that in such an attempt, a component, or a dialogue between materials and the building itself, can be constructed, and various possibilities can be found in the combination and transformation of components.
We began the studio with an interest in forms which suggest different types of rotational movements. For example, a folding propeller and hand-held vice grip both rotate but in different ways. We needed a third type of movement to negotiate between these two types of rotations so we implemented a mechanical trigger. Inspired by the “TURDUCKEN“ from Seth Paxton, we consider such relationship into detail to building and building to site relationship. Through the rotational movements, this non-orientation, nonscale host/inlay model was created as our aesthectic standard.
1 - Elevation View
2 - Top View
Sketch of propeller folding process
This detail looks at the inlay for the potential to create a tactile experience in the form of a stair railing. The almost hidden inlay rotates subtly beneath one’s hand as they go up the steps, disappearing and reappearing at the landing where it recedes into the larger host, and slowly revealing itself near the top of the steps. We also wanted to offer a relationship between the railing and the facade through the use of partially covered apertures. These apertures, in turn, inform the geometry of the seams between the exterior panels.
Primary Structure
Facade
Glass
Glass Insulation
Interior Wall
6 - Isometric Upper Handrail Build Out
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Handrail Tactile Inlay
Lower Lighted Inlay
Lower Build Out
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Stairs
7 - Exploded Iso
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8 - Rail Section
Extending from the stair detail, we wanted to invert the scalar relationship between the host and inlay to create a bench. As with the stair detail, there is a direct relationship between the bench, the aperture, and the facade, but here, as we would be getting into gallery space, it begins to conceal the aperture almost completely. At the roof, the light is reflected into the gallery off of the inlay piece whose scale is amplified once more in order to control the amount and direction of the sunlight coming in.
Skylight
Roof Detail
Bench Detail
White Composite Panels
Partially Covered Apertures Stair Detail
Copper Panels 1 - Worms eye
Sky Light
2 - Isometric
Buildouts Partially Block Daylight
Inlay
Integrated Bench
Handrail 3 - Elevation
Seams React to Apertures
Double Layer Glass
4 - Elevation
3 - Elevation
4 - Section
1 - Plan
2 - Elevation
We use host inlay model as the original massing of our project. Our approach to the site builds on this rotational sequencing by deploying cuts and excavations into the ground which aim to enhance inherent qualities we found interesting in our object. By pushing the building up against one side of the site, we were able to create a rather large public space that offers a place for anybody to just come and hang out while at the same time leading museum goers into the building via a system of walkways and bridges.
We wanted to create the impression of a sequence of rotations by implementing the same strategy across the relationships between the host geometries and their inlays. By cutting away at the intersection of the two host objects, we discovered a central element which reveals that what seem like surface inlays are actually part of a more complex organizational system. We developed this system further by using it to organize the building’s various programs.
The opaqueness of the host geometries seemed to us to be better suited to the galleries of the museum because of the need to control the amount and type of light in these spaces. While the inlays became a way to introduce daylight into the more open gathering spaces of the museum such as the theater, auditoriums, circulation, and catwalk.
Bridge view showing the way leading to the main entrance of the building
The sectional model showcases the tectonics of the project and the relationship between between the building and ground
Close up view showing the way from bookstore to another entrance of the building
05 | THE PLEATING WALL High-rise Skyscraper in Downtown, Los Angeles (Fall,2017) INSTRUCTOR Alexis Rochas Work in collaboration with Tzuyang(Jack) Hsiao
By studying the specificities of the Tall Building envelope, we are exposed to the tight dependency existing between serial determinations –of both geometric and material order- of the outermost surface, and the spaces it encloses, its surroundings and its iconographic performance in today’s metropolis. The project are expected to put forward a critical position –one that is supported by a sophisticated repertoire of formally and materially resolved techniques-calibrated against the problems and constraints of the contemporary Tall Building. Moving from the conceptual and the abstract to the physical realities of building, the project aims to productively embrace novelties and differences in the production of vertical organizations.
The project began with an interest in exploring the relationship between paper folding and building facade. Sampling the elevation of downtown Los Angeles’ skyscraper, we try to fold pleating and crumbliness in order to create the similar effect as those facade. Combining this two effect, the model generates variable shadow effects.
In order to better control the various shadow effect created from crumbliness, we based on brightness data of paper to change the pleating angle so as to generate the shadow in a different way. The unrolling facade and physical model both showcase the various shadow effect of the project and the material change from each side.
Based on the site condition, the project uses the solid material (concrete) for south side and west side in order to reduce the solar heat gain in the most of a day, while uses the transparent material (glass) for the north and east side in order to get a better view of DTLA. The interior of the building uses same strategy that each rooms and spaces follow the facade geometry, and as floors go up, the layout of hotel starts to push forward office space.
06 & 07 & 08 | OTHER WORKS
CLOUD TRANSPARENCY(Spring,2019) INSTRUCTOR: Marcelo Spina Work in collaboration with Yipeng Liu and Xiaogang Shen Through the research of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Friedrichstrasse Skyscraper project in 1921, we aim to speculate on the aesthetics, material, tectonic and detailing means of dealing with transparency, opacity and reflectivity by focusing on and expanding upon the genealogy of glass and its currently available technological means to construct illusionistic and ambivalent effects within a cloudy glass mass and a monolithic translucent envelope.
VISUAL STUDY II(Fall,2016) INSTRUCTOR: David Eskenazi & David Freeland
This workshop plays with the transformation between digital and physical shadow effect with a specific process. The project starts with casting lights from different angle to a sphere, then considers the shadow as texture to reflect the mapping to a background. Through the method of contouring, the rendering is transformed to physical model so as for further shadow study.
CODING FORM(Fall,2017) INSTRUCTOR: Satoru Sugihara
Using digital parametric tool to generate point clouds in order to create a new way of form-finding. Based on algorithmic thinking that enables the expression of parameters and rules that, together, define, encode and clarify the relationship between design intent and design response. The idea behind form-finding is to optimize certain design goals against a set of design.