Architecture Portfolio (RIBA Part 1) Yingqi Li AA School of Architecture 2018 - 2021
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Year 2 project
SWIMMING WITH PAINTING HOUSE A (temporary) house for making life a form of art Our everyday life is very scripted and institutionalised; thus, the proposal aims to provide the opportunity for people to misuse a space and to trigger possible and unexpected ways of living to de-construct the current institutionalisation in the city. In this temporary house, everyone becomes an artist, and it is where the distinction between life and art is blurred.
Software used:
RHINO
AI
PS
C4D
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The vagrant artists community A group of artists moved to a town called SongZhuang in late 90s. During their stay, these independent artists formed their own community. In this artist cluster, the artists create artworks, have fun, and play table tennis together in the studio. They eat watermelons off the street, and they also play pool along the road. They use the courtyard for performance art or collective dinning and barbecue. There was also a restaurant opened by one of the artists for a year. Artists in the village usually go there for meals and the owner allows them to film performances in the courtyard.
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The official art district Moving into the beginning of the 21th century. The country planned a national movement of art and culture industry. With this new reform, art became a flexible and desireable recource for the growth of economy. Songzhuang was drawn into this movement and became an official art zone. Since then, a lot of institutions were found to develop and promote this artists village. Galleries were also opened for displaying and selling the artworks. More art schools were established for training courses. Street signs were put up to advertise events. More courtyard houses were renovated into new restaurants. Typical housing blocks were also built for the increasing population.
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The formation of an artist village and its afterlife In the old village of Songzhuang, artists had an alternative way of living, where the bedroom was their working studio, but also playground. Along the river, they could go swimming with their paintings, or they could go fishing. In its afterlife of being institutionalized, there is new giant gate welcoming people to the new official art district, such as, the Songzhaung Gallery, the art schools, the typical housing blocks and the planned pathway along the lake.
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Swimming with Painting House - An exhibition as a temporary house The proposal organises an exhibition as a temporary summer house in SongZhaung Artist Village. A continuous roof will be built from the exiting gallery and extended into the lake. The existing gallery will be used as storage space for a range of selected objects, which allows people to circulate within the gallery to pick it up and construct their own space for habitation under the roof. 10
Categorization and Organization
The exhibition is to trigger possible and unexpected ways of living since our daily life is so scripted and institutionalized. By categorizing the selected objects, there are different ways of arranging them in the gallery space. Putting things people never thought would be next to each other, next to each other, it will provoke opportunities and trigger moments we will never expect.
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The deconstruction of the institutionalizations This is a possible scenario after seven days of the opening of this exhibition, where people took some objects from the gallery and built up their own space under the roof for inhabitation. Nobody could have expected how these objects will be used to create these moments. Everything that happens in this exhibition would be unexpected.
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Life is Art & Art is Life In this temporary house, it is where life is art and art is also life. It is hard to tell the distinction between Art and Life.
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Year 3 project
The Messenger (Version 1.0) The future forest is a constantly changing and growing landscape, dependent on and enabled by human interactions. The Messenger is a none-profit organization, a mobile application, a calculator, a visualizer and a social network. It calculates and visualizes the carbon footprint of each individual. It encourages individuals to participate together in observing the consequences of their everyday consuming lifestyles, in hope that people would make a more informed decision, and create bigger chances together.
Software used:
RHINO
AI
PS
C4D
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The Future Forest and Its Digital Creature Nowadays, we spend a lot of time online, social medias and online payment platforms play a huge role in our daily lives. Fintech and commercial companies use these platforms and algorism to target and control our personal data and personal desires. Taking the Ant Forest Program as a precedent, what if in the future more companies replicate this program and integrate it into the mode of marketing shopping and making profit? Maybe in the future, a lot of newly planted ‘commercial forest’ will be planted by these commercial companies with the use of big data. These forests maybe commercialized into a place for shopping, with trees as products and invisible digital creatures as guides. The interaction between the consumers and the forest enable the growth of this forest.
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The Forest Mall Conventional shopping malls create a comfort zone for the costumers when they go shopping. However, in the forest, nothing is guaranteed, the forest gives a sense of adventure and a sense of the unknown. There will be a different mobility, journey and experience for the visitors when the condition and the environment changes in the forest. The digital network will also drag people into their own time, not only by trying to sell a product but also the natural experiences that are not about purchasing. The idea of the mall then might be challenged, maybe we don’t go shopping only for the comfort and consumerism but as well for the adventure and to give something back to the environment.
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Arrival of the Messenger and its system We now arrive in King’s Cross in 2025, tracking codes and AR code are placed all over the space. People can scan the code to join the messenger and read its rule and see how it works. On the day the Messenger arrives, in the digital space, there are empty columns coming down from the body waiting for people to occupy. The shape of the Messenger’s body is depended on people’s actions, such as, donating, cycling to work, drinking coffee, usage of plastic bottles. With the carbon footprints being calculated by the Messenger, the appearance of the body indicates how well the user is doing.
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Tom, a worker at Coal Drops Yard, is on his way to work, he took out his iPad and joined the Messenger. Through the app, he sees these trees slowly coming down from the body of the Messenger, since it’s still early, most of the trees still appear to be green.
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Laura, a local resident, who wears the new AR glasses walked to the Granary square this afternoon. She sees thousands of red trees coming down from the sky. Under this strange inverted forest, some people are enjoying a cup of coffee, some are shopping and some people are protesting and urging people to care more about their everyday consumption.
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Late at night, Fiona, a student at CSM, just came out from the school, she logged in to the Messenger. After a day of consuming, no trees have left but only these packed red columns are glowing and giving a fearful and cautious atmosphere.
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The Future Technological Nature At the end of the story, the messenger speculates and brings up this new relationship we may have with the technological nature in the future. From the massive consumption of products, to the possibility of changes happening in the future. The messenger may spark a trend in the city or on the social platforms, which will attract more people to join this initiative.
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Year 3 media study
THE HIDDEN STUDIO Rephotographing Lewis Baltz through the lenses of Unreal Engine A new type of photography has emerged, shot with a virtual camera in a digitally constructed world. Reflecting back on Lewis Baltz’s photographic work and reconstructing the scene using game engine technologies.
Software used:
Rhino
Unreal Engine
Premiere Pro
Please scan the QR Code above to watch the film Or https://vimeo.com/536285993
Lewis Baltz’s photograph 23
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Year 1 Term 2 project
SENSATIONS IN ARCHITECTURE Exploring the sensation of Awe in architecture through the use of film and staged models How do we pay attention to how physical sensations are constructed? How can we construct a sensation? In this project, stage models were made for constructing a specific sensation. Experimental film acts as a media and tool in communicating the idea to the viewers and audiences.
Software used:
PS
Premiere Pro
Please scan the QR Code above to watch the film Or https://vimeo.com/573399792
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A miniature film set The scale of the space, the light, and the use of geometry are the key elements in creating a space that associates with the sensation of Awe. The method of casting plasters was used in producing the film set as the surface texture it gives and the materiality it shows would work really well in assembling a neat and quiet environment. The set offers a unique atomsphere, some of the breathtaking moments were captured and photographed when the camera circulated within this miniature set.
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