2019
Michelle Li
Architecture Portfolio
2
Hello, My name is Michelle Li and I am a third year undergraduate student studying at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. I am currently studying abroad on a exchange at TU Delft. My design approach focuses on spatial exploration through materiality and light. I am interested in creating spaces that inspire play and learning through cultural narratives. The following collection of projects reflect my curiousity and joy for architecture and design. Thank you and enjoy! michelle.li.1@edu.uwaterloo.ca +33 0751377969 +1 647 261 3891
PROJECTS
RESEARCH/CASE STUDIES
INTERNSHIPS
DOMESTIC THEATRE city as amphitheatre
01
ECHOES the productive landscape
02
KOMOREBI the library of things
03
YIN YU TANG model of a Huizhou courtyard house
04
TEMPORARY FOSSILS installation on flood deposition
05
THE GREEN DIP speculative research on mass urban greening
06
STUDIO V ARCHITECTURE New York, NEW YORK
07
MARCHI ARCHITECTES Paris, FRANCE PERSONAL WORK
paintings / drawings
08
4
01 DOMESTIC THEATRE Focusing on film and theatre production, the street becomes a runway for domestic performance and the theatre of daily life.
PROGRAM // STUDENT HOUSING LOCATION // YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO SUPERVISOR // LOLA SHEPPARD COURSE // 3B DESIGN STUDIO
the city as amphitheatre The stage for domestic performance unfolds into a runway where students are the spectators and performers simultaneously. Taking cues from the surrounding context - industrial zone and manufacturing warehouses - the street is reimagined as production line for film and theatre. Forest Campus
Site
Industrial warehouses
Mixed-Use Development
York University is home to the oldest film school in Canada, including studies in cinema and media, production, and screenwriting. To further the engagement between York’s film and theatre department with the campus, production and performance spaces are accessible in nested scales.
Runway (public) Studios (semi-public) Residential Units (private)
The city is an amphitheatre, drawing students away from their individual screens into shared spaces for performance and discourse (from Netflix to open theatre).
Runway (public)
Studios (semi-public) Apartment (semi-private)
DIAGRAMMATIC AXONOMETRIC STRUCTURE DIAGRAM FOR RUNWAY GROUND FLOOR MASSING AND COLUMN GRID PERFORMANCE LANDSCAPE (GROUND PLANE) LEFT: RENDERS OF RUNWAY
Bedroom (private)
The 6mx6m column grid allows for layered spaces and varying degrees of privacy and performance. ABOVE: DIAGRAMMATIC AXONOMETRIC // RIGHT: CONCEPT DIAGRAMS
6
THE POND RD
YORK UNIVERSITY BUSWAY
1 2
21
4
3
3
5 5
24 22
23
6
7
8
3
3
RUNWAY
21
17
14 23 18
15
19
16
20 24 25
ABOVE: GROUND PLAN
PERFORMANCE runway, music, dance, theatre
23
PRODUCTION set design, costume/textile design, film editing
24
DOMESTIC kitchens, dining hall, residential dormitories
23 22
5
PROGRAM 1 2 3 4 5
9 5
10
21
11
22
21 19 13 3
24
12
13
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Main Entrance Security/Service Desk Lounge Supply Store/Bookstore Practice rooms (music) & Film editing rooms Artium Workspace Canteen Event Room Black Box Theatre & Drama Studio Interior Stage Exterior Stage Dance Studio Change rooms Fashion Showroom Costume Design Studio Textile Atelier (mez.) Display area/workspace Set Design Workshop (Model hall/woodshop) Meeting Room Office / Storage Room Collaborative workspace Outdoor Picnic Tables Covered Bike Racks Vehicle Parking Service Road
N 5
10
20M
RIGHT: PROGRAM ORGANIZATION
8
SECTION B-B
SECTION C-C
5
10
5
20M
10
TOP: CROSS SECTIONS
20M
DOMESTIC THEATRE The runway becomes the place to gather, socialize, and be seen, where the movement of bodies and casual interactions become the “show�. Black box workshops, rehearsals rooms, domestic spaces including shared kitchens and common rooms line the runway and create a shared performance landscape. CONNECTION TO SITE The programmatic and formal qualities of the building are derived from old industrial warehouses, echoing the past and present history of the surrounding context. The runway serves as both the performace landscape and an assembly line for the production of film and theatre. While the large sloping roofs, heavy masonry enclosure, and gridded windows are reminiscent of traditional factory buildings, these elements are expressed in a new architectural typology - a modern warehouse for living and performace.
B
A
C
B
A
C
BOTTOM: SECTION A-A
10
view to corridor
view to corridor
view to runway/access to balcony
view to runway
STUDIO UNIT // 1 person
TERRACE UNIT // 2 people
LOFT UNIT // 3 people
+ private bathroom + private workspace + communal kitchen, workspaces, and lounge
+ shared bathroom + shared kitchen + semi-outdoor shared terrace/workspace
+ two levels + shared bathroom + shared kitchen + shared workspace + seating area (mez.) + access to balcony
TOP: UNIT TYPOLOGIES
TOP: RENDER OF LOFT UNIT
BOTTOM: RENDER OF TERRACE UNIT
12
UNIT TYPOLOGIES STUDIO UNIT // 1 person
5
TERRACE UNIT // 2 people LOFT UNIT // 3 people
5
10
20M
TOP: TYPICAL FLOOR PLAN (RESIDENTIAL LEVELS 2-4) AND UNIT ORGANIZATION
10
20M
UNIT DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION Corridors are often under-utilized public spaces; therefore by increasing their width, hallways become spaces of collectivity and form an interior street. The studio units (dormitory-style) are clustered around social areas and facilities. A communal kitchen, lounge, and workspaces occupy the traditional space of the corridor. The terrace and loft units (apartmentstyle) form gathering areas along a linear circulation route to encourage interactions between students living on the same floor. These units include interior windows from the kitchen or reading spaces that look into the corridor. Loft units open onto a shared balcony alongside the runway, which further expands the performance landscape to the residential levels above. Catwalks that span over the runway have a performative function; students can view the activity below and be seen from ground level.
BOTTOM: SOUTH ELEVATION
14
02 ECHOES The floodplain collects the physical and cultural narratives of the river. The river leaves behind traces on where it has flowed from past to present.
PROGRAM // FIRST NATIONS RESERVE PARK, WILD RICE FARMING, BOATHOUSE LOCATION // CHIEFSWOOD PARK, OHSWEKAN SUPERVISOR // JANE HUTTON COURSE // 2B DESIGN STUDIO
think like a river The river is a pulse that swells and recedes in an annual cycle. As a dynamic and temporal force, the flow of water carves and sculpts the landscape. The topography and vegetation of the floodplain is an echo of the river. Similiar to physical marks left by the flood, the cultural history of the land is imprinted onto the site.
N 10
20
40M
forest
The Grand River runs through the land of the Six Nations - the Mohawk, Oneida, Onodaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora peoples.
flood line
By drawing on the productive landscape, the park takes the idea of learning through practice to preserve the traditions of the Six Nations and adapt to the flood cycle.
wetland rice terraces
boathouse boat launch
Major programs include: 1. Canadian wild rice farming 2. a wetland playscape 3. gardens for Indigenous planting
gardens
These systems act in unison for flood mitigation and encourage both locals and visitors to participate in cultivating the land.
flood-resilient vegetation
flood line
WATER LEVELS OF THE GRAND RIVER OVER TIME
GROWTH CYCLE OF RIVER RICE Canadian wild rice (river rice) is traditionally harvested in canoes by threshing the stalks with sticks to knock the kernels directly into the boat. The dry, processed rice is then stored in birchbark containers to preserve the wild rice. SEEDING OCTOBER
HARVEST
GERMINATION
SEEDING EMERGENCE
MARCH
KNOCKING THE RICE (THRESHING RICE STALKS)
LEFT: SITE PLAN
TILLERING
FLOWERING
JULY
APRIL
DRYING/PARCHING
RIPENING AUGUST
HULLING
WINNOWING
HARVEST SEPTEMBER
The grains can then be cooked to eat or used for seeding during the next farming cycle.
STORAGE
TEMPORAL DIAGRAMS (ABOVE: WATER LEVELS // BELOW: RICE GROWTH)
16
SECTION A-A
SECTION B-B
ABOVE: TEMPORAL AND PROGRAMMATIC SITE SECTIONS
5
10
20M
B
A
B
A
BOATHOUSE CONSTRUCTION CLADDING + recycled plastic profiles + able to resist the impact of debris during flooding + permeable to the water flow
STRUCTURE + timber frame treated with water-resistant coating
PLAN + elevated for ground permeability + sloped to drain + openings to facilitate drying after a flood
HAUDENOSAUNEE SOCIETAL SPHERES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
hearth/family longhouse village three sisters garden fields (corn, beans, squash) edge of woods - line of diplomacy forest/hunting grounds shared territory with British confederacy shared territory with nonHaudenosaunee neighbours strangers and enemies
food and water fishing and irrigation
1 2 3 4 5 6
communication follows the flow downstream
7 8
transportation passage for boats/ships
LEFT: RIVER RICE HARVESTING COLLAGE
ABOVE: SOCIETAL SPHERES AND CONNECTION TO THE RIVER
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE // WONG This sequence unfolds into a montage of fleeting moments framed and obscured by architectonic space. Watching these two lovers has an intimacy and romantic wistfulness.
NOSTALGHIA // TARKOVSKY The presence of absence lingers in the dilapidated state of the room, expressing a painful melancholy and a sense of solitude in this space.
PERSONA // BERGMAN Tonal extremities, with a shifting array of grays and silhouettes, express ethereality and serenity. The series of movements are visible only by the transition between light and shadow.
03 KOMOREBI Komorebi, a Japanese word for the dappled sunlight filtering through a canopy of trees. It is an experience difficult to describe but a memory that can be easily brought to mind. STUDY OF AFFECT THROUGH CINEMATIC PRECEDENTS PROGRAM // ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM SUPERVISOR // DEREK REVINGTON, DAVID CORREA COURSE // 2A DESIGN STUDIO
function of affect Inspired by three cinematic precedents, In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai), Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky), and Persona (Ingmar Bergman). Komorebi expresses the emotional atmosphere of each sequence in space through materiality and light. The form and design of the museum developed from light and material exploration in a maquette. The space exists behind a perforated facade made of corten steel. The screen creates stippled light with an amospheric quality similar to that of a forest during the day and a sky of stars during the night.
The library of things is a collection of found objects nested inside a rock face. The perforated faรงade is illuminated internally by diffused light and externally by sunlight. The pattern of amber light created by a perforated screen of weathered steel evokes an amosphere of ethereality and reminiscence.
Komorebi encourages the discovery and study of artifacts. The oldest items are archaeological (skeletons, fossils, and minerals) that were recovered from the original site. The collection grows, cultivated like a garden, as visitors contribute new cultural artifacts, found objects, and ready-made art. These are spaces that celebrate curiosity and eccentricity through the interaction of people and the museum.
LEFT: EXTERIOR RENDER
ABOVE: DETAILS AND LIGHT QUALITY OF PHYSICAL MODEL
24
04 YIN YU TANG Shelter, Abundance, Hall 1:20 SCALED MODEL OF A HUIZHOU COURTYARD HOUSE SUPERVISOR // VAL RYNNIMERI COURSE // 2B CULTURAL HISTORY MATERIALS // BASSWOOD, MUSEUM BOARD, 3D PRINTED WOOD COMPOSITE COLLABORATION WITH SOPHIE FAN, SHELDON CHEN, ABHISHEK AMBEKAR EXHIBITED IN WATERLOO ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY
a house for 8 generations Yin Yu Tang is a merchant family residence in the village of Huang Cun, located within Huizhou Region in Eastern China. The house was built by the 28th or 29th generation of the Huang family lineage and inhabited by eight successive generations. Constructed during the Qing dynasty in 1800, Yin Yu Tang typifies a traditional Huizhou Courtyard House, with a layout in the kou-character type (kou meaning “mouth” in Chinese and has a square shape with an empty center). The name of the house can be translated simply into Shade/Shelter (Yin), Abundance (Yu), and Hall (Tang); yet its poetic interpretation signifies that Yin Yu Tang was a haven to past ancestors and their living descendants, inviting in good fortune and prosperity. DETAILS PHOTOS ON LEFT PAGE TOP: UNDERSIDE OF ROOF AND BEAM DETAILS CENTRE: SCREEN DETAIL BOTTOM: NIGHT VIEW OF YIN YU TANG
LEFT: DETAILS PHOTOS OF YIN YU TANG
ABOVE: SECTIONAL MODEL OF YIN YU TANG
26
05 TEMPORARY FOSSILS Study of floodplain deposition and mark-making through water STUDY AND INSTALLATION OF FLUVIAL PROCESS ON THE GRAND RIVER SUPERVISOR // JANE HUTTON COURSE // 2B DESIGN STUDIO MATERIALS // PLASTER, GLYCERIN, PLANT MATTER COLLABORATION WITH LEELA KESHAV AND RUSHALI PATEL EXHIBITED IN BRIDGE GALLERY 2018
dynamic stratification of temporary fossils Temporary Fossils is an installation investigating the process of dynamic stratification of floodplain deposition. The study was based on Chiefswood Park in Ohsweken which is sited on a floodplain. Seasonal flooding deposits or washes away plants, shells, and sediments into the floodplain. These traces accumulate in layers and the process of stratification repeats as the negative impressions are filled in. In response, the installation reintreprets this fluvial process through casting to express the impact of flooding on the surfaces.
LEFT AND TOP: DETAIL OF GLYCERIN MODEL
BOTTOM: PLASTER CASTS (NEGATIVES)
28 dry, dusty texture // deposits of dry sticks
dry cracked texture // plant growth
raised texture // plant growth
holds detailed impressions of lines
deposits of plant matters/ / moist, dark colour
deposits of shells, rocks // holds impressions
SOIL STUDIES OF THE FLOODPLAIN ON SITE
VEGETATION/DEPOSITION COLLECTED FROM FLOODPLAIN
FLOOD IMPACT SCALE high (frequently flooded)
low (areas higher in elevation)
DETAILS OF GLYCERIN CASTS WINTER
SPRING
SUMMER
FALL Flooding occurs during the spring thaw causing water levels to rise. A scale of low and high impacts are recorded in the casts. Erosion and deposition affect high impact areas that are constantly flooded. Areas that experience a lower impact are identified by greater vegetative growth and drier soil. DEC
MAR
JUN
SEP
JAN
APR
JUL
OCT
FEB
MAY
AUG
NOV
WATER DEPTH 0m
TOP TO BOTTOM: SOIL STRATIFICATION ANALYSIS // FLOODPLAIN DEPOSITION // GLYCERIN CASTS (POSITIVES)
4m
DISTANCE FROM RIVER EDGE (DURING SUMMER)
+ 5m
+ 4m
+ 3m
+ 2m
Deposits of sediment and plant matter were collected from the site and cast into plaster plates, then recast with gylcerin. This micmics the stratification process of the accumulation of layers over multiple floods. These 'temporary fossils' are recreated and replaced. Flooding is a cyclical process governs the landscape’s transformation. Soil patterns teveal the narrative (depth and frequency) of the flood.
+ 0-1m
WATER DEPTH + 2-4m + 1-2m + 0.5-1m + 0-0.5m
TEMPORAL FLOOD MAPPING DIAGRAM
30
Sao Paulo - 11.7%
Paris - 8.8%
Sao Paulo - 11.7%
Toronto - 19.
Sydney - 25.9% Paris - 8.8%
Singapore -2 New York City
Cape Town - 13.4% Frankfurt - 21.5% Toronto - 19.5%
London 12 Los Angeles -1 Sydney -- 25.
Toronto - 19.5%
New York City - 13.5% Sao Paulo - 11.7%
06 THE GREEN DIP Imagining the city covered in forest RESEARCH GREENING OF DENSE URBAN AREAS - 20.6% Frankfurt - 21.5% PROJECT ON MASS LosParis Angeles - 15.2% Amsterdam - 8.8% New York City - 13.5% SUPERVISORS // WINY MAAS, JAVIER ARPA, ADIREN RAVON COURSE // MSC1 THE WHY FACTORY STUDIO
COLLABORATION WITH THE WHY FACTORY EXHIBITED IN OOSTSERRE, TU DELFT ARCHITECTURE FACULTY
Tel Town Aviv - -17 Cape 1
mass greening for cities of the future The Green Dip is a vision for the future of our cities as an alternative to the concrete jungles of today. Taking the densification of cities and flora as the starting point, this research goes one step further by measuring the physical and psychological benefits of mass greening and questioning how can we can change our relationship with nature. Urban greening addresses the current urgencies of the climate crisis, such as air pollution, extreme temperatures, water management, food production, decreasing biodiversity, etc. What are the spatial and cultural landscapes created by a symbiotic world of people, plants and animals? Can greening our urban environments propose a new way of living? Our research explores 1. history and the desire for urban green 2. creating databases on plants, biomes, precedents, and green elements 3. developing a software for populating our cities with flora, and 4. how life will look like in the Green Dip.
TOP: CITY RENDER OF THE GREEN DIP
BOTTOM: INTERIOR RENDER
32
06 INTERNSHIPS
TOP AND MIDDLE LEFT PROJECT // MID-RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING LOCATION // JACKSON AVE, LONG ISLAND CITY, NY SOFTWARE // RHINO, VRAY, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP BOTTOM LEFT PROJECT // MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING LOCATION // ERIE ST, JERSEY CITY, NJ MATERIALS // BASSWOOD AND MUSEUM BOARD, SCALE: 1:16
ELEVATIONS PROJECT // HOUSING COMPETITION LOCATION // SCEAUX, ILE DE FRANCE SOFTWARE // AUTOCAD, ILLUSTRATOR
LEFT PAGE: STUDIO V ARCHITECTURE, NEW YORK
RIGHT PAGE: MARCHI ARCHITECTES, PARIS
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07 PERSONAL WORK TOP TO BOTTOM: PARIS, SCEAUX, FONTENAY SKETCHES (2019) // PENCIL IN SKETCHBOOK
URBAN DECAY (2016) // INK AND MARKER ON TERRASKIN
thank you