PORTFOLIO Miki Liu | 2021
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
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Group Work
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My Contribution to Group Work
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Work taken from ARC3013
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Work Done/Revised since Review
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[Illustrated Reflective Report]
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Ruin Lust
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City Grain
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City Building
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City Threshold
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Cultural Bibliography
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List of Figures
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Bibliography & References
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Appendix
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
The framing process was enjoyable and helpful toward developing a clear path for the design. The selection of the site was based on the ruinous qualities of the scrapyard and I felt was the correct choice for my approach to the studio theme. While the group effort toward a site analysis was overall well done, I regret that a more physical approach to the site analysis was not possible due to current circumstances.
Illustrated Reflective Report The Building Blocks This year’s project has been a vessel for my development as a designer. Through the various modules and different perspectives in approaching the design project, I feel I have developed a broad variety of skills, despite the circumstances of this year’s studies. Through the careful consideration of various design aspects, this year has culminated in a project that I believe is a fitting project for the “City Ruins” design studio, which has focused on turning design attention back to the ruinous forms found within design.
Early Massing Ideas explored with
During the testing process, I found that digital tools and meetings were invaluable toward working with colleagues in developing our designs. While this would never be able to replace studio culture and working together physically, it was an interesting learning experience working remotely, and placing more focus on digital works as I was unable to work as effectively with physical media under these circumstances.
Figure 1 - 'For the Four', Paolozzi, 1975 Building Offset from Site Concept, Later removed.
The design process began with establishing my take on “City Ruins”; the studio was set in taking the narrative of a site, both respective of its historical context as well as the potential of the site. In exploring these ideas, we looked at various artists and creators, such as Eduardo Paolozzi and Doris Salcedo, to consider different ways of viewing a site. My progression forward focussed on the decay and ruinous forms, and how those forms can be transformed into a design that makes use of the original site, and adds structure to that ruin. This was an interesting approach for me as previous projects had just focused on the creation of a design place on the site; this way of looking at a site led to a better design as the site is considered in a much more in depth way.
The testing process allowed me to explore various massing ideas and general design paths for the project, further refining individual ideas and concepts until I was able to isolate the way forward with the design. Although some of these ideas were minor design choices or localised decisions to a particular area, I still feel that each choice was still impactful toward the final completed design. The eventual massing design I decided upon required much careful consideration of divisions of space and the structure behind the offset design. This was explored and refined in the ARC3013 module, where several decisions were made toward design through looking at precedents and analysing critical issues with the existing design. One such example was exploring case studies such as the Ghent Museum by Assemble, which inspired the brick veil façade on the glazed face of the building. 4
Structural Considerations in ARC3013
This decision to focus more on brick inspired my Thinking Through Making piece, which consisted of an exploration in different brick textures and ways to retain a brick structure of this scale. I believe this was a good exploration into the potential of brick, but it could have been improved with a way to create more uniform bricks, as larger structures suffered from minute variations between each miniature brick.
Thinking Through Making
In researching for Theory into Practice, I made comparisons between the city and a forest, which I still believe in; the way that we can see ruin is comparable to natural and biological decay, and the concept of facadism can be reflected in a parasite taking residence in a host. This perspective toward ruination helped inspire some of the approaches to the site, as well as how I may create a building that can surpass being a converted ruin. Additionally, the site as a whole was yet again seen from a different perspective while researching for Professional Practice and Management, where it was explored in a more realistic sense. Through all the modules studied this year, different ideas have been built and adjusted through deeper related exploration in each module, separate but tied to the design. This has been reflected in the final output of the design, with aspects from all modules showing their impact over the course of the design.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Project Framing | Ruin Lust By investigating the city and exploring themes around the sites, a studio identity is formed.
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Ruin Vanity Investigating the active creation of a state of decay as an aesthetic decision. The deliberate use of ruin as a construction element; not only incidental incorporation, but intentional creation.
These images were taken from Heaton Park, where various ruinous forms have been embedded within the greenery.
It is interesting to consider the aesthetic qualities of such ruins, and how they may actually be desirable forms, despite their decayed nature. It is an interesting concept that, due to their intentional role as ruins, they are not true ruins, and are only artificial recreations of decay.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Organic City | Life, Age, & Decay. Through investigating the city around us, ruins become increasingly apparent, whether in the traditional decayed sense, or as modern ruins. It is interesting to discover the way the city operates like a living being, with parts that are well populated and truly alive, yet contrasted with the far less visible ruins within the city. The ruins in a modern city tend not necessarily to show structural decay as is typical of traditional ruins, but appear ruinous due to signs of emptiness and lack of use.
Community | Buildings in Use.
It is interesting to me to see the life cycle of a building demonstrated in such a way; from a gleaming new construction, celebrated and impressive, to slowly fulfilling its purpose, and becoming an empty shell when it is no longer used.
In designing a building program of this size, I was able to develop my abilities in curating the divisions and uses of large spaces and buildings on a larger scale. My final design is divided on a large scale to its structural blocks, but the internal spaces were divided into smaller spaces through looking at precedents such as works by SANAA architects.
It is in these husks that draws my curiosity; whether the husks remain empty, or perhaps a new settler inhabits the body, bringing it new life, or even if eventually, it decays like every other corpse, and fades away, only for its space to be taken by another building years later.
This was further developed during the design process as I kept community in mind, and how those spaces would be likely used by people in the surrounding area, and as a hub of activity for the residents from the Malings Development and Low Fell/Byker Wall.
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Ruination | Environmental Impact In order to combat the rate that the environment is deteriorating as a result of human development, I have taken opportunities to improve my design to mitigate or reduce the environmental effects it may have on the surrounding. One main theme of my design is to transform the site, taking what was ruin and rebuilding into a new structure. Additionally, the addition of a new green space will mitigate some of the damage done by creating a new building.
All is Dust | Building Life Cycles Due to my approach to the studio theme and my thoughts on environmental preservation and improvement, I was especially interested in demolition, reusing materials, and considering the life span and likely use of a building.
This is tied to my approach to environmental impacts. My design should aim to last as a building, ideally fulfilling many years of use before it is abandoned of demolished. The building, regardless of what structural method is used, should aim to reduce as far as possible the environmental impact in this way.
The thoughts behind building life cycles led me to consider materiality of buildings as the flesh of the body, materials destroyed and reduced to rubble. Likewise in City Ruins, the base materials would be recycled, reused, and turned into buildings, like a fallen beast in a forest gives back to the system, decomposing and redistributed toward new life and growth.
Imitation | Building in Context As the design site is situated within an already well established area, it is important to create an integrated contribution to the area, instead of an outlying addition. It is therefore important to carefully consider the context of the site, and to plan and design accordingly, creating a design that functions well with the surrounding context, and links to both the site and surroundings. Accordingly, I have taken into consideration the existing residential spaces to the North and South of the design, as well as attempted to consider what would be a useful contribution to the area.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
City Sketches Recording the visible city at points of ruin. Modern ruin differs from the traditional, in that modern ruin occurs as things fall out of use. The modern building remains as a hollow body, empty and void of use.
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Ruins on the Page These pieces were created using charcoal to emulate the thick and rough qualities of ruins. Traditional ruins are often heavy remains of building, consisting of volumetric stone forms.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Citadel
Synthesis
New gleaming structures reach high above the horizon, built upon the decaying bodies of the old and disused.
Impossible structures are fabricated from new technologies. What once may have been unthinkable is now created with ease.
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Industry
Bridges
Mechanisation feeds upon mechanisation; industry grows upon itself like an organism, growing upon its predecessors, reaching new forms.
Old decaying buildings are stitched back together, linked to one another with bridges like shining shards.
Ruin Lust | Prints
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Building Phenology As buildings progress through time, they erode and break down, like a gutted carcass.
This piece represents the long time scale through which buildings decay.. It is interesting to consider the stages of decay that buildings go through in their lifecycle, as they slowly crumble away. Furthermore, the choice of materials in this piece reflects the volumetric and planar qualities of ruin, often left behind as piles of rubble and remaining walls.
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Ruin Vanity Desiring the bones; rending the flesh. Ruins no longer exclusively form an echo of the past. The qualities of ruins can be desirable in some places, and have been used as a feature, as opposed to a remnant, used as construction elements in modern setting for their aesthetic qualities. This piece represents the use of old parts, intertwined and added into new builds and shining forms.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Structure from Ruin A gleaming new structure rises from the wreck and decay, like an orchid rising from the ashes.
This piece was created from an originally discarded piece of paper, crumpled and ruined. From this sheet, new material was added and a structure was created atop the ruin. The arch created intertwines itself with spaces found on the original “site”, which is not dissimilar to how some buildings in the city opportunistically fit themselves into spaces and ruins, and creating new forms in these slots.
The choice of material reflects the bright and new, creating a more complex structure.
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Ruin Lust | Models
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Project Framing | City Grain The analysis of sites, development of ideas, and creation of designs.
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Brief Considerations The key idea behind the brief was the design and construction of a new space for creators within the surrounding community, both as a work space and a living space. The priority was creating a shared space that would house spaces with potential for creation to happen inside, while also creating additional spaces within Newcastle-upon-Tyne for artists and creators to live; while there were studios scattered throughout the city, the scheme was set up to provide a central hub that would be accessible to all creators. Additionally, the structure would also allow visitors, creating both a tourist attraction as well as a community hub with public spaces accessible to all. These spaces would include a place to sit down, share a drink, and showcase the art that had been produced, as well as the potential for a green outdoor space for people from the surrounding areas to enjoy.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
The site as a scrapyard forms a perfect base for my approach to city ruins; reusing a r new building, materials from the site would be used as much as possible. The site wo
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Site Context and Wider Scheme
ruinous site and transforming the site into a new space. In order to mitigate environmental impacts of the ould be designed around with community in mind in order to create a bridge between the two residential areas (Low Fell and the Malings Development).
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
The initial massing ideas were established, along with a wider scheme for the exte spaces for creators and artists; while there were studios scattered in the city, this w residential areas. The building blocks will function as “gateways” toward
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Initial Massing and Wider Scheme
ended site. It was identified from the site context and analysis that there was a need in the community for would be a new hub for creators and visitors alike, as well as creating new green spaces for the surrounding the new green space in place of the scrapyard, allowing new routes of circulation in the surrounding area.
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Massing Models Based on the initial massing ideas, the direction in which the main massing blocks was developed.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Key Themes in Scheme Massing The key themes in massing was established based on the shape of the site; the building would fit into the site tightly, with the main block massing formed by the stepped form of the site, as well as the plan view shape where the blocks overlap. As well as the designed blocks, there would be the introduction of a wide staircase that would function not only to bridge the height difference on the site, but also bridge between the workshop and the warehouse, and to provide another public space on the site.
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The Building Blocks in Context The design is situated between the Malings Development on the Ouse Burn, and the Low Fell housing site to the North. The creation of the building would convert the existing industrial area and junkyard into a more enjoyable space for people from the surrounding area with the introduction of a new green space. The scheme would also create new routes of circulation through the Byker area.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Project Testing| City Building Expression of the design within its context.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Massing and Digital Modelling Due to the circumstances of the past year, I had to focus much more on digital work and tools as opposed to analogue methods for development due to lack of space. This led to my exploration in using Revit to design and test ideas, as well as to produce internal views. The massing was refined and developed mostly using a Revit model. Overall I believe this was the best way forward, but I regret that I was unable to incorporate more usage of other modelling programs such as SketchUp to produce simpler massing blocks and diagrams due to the systems that were in place. In future I look forward to utilising other programs to gather a wider range of massing experiments. Aside from digital experimentation, physical massing models would have helped the design process if I had access to materials and spaces to create them. However, even without as many physical works as I may have created otherwise, I feel that I was able to develop my ideas sufficiently with digital tools and explorations.
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Workshop Spaces
Circulation
Rooftop Gardens
Cafe
Residential Spaces
Art Gallery
Residential Shared Spaces
Library / Area for Study
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Programme Layout The building can be simplified to large blocks which pivot around a central fireprotected core of elevation. The program is divided between these blocks, with a gradient of public to private areas as your progress upward through the building.
As the building is situated on the stepped form, there are multiple accesses on the varying floors where they connect to a ground level. Additionally, there are multiple vertical routes to access the upper levels for convenience as well as additional fire escapes.
The rotated offset of the blocks creates a set of rooftop gardens accessible from the blocks.
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Massing Development The offset blocks were further refined and made into a more emphasised design.
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These initial internal
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Gallery Space Initial Views views show the main public space, both the café as well as the art gallery, and the balcony that overlooks the main block.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
These initial plans show furnished rooms of varyi single
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Initial Residential Spaces
ing sizes; the Base Block apartments consist of 2 storeys and are suited to families, while the middle residential block is best suited for e residents, with the topmost block holding temporary housing for artists in residences and other visitors to the Building Blocks Hub.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Shared Working Corridor One Precedent explored during the design process was Peter Zumthor’s Home for Senior Citizens. This layout for the entrance to the apartments created a communal corridor that the residents would use almost like an external living room, creating a friendly inviting atmosphere.
Fig. 2, 3, Corridor Views Fig. 4, Master Floor Plan
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Shared Working Corridor Within my scheme, this corridor would be shared by the largest apartments, used essentially as an extension of their own home, while creating a communal zone that shares work and living.
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Studio Space 1 52
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Workshop Block 1 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 2 - Workshop 3 - IT Suite and Printing Facilities
4 - Studio Space
5 - Fire Protected Stairwell 6 - Studio Space 7 - Laser Cutting and 3D Printing Facilities 8 - Studio Space
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Studio Space 2
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Gallery Block 9 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 10 - Bathrooms 11 - Gender Neutral and Accessible Bathrooms
12 - Art Gallery Space 13 - Café with Rooftop Terrace Access
14 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 15 - Plant Room 16 - Balcony overlooking Café and Art Gallery
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Gallery and Cafe
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Residential Base 17 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 18 - Plant Room 19 - Residential Shared Space 20 - Large Apartment “Garage” 21 - Shared Laundry and Utility Room 22 - 2 Story Apartments
23 - Shared Working Corridor with multiple access points to rooftop garden and Albion Row.
24 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 25 - Private Meeting Room 26 - Semi-open Study Space and Library with balcony.
27 - 2 Story Apartment Upper Floor
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Shared Corridor
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Higher Residential Blocks 28 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 29 - Plant Room 30 - Shared Residential Space with Study Areas 31 - Shared Laundry and Utility Room 32 - Single Studio Apartments 33 - Rooftop Garden (Elevated from Ground Floor)
34 - Fire Protected Stairwell and Elevator 35 - Plant Room 36 - Shared Residential Space 37 - Temporary Residence 38 - Rooftop Garden (Elevated from Ground Floor)
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Sections and Stuff
Site Plan
Long Section A
Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Sections and Stuff
Non Linear Section B
Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Stair Section C
Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Project Synthesis | City Threshold Refinement of the design and assembly of the concept.
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The Brick Veil After working on the design and technical aspects, I found that I would need to add to the South facing façade in order to regulate the solar heat and light; to combat this, I decided upon using different brick textures around the whole building, with perforated brick on the glazed facades, and other textures on closed parts of the building.
The use of brick as a material suits the surrounding areas, with the Malings Development to the south using brick as a major material in its construction. The use of brick also encourages the recycled and rebuilt aspect of the design.
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Massing Revisited After reviewing the building’s massing, the decision to continue the upper blocks as full blocks was made in order to improve the residential spaces in the topmost blocks as well as to emphasise the building’s offset shape.
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Brick Facades In order to control the lighting and thermal gain from solar exposure on the glazed South façade, I decided upon using perforated brick as a façade. Toward creating this veil successfully, I looked at the Design Museum Ghent by Assemble Studio.
Fig. 5, 6, 7, Images from Assemble Studio
Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
In order to test the textural qualities and potential of brick, I created a 1:10 set of bricks which could be configured and reconfigured to show different possible textures.
Thinking Through Making Testing ideas with analogue works.
The brick textures were shown to be flexible in creating different “zones”, with closed textures providing a more private façade with openings in the brick for windows, whereas whole areas could be more permeable by using the perforated brick veil design.
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Thinking Through Making Light qualities through the perforated bricks.
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Environmental Strategies As the building is set into the site, the design makes use of thermal massing to store and regulate temperature in the public areas. In areas that are used all the time, systems are put in place to more carefully regulate the temperature.
Due to the building’s size and use of rooftop gardens, water collection is made easy. Rainwater is collected and stored to be used in grey water systems, with addition water passively draining away.
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1:20 Technical Section
Structure The building consists of a steel frame, supported by a secondary timber support system, with walls and flooring made from concrete floor slabs. The glazed façade is tied to the steel structure, which also supports the brick façade which stands separate from the glazing. The building is built upon a foundation that is partially made from the aggregate from the initial site demolition.
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Elevation Study
The building façade and places of population were explored with this elevational study. The main public areas reside on the rooftop terraces are. This forms a gradient as you move away from the core tower and toward the ends of the blocks. N 96
e right hand side of the building, as well as being where the
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Cultural Bi
ibliography
Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Perforated Brick Construction
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Design Reading Library
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Studio Themati
Dawson’s Heights | Joungho So, Oscar Lavington, Jordan Shanks, Neslişah Çakmakkaya
Frac Dunkirk | Shujaat Afzal, Emily Ducker, Ada Ding, Natalia Stasik, Jacob Bowell
Community.
Permeable. History. Verticality. Layers
Suburban Housing | Malak Elwy, Afnan Iman, Ben Lee, Sam Coldicott, Banu Imamalieva
St. Peter’s Seminary | Agata Malinowska, Aya Mordas, Emma Beale, Xuhan Zhang.
Brickwork. Theory. History.
Restoration. Decay. History. Spatial. Lighting.
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ic Case Studies
Apartment Along A Party Wall | Isobel Prosser, Benoit Rawlings, Jiwoo Kim, Philip Russel, Hana Baraka
Housing in Mulhouse | Tabitha Edwards, louis Hermawan, Marcelina Debska, Liene Greitane, Zarin Tasneem Mir
Intervention. Facades. Material.
Reuse. Community. Modular. Materiality.
Terrassenhaus | Jiyeon Ryu, beth rungay, Malaika Javed, Taddeo Toffanin, Benjamin Scott Osta
Wohnheim Sargfabrik | Aggie Barber, Edward Bousfield, Olivia Ewing, Brian Cox, Fanny Kronander.
Scrapyard. Context. Surrounding. Materiality.
Neighbourhood. Community. Materiality. Green. Sustainable.
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List of Figures
Figure 1 'For the Four', Eduardo Paolozzi, 1975 Figure 2 Corridor from Zumthor’s Home for Senior Citizens (Photograph by Hélène Binet.) Figure 3 Corridor from Zumthor’s Home for Senior Citizens (Photograph by Hélène Binet.) Figure 4 Master Floor Plan from Zumthor’s Home for Senior Citizens. (Retrieved from ArchDaily) Figure 5 View from the Street 1 (Retrieved from Assemble Studio) Figure 6 View from the Street 2 (Retrieved from Assemble Studio) Figure 7 Brick Veil over Structure (Retrieved from Assemble Studio)
Bibliography & References
Macaulay, R. (1966). Pleasure of Ruins.
Jencks, C. (1986). Modern movements in architecture (2nd ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Design Museum Ghent. (2021). Retrieved 26 May 2021, from https://assemblestudio.co.uk/projects/ design-museum-ghent
Saieh, N. (2010). Multiplicity and Memory: Talking About Architecture with Peter Zumthor. Retrieved 26 May 2021, from https://www.archdaily.com/85656/multiplicity-and-memory-talkingabout-architecture-with-peter-zumthor?ad_medium=gallery
Homes for Senior Citizens by Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner AG (702AR) — Atlas of Places. (2019). Retrieved 26 May 2021, from https://www.atlasofplaces.com/architecture/homes-for-seniorcitizens/
Totten, C. W. (2014). An Architectural Approach to Level Design. A K Peters/CRC Press; 1 edition (4 July 2014)
Stewart, S. (1984). On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection.Duke University Press Books.
Koolhaas, R. (2016). Junkspace. New York Review Books
Coates, N. (2012). Narrative Architecture. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Architecture Design Portfolio | Miki Liu
Home Work | Thematic Case Studies Typological Research into different types of spaces.
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Development Work
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