PUCHUN ZHANG
| PORTFOLIO 2012 - 2018
Delft University of Technology Master of Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Bachelor of Science in Architecture
projects 01
PUBLIC TERRAIN OF YEREVAN | POOL AND PARK COMPLEX Yerevan, Armenia Master Thesis | 2017-2018
02
THE DUO: ORIEL TWIN HOUSE | RESIDENCE AND WORK SPACE Oxford, UK Technical University of Delft| Spring 2017
03
RUSSIAN EMBASSY | GOVERNMENT ENTITY Bucharest, Romania Technical University of Delft| Fall 2016
04
URBAN INTERLOCUTION | PUBLIC LIBRARY Chicago, Illinois University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign| Spring 2015
ARCHITECTURE SPACE AND HUMANS IN-FIELD
05
Somerville, Massachusetts Harvard University| Summer 2015
Crossing design contexts from theoretical to technological disciplines, the portfolio presents architectural proposals that take inventive and explorative approaches towards today’s design scenarios. With material, gesture, and desire to communicate, each project inspires the inhabitants to interact and reflect on the alliance and sensibility between natural and man-made environment.
FOSTERVILLE, SOMERVILLE | LIVING COMPLEX
06
DRAWING ANALYSIS | SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA Highway A11, Italy Master Seminar| Fall 2016
01 PUBLIC TERRAIN OF YEREVAN
BRIEF
Focusing on the materialistic quality and character of Yerevan, the analysis decodes and re-contextualizes the city’s geographical and architectural composition by collecting physical materials on the site of Komitas Pantheon, a partially abandoned park.The design proposes a complex of public pools and parks along the city’s river valley. The intervention responds to the geographical and social landscape through spatial gestures, cultivating public activeness in conjunction with natural terrain.
SWIMMING POOL & PARK COMPLEX Master Thesis | Academic Year 2017-2018 Delft University of Technology| Studio Border Conditions Architectural Reasearch + Design | Yerevan, Armenia
The field study begins with a territorial investigation, mapping the valley of Hrazdan River over the geographical region of Yerevan.The mapping delineates the topographical conditions of the river in relation to adjacent towns and villages, while addressing the plateau landscape. The sectional study reveals the geological composition and soil layers beneath the river valley.
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LANDSCAPE AND CITYSCAPE OF ARMENIA: A TERRITORIAL STUDY
Yerevan Political Axis
Projection: Contours Site: Design Research
River Valley Site: Design Intervention
Arched Canopy
Landmark
“Public Institutions“: Typologies Along Axis
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Ventilation Chimney
Market
Ruin Park
Housing Blocks
YEREVAN URBAN ANALYSIS POLITICAL AXIS AND URBAN INSTITUTIONS
Designed and implemented as part of Yerevan’s urban master plans, the main axis crossing the city is a heritage of early utopian planning schemes. Isolation various landmarks and intersections along the axis, the analysis reimagines the axis’ relation to the city’s public spaces and institutions.
DESIGN RESEARCH THE LANDSCAPE AND MATERIALITY OF PUBLIC SPACE
Departing from the thick layers of spatial characteristics in Yerevan, the analysis decodes and re-contextualizes the architectural specificities by extracting literal information from physical sites and translate them into representational drawings and models.
ANALYSIS AND DRAWING THE NARRATIVES AND LAYERS OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS
PLACE OF GATHERING CANOPY OF TRAINED TREES
NARRATIVES: LOCAL CONDITIONS
Specific locations within the park act as landmarks within the area and contribute to the park’s overall function as a public program, creating places of gathering which is the key qualification of a public program. LAYERS: FIELD CONDITIONS
Four separate layers of spatial conditions are identified: Succession of Planes, Imprint of Movement and Trace, Planes as Gestures and Imprints, and Fencing and Demarcation.
THE SITE: KOMITAS PANTHEON YEREVAN
CASE STUDY MAPPING PUBLIC SPACES OF A CITY PARK
From divisions of landscape to positioning of objects, the specific conditions of Komitas Pantheon formulate its own materiality and physicality as a place. The specific matters that compose each division of the public zone create a holistic materialistic reading of space. The goal of the research process is to dissect the specific elements and layers of the park. Analyzing various zones and points within the area, the research reveals the internal logic of its material composition.
FIELD CONDITION 1
FIELD CONDITION 2
FIELD CONDITION 3
FIELD CONDITION 4
Succession of Planes
Imprints and Traces
Planes as Gestures
Fences and Demarcations
FROM CONTOURS TO SPACE
SITE PLAN LANDSCAPE OVER VALLEY
By projecting the contours of the city sections on to one plane, the drawings seek to create a virtual field whose characteristics and materiality can be further developed.
HRAZDAN RIVER GORGE, YEREVAN, ARMENIA
The following models are based on the line drawings of contours, materializing the abstract implications of curves, meshes, shades, etc. In common, they produce a materialistic translation of (the act of) contouring into landscape and architectural constructs.
CONCEPT MODELS SPATIAL PROTOTYPE
CONCEPT DRAWING CONTOUR FIELD
COLLABORATION WITH LANDSCAPE
PROPOSAL POOL + LANDSCAPE COMPLEX
Inheriting the form and physicality of Yerevan’s natural and social context, the design proposes a landscape complex in close collaboration with the city’s contour. With unfolding and emerging gestures, the structure formulates a series of casual public spaces while preserving the monumentality of the city’s terrain and landmarks.
PROGRAM AND CIRCULATION
The structure includes indoor fitting rooms and outdoor pool, connected through stairs and platforms.
AXON, SECTION, AND PLAN
The axon reveals the character of one of the pools within the complex. Embeded in the natural landscape, the curved volume of the pool is demarcated by vertical elements that subdivdes the water area.
EXTERIOR VIEW MONUMENTS IN RELATION TO NATURE
Situated in the natural terrain, the structure accommodates the inhabitation of nature as well as human. Over time, the texture and materiality of concrete changes with the growth of plants and biosweal pools, resonating the Hrazdan gorge context. The open pool offers different programs for each season: swimming for the summer and leisure for the winters. As a public venue, the structure facilitates the interaction and participation of citizens through materialistic and original bounds within the context of Yerevan.
INTERIOR VIEW THE INFOLDING SPACE
SECTIONAL VIEW GROUNDING, SPACE, AND LANDSCAPE
The form and lighting of the structure create extending and intervolved volumes to host the public activities.
EXPLODED VIEW UNDERGROUND AREA
CONSTRUCTION DETAIL POURED CONCRETE, WATER BARRIER AND GUTTERS
INTERIOR DETAIL TOP VIEW OF DIVISION ELEMENTS AND STEPS
FABRICATION 3D-PRINT MODEL AND CONSTRUCTION
The model is produced through 3D-Printed gypsum. The construction method integrates the 3D-Print technique with pouring and filling on site.
02 THE DUO : ORIEL TWIN HOUSE ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD THE THREE COURTYARDS
GUEST RESIDENCE AND WORKING SPACE Master 2nd Semester | Spring 2017 Delft University of Technology| Studio Interiors Buildings Cities Architectural Design | Oriel College, Oxford, UK
COURTYARD FACADES SPATIAL SEQUENCE
BRIEF
As one of the guiding theme of the design, the definition and relation between interior and exterior prevails the buildings and courts in Oxford. Entering the colleges from streets, one passes through alternations of indoor and outdoor space. While there may be linear and direct transitions from enclosure to openness, the space within the college complex often contains exterior elements in indoor spaces and organizes various building blocks with unified indoor programs. Positioning residence and working space for a guest in two wings of the college complex, the proposal explores the dialogue between internal and external, domestic and public, and private and public.
CASE STUDY OLIVETTI SHOWROOM, VENICE
The draws reorganize the composition of interior and exterior elements through tilted perspective projects. The analysis is essential to understanding how elements interact and contrast to compose intricate indoor and outdoor spaces.
WEST WING: THE PUBLIC
EAST WING: THE DOMESTIC
TWO SPACES IN PARALLEL PUBLIC AND DOMESTIC WINGS AND THEIR DIALOGUE
Located in the second courtyard of Oriel College, the proposal divides the public and private uses of the guest’s residence into a living wing on the east and an office wing on the west. Facing each other across the courtyard, the architectural elements reflect the position and function of respective spaces.
ANTI-PERSPECTIVE ELEVATION SEEING THE EAST INNER FACADE THROUGH THE WEST STREET FACADE EAST WING
Segregated from the street by a triangular garden, the space follows the more rigid division grid. WEST WING
Next to the louder street, the west wing hosts gatherings, lectures, etc.
WEST WING SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Ground Level - Co-working and Lecture Hall First Level - Cafe and Library Third Level - Music Practice and Performing
WEST WING GROUND LEVEL PLAN OF THE WORKING SPACE
On each level, the space and rooms are organized around the central division wall. Presented with arcade and bricks, it functions as an exterior element for the indoor programs. The oval staircase and the elevated floor plate and steps contribute to the public and outdoor atmosphere in the space.
EAST WING RUIN MODEL
The physical model takes on a “ruin” appearance to expose the collision between indoor and outdoor elements. The domestic wing, which hosts social space, bedroom, and study space for the guest, also includes a division wall as external element, responding to its twin.
EAST WING GROUND LEVEL PLAN OF THE LIVING SPACE
INTERIOR VIEWS AND PLAN DETAILS PUBLIC AND DOMESTIC SPACES
Reception space on west wing celebrates the openness and public character of the college through arched columns made of bricks. The steps to the left slightly elevate the floor to create a separate co-working space. The external materiality introduced by the structural walls brings outdoor elements into the indoor programs, while the arch and niches in the wall emphasize the spatial quality of a public building. To the right, the bedroom in the east wing connects to an atrium with an oval staircase. With much softer materiality and lighting, the space is delicate and private. The visual connection to the atrium with curved stairs maintains a level of public and open atmosphere to the space.
03 RUSSIAN EMBASSY
CITY SOUNDSCAPE VS. URBAN LANDSCAPE NOTATION OF SOUND IN VARIOUS URBAN SPACE
RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN ROMANIA Master 1st Semester | Fall 2016 Delft University of Technology| Studio Public Building Architectural Design | Bucharest, Romania BRIEF
Investigating the spatial and movement and rhythm, the project conducts a series of mapping in Bucharest by recording and studying the city’s sound-scape. The embassy extends linearly with oblique planes, facilitating movement of two directions: along the linear axis and penetrating the linear structure. Instead of a closed barrier for confidential programs, the structure performs as a permeable border by controlling the movement of visitors.
HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND APPROPRIATION OF URBAN SPACE
RESIDENCE
CITY MAPPING
RESTAURANT & BAR
The design begins with an analytical process of city mapping. With recordings of the noise and sound in the city, these collages shows the citizens’ adaptive use of Bucharest’s public space. Fragments of recordings are arranged with respect of time elapsed, as a means of indexical notation to track the program and events in various urban space.
DIPLOMATIC CENTER & OFFICE
The research also investigates “Appropriation“ of urban space by the residents. The pop-up bookshops on the plaza steps, the musicians performing in the middle of squares, and graffiti on public buildings all indicates the people’s will of appropriating the urban landscape.
VISA CENTER & RECEPTION
SECTIONAL AXON
THE MOVEMENT
Like a sound wave penetrates the space fluctuating and oscillating, the structure takes on oblique planes that merges into the territory, at the same time facilitating and controlling the movement of visitors.
PROGRESSION FROM SOUNDSCAPE TO LANDSCAPE
THE BORDER CONDITION
The site, which is located at the north of Bucharest, is a highly-fenced area. The clear physical segregation of properties distinct the area with a defensive nature.
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THE POWER AXES
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The location of the site in relation to a few political power landmarks in the city of Bucharest.
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FIRST MASSING
Instead of superimposing barriers, the design revisits the nature of sound with a twist to the landscape. The porous structure emerges from the and becomes the border between the public and the confidential. The Embassy appropriates the land of Romania in an expansive and moderate manner.
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MODEL AND SITE INDEX
PLAN AND MOVEMENT DIAGRAM PROGRAM AND CIRCULATION ORGANIZATION
THE “DROMOLOGICAL WALL”
DROMOLOGICAL WALL
These particular walls run through the entire complex and contains the most intensive circulation possibility. Recalling the dromological strategies proposed by Paul Virilio, these portions of the building serve as focal points of movement in order to boost and control the speed and motion of occupants.
GROUNDING IMPRINT RESTAURANT AND RESIDENCE
UPPER LEVEL PLAN
GROUNDING IMPRINT DIPLOMATIC CENTER AND OFFICE
GROUND LEVEL PLAN
GROUNDING IMPRINT VISA CENTER AND VISITOR RECEPTION
UNDERGROUND LEVEL PLAN
INVERTED LANDSCAPE
ENTRANCE 2 PATH 2
PATH 4 PRIVATE ENTRANCE
PATH 2
ENTRANCE 1
PATH 2
PATH 3 PATH 1 & 2
PRIVATE ENTRANCE
PATH 1 PATH 1
PATH 1
SITE MOVEMENT NOTATION
An indexical model showing the sky as solid concrete carved by the building volumes. The inverse reading of landscape reveals the flunctuating grounding situation of the Russian Embassy on the territory of Romania.
NORTH ELEVATION FULL LENGTH
SOUTH ELEVATION: SEGMENTS PERSPECTIVE: APPROACH
DIPLOMATIC CENTER
The most prominent entrance is a bridge to the diplomatic center. Crossing the landscape below, it creates a representational approach that exhibits power and authority while links the building to the street.
The structure unites the land, the landscape, and the territory. It creates ambiguous spaces that allow and control the movement of human vision and body. It is an act of de-territorilization that celebrates freedom as well as surveillance.
04 URBAN INTERLOCUTION PUBLIC LIBRARY IN CHICAGO Undergraduate 3rd Year | Spring 2015 University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign| Studio: Architecture and the City Architectural Design | Chicago, Illinois
BRIEF
Urban fabric and density analysis shows a characteristic gradual change of building height, population density, and metropolitan function. The gradient runs from southeast of the site to northwest, conforming with the radiating influence of downtown Chicago. The public library performs as an interface where all the exchanges, convections and diffusions take place. Overlapping two building volumes of distinct character and creating a core space dedicated to conferences, multi-media use and interactive events, the library facilitate the communication of different metropolitan cultures and the interaction of social values. With such a communicative space, the library facilitates cultural INTERLOCUTION in the city of Chicago.
High Rise above 75 ft
MICHIGAN LAKE UPTOWN AREA
Street Skyline URBAN COLLISION
Visual Access to Site
Downtown Life Style
URBAN COLLISION CONCEPT DIAGRAM
The site location as the bounding point that joins two unique street-scapes and transits passengers from one urban character to another. CHICAGO RIVER DOWNTOWN AREA
DIAGRAMS: SPATIAL EXCHANGE
Concept: Diffusion
Concept: Interaction
Form: Overlapping Volume
Form: Overlapping Floor Slabs
Material and Character Difference
Movement: Stairs
Visual Connections and Constrains
L.8
L.7
L.6
L.5
L.4
L.3
OVERLAPPED CORE: EXPLODED AXON
Double height reading space overlaps in the middle and forms a series of flexible multi-purpose rooms that promote the interaction of visitors. At each level, the double height area is dedicated to book collection and reading, whereas the single height space accommodates events and meetings, overlooking the level below.
L.2
L.1 activity
movement
scheme
interaction
scheme
movement
activity
GROUND LEVEL PLAN
SPATIAL SEQUENCE
Entering the building, the visitors pass a variety of public programs: exhibitions space, library, terrace, and multi-purpose rooms. The sequential programs address the building’s relation to the streets and the city, while maintaining a complex interior that interlocks public and private programs.
FACADE AND MATERIAL
Facade and material reinforce the differentiation of space as one moves through the building; material choice of metal screening, translucent envelop and vertical wooden sheathing resonates with the history and culture of the neighborhood.
Stained Metal Screeening Translucent Glass Enclosure
Rusty Metal Screening Vertical Wooden Sheathing Glass Storefront
05 FOSTERVILLE, SOMERVILLE LIVING COMPLEX IN MASSACHUSETTS
Highway Proposal
Site Axes
Podium
Towers
Career Discovery Program | Summer 2015 Harvard University| Urban Design Studio Urban Design | Somerville, Massachusetts
BRIEF
In a world where years of natural and social problems struck urban living, Fosterville is necessary. As local economy and environment falls due to climate catastrophes, Somerville seeks redevelopment for the site of 180 Somerville Avenue in respond to the declining urban vitality around Union Square area. Fosterville complex takes advantage of the combination of industrial technology with urban living infrastructures. Foster means growth. By incorporating several urban systems and different aspects of urban living, Fosterville is a self-sustaining complex that promotes sustainable living and civic activities.
REGIONAL STATISTICS: DEMAND FOR FOOD
Consumer Expenditures with the Share of Food Expenses in each district of the City of Somerville
53.8% 36.8M Teele Square Railroad
Highway
Industrial Use Residential Use Train Station and Volume
53.1% 36M Davis Square
53.3% 53.4%
31.5M Ball Square
50.3M
Magoun Square
East Somerville
REGIONAL MAP
Analysis shows that the land use of Somerville and adjacent towns follows a typical combination: the proximity of residential zone with industrial zone. It is observed that the sprawling residential buildings spread as small pieces and mix with industrial blocks where the size of building footprints is much larger.
53.3% 26.8M Union Square
49% 91.3M
SITE PLAN
S2: DETAIL SECTION
VEHICLE MOVEMENT PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT Flexible Growth
Research Laboratory
S2
Sun Angle Planting Racks
Vertical Planting Rack
Algae Power Generator
Proposed Highway Transit Station
Studios
Outdoor Market
Outdoor Farming S1
Super Structure Elevators Podium
Product Processing
Highway Export
Market
Industrial Park
Podium Second Level Industrial Park
MECHANICAL PACKAGE S1: SCHEMATIC SECTION
Podium Ground Level
ENERGY STORAGE
ELECTRICAL ENERGY GENERATOR
ALGAE CHEMICAL ENERGY CONVERTER
STREET VIEW FROM SOMERVILLE AVENUE
TYPE II: GROWTH VERTICAL FARMING
Residential Units: living space connected with vertical farming programs Open Planting Zone: max open area for plants that demand sun and soil Research Laboratory: explore new planting methods and technology
TYPE I: LIVABILITY URBAN LIVING
Algae Energy: energy generation through photosynthesis of algae Residential Units: private, intimate, single floor height space that accommodates living needs Civic Center: public projects, libraries, youth centers and community programs Indoor Courtyard: the “indoor outdoor space�; public indoor green space
Vegetable Garden: vertical or horizontal racks for soil-free planting of vegetables
Supply Shop: stores next to farming programs providing equipment and support
Commercial Center: boutique stores, supermarkets, variety shops that serve the residents
Residential Units Public and Social Service: convention centers, museums and educational programs Indoor Plaza: gathering and leisure space around the courtyard
VIEW OF OUTDOOR FARM, PODIUM AND TOWERS
06 DRAWING ANALYSIS: SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA CHURCH ON HIGHWAY A11, ITALY Master Seminar | Fall 2016 Delft University of Technology| Public Building and Architecture Seminar Architectural Analysis | Highway A11, Italy
CHURCH AND TERRITORY
Two scales of the “strada“ (Italian highway infrastructure) overlayed with the church positioned at the same point, showing the church as “a destination to destination”. FOUR-WAY SECTION
A drawing mixing four planes and exposing two sections and plan of the building along with the skyline and grounding situations, in relation to the contexts.