What is BOUNDARY?
01 DIALECTIC BOUNDARY | Beijing Danwei Compound 2.0 Urban Study & Design Test of Beijing Danwei (Work Unit) Compound
The architectural boundary of built environment is fundamental to people's conception of space but at the same time debatable in terms of its definition, usage, and meaning.
DEFINE BOUNDARY Boundary is ubiquitous in architecture of all scales. In the city, boundary delineates separations in both tangible physical space and intangible social space, which often times engenders social and cultural conflicts. Through contemplating on boundary for several years, polemics generated around the boundary could be opportunities for designers to improve the current situation in a more humanistic way. Therefore, for me, BOUNDARY serves as a medium to connect spatial design and social problem. I am determined to develop a more interdisciplinary understanding of the boundary in my future study. Harvard GSD is the most prestigious design institute that has the most progressive design thinking and the most diverse cultures. I believe that in such a multicultural environment, I would be able to investigate in greater depth on various living conditions, so to understand the concept of boundary in different historical and geographical contexts.
02 COALESCED BOUNDARY | New Wall
Architectural Design of Museum of Dule Temple in Jixian
BOUNDARY serves as a medium to connect spatial design and social problem.
03 PLIABLE BOUNDARY | Flexible Landscape
Architectural Design of The Urban Installation in Shanghai
CONTENTS 01 DIALECTIC BOUNDARY | Beijing Danwei Compound 2.0
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Urban Study & Design Test of Beijing Danwei (Work Unit) Compound
02 COALESCED BOUNDARY | New Wall
Urban Study & Design Test along The Secondary Borderline in Shenzhen
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Architectural Design of Museum of Dule Temple in Jixian
03 PLIABLE BOUNDARY | Flexible Landscape
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Architectural Design of The Urban Installation in Shanghai
04 POST-BOUNDARY | Shenzhen Urban Campus
Urban Study & Design Test along The Secondary Borderline in Shenzhen
04 POST-BOUNDARY | Shenzhen Urban Campus
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01 DIALECTIC BOUNDARY | Beijing Danwei Compound 2.0 Urban Study & Design Test of Beijing Danwei (Work Unit) Compound Site: Beijing, China Instructor: Yiru Huang Individual Work, 2018 Fall Danwei, the communist work-life urban unit, into today’s Chinese cities was usually an enclosed community, built by government or state-owned corporations, to provide jobs, housing and other welfare facilities to their employees. It then represented a unique vision of constructing city in China under Planned Economy. However, the physical walls of these outdated superblock compound units became problematic nowadays. They caused traffic congestions, inefficient urban space utilization, and ultimately the privatization of public facilities. To solve the problem, I transformed the solemn walls in Danwei to a more nuanced boundary, so to encourage collaborations between different parties in the city. In this way, a clear boundary was created between the street level public space and the new “second level” private residential space, in order to protect the property rights, and in the meantime, maximize the denizens’ uses of public space. Therefore, a more porous interface between Danwei dwellers and the urban public replaced the existing solemn walls.
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02 COALESCED BOUNDARY | New Wall
Architectural Design of Museum of Dule Temple in Jixian Site: Tianjin, China Instructor: Fangji Wang, Shinichi Okuyama Individual Work, 2017 Spring Dule Temple is a rare Liao Dynasty architecture, the city landmark and the most important historical relics of Jixian. Nowadays, the gradually revealed historical value of Dule Temple and the prosperous tourism industry bring more and more visitors to this city. The existing outbuildings and outer space of the temple are not capable of realizing its present cultural responsibility. Moreover, the surrounding urban areas of Dule Temple are facing the same problem. A contradiction between the condition of existing urban space and the daily needs of the people living here could be perceived. In addition, the colorful ancient architectural language of Dule Temple and its heritage identity make the monument be isolated from the public space outside. In order to solve out these problems, I transformed the ancient eastern wall of temple into a New Wall, which was a overhead linear space,combined with a crevice underground. It served as the function of museum and public activity, in order to coalesce tourists & local residents, and religion & daily life.
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03 PLIABLE BOUNDARY | Flexible Landscape
Architectural Design of The Urban Installation in Shanghai Site: Shanghai, China Collaborator: Yan Wang, Weile Huang, Yibo Wang Schematic Design & Diagram, 2015 Fall As a child, having lived in an inner city neighborhood with fuzzy boundaries for seven years, I set off with the idea that architectural boundary should be pliable and flexible, so that people could bring their own agenda to space and engage themselves with place-making. Collaborating with Architect Yan Wang, I designed a temporary public installation at Jing' an Temple in Shanghai in 2015. Inspired by land art, I defined the installation as a form of landscape that responded to the open space and bustling subway exits on the site. The undulating arched space implied a sense for entry and unintentionally guided different population to wander into this space created. Without any prescription of programs, people in different needs transformed the space into various functions, a test site, an outdoor theatre, an exhibition hall, a market, a playground, and in general, an interactive space.
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04 POST-BOUNDARY | Shenzhen Urban Campus
Urban Study & Design Test along The Secondary Borderline in Shenzhen Site: Shenzhen, China Instructor: Jianlong Zhang, Shiling Zheng, Qing Chang Individual Work, 2016 Fall In 1997, when Hong Kong was returned to China from Britain, the government retained the first boundary between Hong Kong and mainland China, but at the same time removed the second boundary to integrate the once isolated special economic zone into the city. After the physical separation was eliminated, however, the social segregation across the boundary did not come to rest. Therefore, I aimed at restoring social unity in the city through architecture. I found that in Shenzhen, a melting pot of domestic migrants, education is not only advocated by the government but also valued by most immigrants climbing up the social ladder. Accordingly, I proposed an “urban campus� that ran through the entire city along the secondary physical boundary. It was an urban infrastructure that could be utilized for vocational training, general education and other leisure activities. In this way, the previous boundary for separation became the core region of the city, connecting people across the boundary through education, creating a vibrant public space.
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