[ Perceptive Space] Portfolio of Ruo Fang
seeking for the unknown -up in the air / down in the dust
Applying for MA Interior Architecture Rhode Island School of Design
CONTENTS 1 / Ambiguous Container Narrative space transformation design
2 / Into the Yard Siheyuan hutong teahouse transformation
3 / Consumer Space --Society Theatre Urban consume space design
4 / Autistic or Artistic Autistic children care center design up in the air
5 / Other Works Practice,group work and art works
01
AMBIGUOUS CONTAINER Each modern is an isolated island in the city. Inextricably connection indeed exists among each person in the seemingly isolated space. Individual Design
This is an interior reformation project in the four-story building. All other interior spaces except for the structural column grid could be designed at will. Th e p ro j e c t a l l o w s s t u d e n t s t o c u s t o m i z e t h e i r ownproprietors and design a unique space according to the personality and life trajectory of the proprietors. I tried to reveal the relationship among human beings in this project, summarizing 3 artistic characters as the house owners and designing the house format according to their habits and personalities. To highlight the conditions, I have adopted the idea of ambiguity, making both the space and time become hazy in this place to create the delicate, ambiguous and sensible atmosphere.
People have fallen out of the strange city casted by reinforced concrete in panic. Return to the primitive jungle, p u re l a n d , a n d h a r m o n y relationship between people.
People often say that "Man is a social animal." One of the main features of modern urban society is that it is a society of strangers. Anonymity, in different inter personal relationship, as well as insufficient human interest and direct contact between people become common features in the metropolis.
I try to adopt the creation technique of movie or literary style in the design: Space change was made to present the scene of field and humans. A look,turnaround, and figure from behind all happen in this filed, get recorded and produce the memory slices. I look forward to creating a space that can serve as container of people’s memories. This container is like a musical instrument, which does not speak but stimulates people to express feelings. My three main characters are lively with flesh and blood, not running blindly in the city life. They are happy in nature, because they gain at the time of missing something and make this occasional sense of missing become a primary force of life. “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness�-- Bertrand Russell The way of connection between each person's privacy and communication openness has become the starting point of my design.The spatial characteristics of ambiguity have been vividly presented on paper.
Catrina
chilling area party area
the writer independent flown line quiet bright space
Lindsay the dancer
Everyday is a brand new journey. Carpe diem
showing space dancing rehearsal room
Have a smart taste, spend time wisely
Love fiercely Live glamorously
7:30 get up,make up — 8:30 go to work
9:00-16:00 dancing&working
tea room reading room
dinner outside — 21:00-24:00 night out / 17:00 back home dancing,watching movies
she’s gorgeous
dark room luminous bedroom
Stuart
look
projecting or showing the dancing scene, blur the recorded video and reality
open air space open kitchen&dining
the chef
8:30 get up — breakfast
9:00 read news — 9:45 go out to work
10:00 go out to photograph /write script
Run , Make arts ,Create
22:00 chill in open air— 23:00 sleep
Avoid small talks Embrace conversations
knowledge is power
8:00 get up — make breakfast — work out
19:00 tea time
17:00make dinner ,invite friends
You only live once , so make the most of it .
COOK SHARE ENJOY
23:00 party time
find yourself inner peace media rooftop showing different time’s sky blur the sense between inside and real world
between 3 main characters : familiar but also need distance ——>ambiguous between one's friends and other owners : strangers/friends—>dont wanna stay together all the time —>individual functional space or different time for using them coexistence time : begin from the dinner time,theatre or tea room or underground party
The concept of yarn: a flexible translucent material with soft quality and hazy atmosphere. Foreign friends and the masters are familiar but not acquainted with each other, eager to separate from but pry on each other. People don’t need to know the complete truth, feeling like suspicion and fabrication. Yarn causes confusion and ambiguity in the space.
Virtualize the yarn, make use of new technology and interactive media to form the dislocation and ambiguity of time by extending to the confusion between time. For example: different people and time show in the same place of dance p ro j e c t i o n w a l l , p re s e n t i n g i n t h e previous or present video or images to confuse seeing and hearing of current viewers who do not know what reality is. Truthis false and vice versa, with everyone staging his own film in the reality show.
Julio Le Parc French Optic Artists Dematerialization, blur perception, streamlined form, artificial light, environment, audience participation and different levels of visual effects Optic art is also known as "Optical Illusion Art".
02 This is the reformation project for the old building of Siheyuan courtyard, whose traditional wooden structures could be preserved or demolished according to individual design. The Siheyuan courtyard is located in the center of the old town, which means the peripheral wall could not be changed and the house shall not be higher than one storey. Personally, I would like to start with the creation of a teahouse in the lane space to explore the relationship between people and themselves, making a space for people to forget the hustle and bustle of the outside world so as to obtain their inner peace.
INTO THE YARD "As a Zen monk, I have always been conducting creation all the year round on the basis of Zen spirit, considering 'creating garden' as a design process with high spirituality by putting 'myself' in different spaces for presentation. It not only simply pursues the modeling beauty, but also treats garden as the place for 'my own presentation' and makes the process of creating garden as part of the daily practice. 'Garden' has occupied a very important position in my mind." Mr. Shunmyo Masuno said. Individual Design
Te
Radius lking Wa te inu m n-
alking Radi us te W inu M
Fiv e-
INDOOR
TEA ROOM RECEPTION
THEATRE ROOM GREY SPACE main stem residential path yuppies elites
NO BOUNDRY
OUTDOOR
YARD
TEA ROOM YARD
RECEPTION
GREY SPACE
THEATRE ROOM GREY SPACE
YARD
TEA ROOM
It is necessary to increase the distance and time vital for the switch of mind to stay far away from the noise in the streets, with the distance from t h e ro a d to b u i l d i n g m os t important to guarantee the indoor tranquility. Firstly, semioutdoor courtyard space will b e c re a t e d t o c h a n g e t h e entrance atmosphere, enabling people to calm down a little at the entrance.
foreigners kids old residents
Site overview: East Forty-one Lane is still in the state for business development. The consumer groups are not constantly travelling to and from this place, with the surrounding crowd lack of consuming power. So a characteristic place should be created to attract outside customers who will come from afar and stay for long.
Business positioning of the transformation is to create relatively upscale tea and culture salon. More outdoor viewing area will be retained in order to preserve the space quality by not making it crowded, while the interior spaces are independent of each other.
This passageway will not be simply used as luxurious rich space, but also as necessary space and room for the transformation of mood. People will listen to the sound of water, feeling the gentle stroke of breeze. It is hoped to create a place for people coming from the city to relax and regain themselves in the nature with this spatial design.
Core of the transformation is the introduction from courtyard to the indoor space, emphasizing the interaction and connection between the miniature courtyard landscape and interior space at the same time creating a corner with sense of seclusion and serenity in the a noisy lane. The artistic conception of Japanese zen garden is inserted to make pure and undistracted heart confronting with garden space, so that people could dream idly about the world or consider formlessly for the future. "In calm and stable state".
3rd 2nd 1st
People need a certain distance and time to change the mood, purifying their moods a little every time passing through the door.
indoor
grey space
outdoor
Some structure of the original building is preserved.Part of the outdoor grey space is for people to regain calm.
den
hid
ws
vie
The people flow and the sight line are completely separate, with the sight line of rooms facing the courtyard and not disturbed by the pedestrians. It aims to provide the viewer a sense of tranquility and purity, pursuing the rustic atmosphere with calmness and reflection created by the Japanese zen garden.
theatre / playing piano
gather in the yard
relaxing enjoying the view drinking tea dreaming
ON
E ST A E
TI VA E L
The interior space constitutes four private ro o m s , re c e p t i o n s p a c e a n d s m a l l t h eat e r, used as an integrated activity space for cultural communication. The four newly-created buildings also adopt the form of pitched roof in the old building, using a new type of materials and structures. As an independent tearoom space, its left area is created as the small theater as a whole, arranging natural and random step-type seat. Small dramas and lectures are held in the small theater on a regular basis.
A
A'
Four interior spaces are sinking to the ground, with its seats or desktops parallel to the outdoor ground. The integrated natural furniture with curved surface echoes with the landscape, surrounded by the interior green scene. Gravels and rocks in the outdoor space are quiet and calm, achieving enclosed atmosphere through inter leaving, integrating into the nature and having a reflecting interest.
It is an urban design project in the old city area in Beijing, located around the second ring beside Lama temple. There exists serious issues of traffic and consume problems.We aim to do a deep research on this area and find the problems by our own then solve these problems. After 2month research-oriented study,we came up with the idea of developing the underground area to motivate the outer ring side link together with the inner side.Create the public area is the main point of this design.In the modern society,spaces are no longer divided into private spaces,the common area is the core of stimulate the space vigour. I mainly emphasize the idea of bringing diverse art forms into the common space.
03
CONSUMER SPACE-- SOCIETY THEATRE Consumer society followed by industrial society is the latest stage of human social development, in which the consumer culture characterized by mass consumption and symbol consumption has become one of the major cultural contexts in thedevelopment of local consumer society which is specifically the developed areas and cities in China. Group Research and Individual Design
Lama Temple of Buddhist civilization is in the south, with historical Earth Alter in the north. Second Ring Road separates across both parties, causing extreme imbalance of people flow in both sides with crowded south and scarce north. It seems like the Second Ring Road has spilt the traditional civilization area into two worlds. Therefore, it has become the starting point in this project to think about how to bring the prosperity inside the Second Ring Road outward and drive the vitality outside the ring.
Overall space in thedesign spans across the indoor and outdoor areas, with the underground and aboveground space interspersed with each other. The wavy connectionfrom u n d e r w at e r s p a c e t o t h e o v e ra l l ground and further to the top surface has added interest to the space at the same time increased the vitality in the channel space and performance area.
existing site
population disequilibrium
use underground space
access to underground
consume programme
make a balance
It is critical to wellfacilitate the physical and contextual continuation inthe north and south ends with such a dramatic conflict. And it is finally decided to place the design site underground and also move all the pedestrian trails underground so as to develop a well-established underground consumption space. The boundary of 192m * 328m is determined through research on the surrounding environment.
function space
passage space
shared space
moving theatre
The transformation in the full-height aboveground space creates the surface system with interesting free forms, strengthening dialogue between underground space and the external space as well as enhancing the characteristics of square to attract more people flow. Introduce the southern crowd northward with the free organic shape and hard ground which skillfully guide people’s walking trend also become the best choice ina casual public space and commuting channel space.
installation art
installation art passage
theatre/experience&skills sharing/gallery
sports/outdoor activity functionging area flowing area
The distance of 328m from north to south not only includes pure consumer space but also the free exhibition space. The ever-changingpublic spaces of theater, underwater restaurant, bookstore, squares, stage, exhibition space, interactive space etc. entail the core charm of the underground world.
The city is dramatized by turning itself into a big theater. The public is viewing the opera at the same time of passively performing in the theater, completely alienating and throwing away themselves in the unconscious state which is just like living elsewhere. -- Rousseau
Flowing area’s interactive art passage Installlight appliance in the channel exhibition space so that pedestrians will linger to enjoy the fun of interaction between sound and light while passing through the unobstructed space. light installation by Olafur Eliasson Flowing area’s exhibition theme space Place the contemporary art exhibition in the undulatinginterior space to generate endless funwith changesin the ground and roof. glasses installation by Lucie Boucher
Flowing area’s moving theatres Modern dance performances with the characteristic oftimeliness participate in the art exhibition of interactive light to form a new artistic wonder through blendand integration. bamboo dancing by Maria Blaisse
installation art under the lake
under water restaurant
04
Autistic or Artistic ? After investigation and some research on autistic documentaries, I thought I have improved some ignorant thinking upon autism. But after volunteering at the autistic center and spend more time with children intimately, I became more and more confused on this 'disease' . But what I would believe is that this is not a 'disease' and they are only somehow different from us, it is all because they have a special gift like kids from the stars . Due to their uncommon enthusiasm ,they can make extraordinary art pieces. Because people who are sophisticated on all sides could never be able to make pure art like that.
A real renovation project of an autistic center.It is a place to cultivate the kids' potential to create art pieces and help them .Besides the existing structures,any forms of change can be used. We are suggested to volunteer at the autistic children center to know more about the customers and came up with an idea that suits these kids. Individual Design
? With time goes by , I feel what makes this place different from normal homes or schools should be: it can let kids release their natural instincts and feelings.It is essential to create an open active area for kids.The general style of this center should also be bright and positive. They have one thing in common: being very focused on a single item or a figure in a short time (intense interest and even paranoid) But after a period of time ,the concern will be converted. Therefore,they need an open space which is changeble and full of freedom. They are sensitive,fragile and sometimes they need private space to be alone.
This place has to be "cool" to attract people. Distinguish from basic functions that can be fulfilled at home and normal education center Here also provides children's a c t i v i t y a re a t o e x p a n d t h e i r thinking and behavior. At the same time it has to be quiet .So the internal space for children and parents are separated with external space for visitors and donators.
It's a place designed for special children At the same time ,the center want visitors to know more about this group, but also need to take care of the children's feeling. So the use of special UI system is needed. Create different visual guildance system for children and adults. In this way it can help avoid children’ unnecessary psychological burden
The twisting theme is origined from the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren's kids book: Taka-Tuka-Land scene. Built of recycled materials,use soft material inside to protect kids.
The green part is climbing area Children can fully experience the fun of climbing. Within this vibrant area, children are easy to stimulate their imagination and keep their natural instincts. It also provides small safety areas to let kids feel safe and alone inside,they can hide in a corner for calm down
05
OTHER WORKS (PRACTICE,INSTALLATION,ART WORKS)
Cheng Nan Project practice with K/R studio 1/2
Beijing Landscape Catalogue
SITE STRATEGIES
XIAN YU KOU PLAN DIAGRAM
PROCESS DIAGRAMS
ART PROGRAMMING K/R sees art programming to be an essential part of ourproposal - as a way of connecting the site to the city of Beijing and the world beyond. Working with our partner KR&P* we propose a curated public art exhibition of international standing. Looking at three specific areas – the Museum Plaza to the north, the rooftop Sculpture Garden,and the main landscape weaving between the Edge building and the Hutong building – the following selection of artists suggests one possibility for how art can enrich the landscape,the neighborhood and the city.
BEIJING CITY PLAN North-South axis with proposed continuous pedestrian urban landscape.
1/ MUSEUM PLAZA
2 ROOFTOP 3 MAIN SCULPTURE GARDEN LANDSCAPE
Wang Du Sui Jianguo Richard Long Giuseppe Penone Ugo Rondinone Tony Smith
Carol Bove Jim Campbell Teresita Fernandez Dan Graham Zhang Huan John McCracken Andrea Zittel
Massimo Bartolini Mark Dion Song Dong Michael Heizer Liu Jianhua Hu Qingyan Zhan Wang
Cheng Nan Project practice with K/R studio 2/2 ROOFTOP MUSEUM HOTEL 1 WETLANDS
EDUCATION HUTONG HOUSING AND SERVICES
2 GRASS-OPEN FIELD
NORTH-SOUTH AXIS LANDSCAPE HUTONG
3 WALKWAYS
PARK RIVER LAKE
CONCEPTUAL SITE PLAN
LANDSCAPE DIAGRAM
4 POROUS SURFACE
SECTION 1
WEST ELEVATION
SECTION 2
EAST ELEVATION SECTION 3
Dashilar - A bit of Beijing practice with huizaoshe studio
Material Creation Camp competition in Tsinghua Uni
Art Works abstract painting in Spain
Art Works architecture drawing&modeling