SPACE poiesis | Spring 2023

SPACE poiesis

Poiesis. Making, fabrication, creation.

To make a space, to fabricate a model, to create a narrative.

ARCHITECTURE.

The phenomenon that evokes emotional response through visual and auditory texture and rhythm.

A manifestation of POETRY.

Rongxuan (Roxanne) Zhou is a candidate for M.Arch I at University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in architecture and minors in physics and music.

STAR-CROSSED

museum of theatric arts and storytelling

CAGED LAPIS

casted object and container

TERRA WORK

pavilion for community engagement at Clark Park

THE SUBLIME

pavilion for waterfall viewing at Kjeragfossen

AUDIO ERGO SUM

low-rise high-density housing with curated auditory experience

KALEIDOSCOPE

an assortment of drawings and images

STAR-CROSSED

museum of theatrical arts and storytelling

Fall 2021 (8 weeks)

Critic: Daniel Markiewicz

Nominated for Pressing Matters XI

Inspired by the current site condition as well as stories about star-crossed lovers, this project is a museum of theatrical arts and storytelling. It is a reaction to the current programming of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a narrative of time, procession, separation, and connection.

The museum extension would challenge how we exhibit performing arts, which is a more dynamic and ephemeral art form than visual arts, through combining static and dynamic formats of presentation as well as having the amphitheater as a magnum opus of the visiting experience.

The horizontal circulation curates the museum chronologically and connects the two separated bodies. Gallery spaces are accompanied by library and studio spaces that would integrate the learning experience of viewing exhibitions with research and making.

The weathering of the Corten steel gives a sense of time and resistance. The blood and tears of the bleeding steel imply the pain of separation.

The vertical circulation addresses the stories of star-crossed lovers by creating moments of

The section of the future would be where the ephemerality of special exhibitions clashes with the uncertainty of innovative research addressing the future developments of theatrical arts.

Visitors would walk on the path of the present that connects the two separated bodies as well as the past and the future sections.

The section of the past would house permanent exhibitions about the history of theatrical arts as well as library and studio spaces that would integrate the learning experience of viewing exhibitions with research and making.

The surface treatment of the physical model intends to capture the weathered quality of the Corten steel as well as the ethereality of the narrative.

“Usant à l’envi leurs chaleurs dernières, Dans nos deux esprits, ces miroirs jumeaux.”

- Charles Baudelaire, La Mort des Amants

CAGED LAPIS

casted object and container

Fall 2021 (2 Weeks)

Critic: Daniel Markiewicz

Pipes, faceted surfaces, and soap casts construct the scene of a caged stone.

geometry of the faceted surfaces, and selected pipes leave an imprint on the soap-casted corners.

tile. The diagonals on the vertical surfaces of the bounding geometry then bounding geometry of the object.

geometry of the 3D-printed faceted surfaces as well as pipe channels

TERRA WORK

community pavilion at Clark Park

Spring 2020

Critic: Eric Bellin

Partners: Melina Lawrence & Beth Finley

Inheriting volumetric qualities from the roof of Irvine Auditorium at UPenn, this project is intended to encourage further community engagement through the interaction between the volumetric modules and the landscape of Clark Park in West Philadelphia.

The original void of the roof precedent is turned solid in the volumetric study. The solid then goes through a series of section cuts, whose cutting plane is determined by different points in the truss system. The new sections are similar to the trusses in essence because the trusses are also 2D expressions of the 3D volume.

METHOD 1

ROTATE INTO VOLUMES (Melina Lawrence)

METHOD 2

RECOMPOSE FROM SECTIONS (Rongxuan Zhou)

METHOD 3

ARRAY ALONG A CURVE (Beth Finley)

The modules are embedded at different levels into the landscape, offering different ways for the modules to interact with people as well as the trees on site. The three larger modules invite people to occupy their top surfaces, and the two smaller modules have trees planted inside.

The site is divided into three activity areas, whose boundaries are decided by the location of the three largest trees on site. The intersecting analytical lines and topography blocks for the volumetric modules.

select topo lines

generalize the curvature integrate steps into the surrounding landscape at the two ends

The cantilever not only abides the intended geometry but also provides visitors to the space with shelter from rain and snow. The design of integrates the structure into the site. The intention of these design decisions is to weave together the existing and the new with a sense of acknowledgement, integration, and community.

THE SUBLIME

pavilion for viewing Kjeragfossen

Fall 2018

Critic: Eric Bellin

This project is an appreciation of nature. The geometric study derives the numerical relationship between the vertebrae and ribs of a turning snake. The analog expands that relationship into 3 dimensions. These studies then inspires the form of the architectural structure, which is a fjord viewing pavillion embedded in the cliff and right above the waterfall, kjeragfossen.

A section of the snake’s skeletal structure is studied. Points are plotted along the center line of the vertebrae, at the edge of the vertebrae, at the turning point of each rib, as well as the tip of the ribs. Each rib section is therefore divided into three sections. The numerical relationship among the three sections are taken from the initial study to the analog. The 2D rib structure is expanded into 3D slabs with a vertical expansion and an added thickness. The analog sections are then arrayed along a curve derived from the numerical information from the initial study.

The system of three sections (L1, L2, L3) is introduced from the previous two studies, and the numerical to the site and the program. A similar arraying method is also introduced from the analog. The structure is then embedded into the cliff, revealing only the tips of the sections to the visitors.

Kjeragfossen is a plunge-style waterfall with a height of 2346’ in Forsand, Norway. It’s verticality and straightness of all edges pull great contrast with the embedded structure.

With the revealed tips of each slab, the structure invites tourists to descend pathway along the outer edge of the structure, and a netting structure connecting the steps and the pathway. Tourists could enjoy the view of the fjord from afar sitting on the steps, walk along the path to appreciate the scenery closely, or, if they are adventurous, lie down on the netting structure to feel the suspension and the greatness of the sublime nature.

AUDIO ERGO SUM

I LISTEN THEREFORE I AM

low-rise high-density housing with curated auditory experience

Fall 2022

Critic: Brian Phillips

This project intends to capture and amplify the interpersonal and metaphysical connection through the auditory experience. The organization of rooms and units as well as the variations in poché, surfaces, and sectional geometries produce diversity in the ways the individual existence interweaves itself into the larger sonic fabric, where the individual existence is assured in return.

Sound is a sign of life: whether it’s the life of animals, humans, or machines –wherever there’s existence, there’s sound. As our bodies become encapsulated inside of the walls and ceilings, our minds wander and connect with the rest of the world through the power of soundwaves. The vibration awakens our consciousness

to the recognition of the existence of the surroundings and, most importantly, the existence of ourselves and our capability to listen. Reminiscence, recognition, and imagination through the auditory sense coalesce into the domestic environment where our own existence becomes the most apparent.

As the edge of the units touch upon the skin of the chocolate factory, the seam softens and merges into the existing building. The new boundary on each floor adds another layer of auditory connection to the living experience.

The existing chocolate factory buildings are reimagined as a sound art gallery, a workshop for sound artists in residency, practice rooms for musicians, and an afterschool music/sound art program for children and teenagers. Artists and musicians in residency develop their projects in the workshop space, curate exhibitions in the gallery collectively, and educate the younger generation on sound art and music.

KALEIDOSCOPE

an assortment of drawings and images

2019-2021

TWIN PEEKS

climbing folly

SUMMER 2021 (1 Week)

Critics: Danielle Willems & Ezio Blasetti

This volumetric exploration addresses the action of “peeking through,” which can be interpreted as a counteraction of the “climbing” action. While climbers move upward or forward from the viewable areas, the peekers, located at the destination of the climbers, lead their gazes toward the opposite directions.

landing ground

climbing channel 1

climbing channel 2

climbing folly

HEALING FRAGMENTS

market for musical instruments, production and knowledge

SPRING 2022 (site concept drawing & user collages)

Critic: Gisela Baurmann

The conceptual mapping of the site connects restaurants, art/commercial spaces and bus stops with tension. The market would be a place where the fragmented souls finally get to heal. Despite having different quirks, issues or traumas, the users all find hope and healing through their love for music at the market.

THE WANDERER

walks in the city with headphone on Nirvana / my bloody valentine guitar and bass smokes a cigarette or two might climb over fences

THE DOCTOR keeps scalpels in his briefcase Glenn Gould piano reads Kafka always punctual

THE POET has heterochromia iridum Joanna Newsom / Jacqueline du Pré harp and cello keeps a bell jar on the nightstand lies in the grass when it rains

ESCAPE VELOCITY

stranded asteroid impacted by containers and objects

FALL 2021 (2 Weeks)

Critic: Daniel Markiewicz

Partners: Chen Su, Jianqing Shou, Leechen Zhu

Trapped in the strands of a strange struggles to break free. Just as it reaches escape velocity, four of its satellites collapse inward lines, abandoning their original orbits. Their sudden departure leaves marks on the asteroid, carving through the mass to reveal the asteroid’s untouched metallic interior.

DIFFICULT WHOLES

triptych of extruded figure assemblage

FALL 2022 (Visual Studies | 4 Weeks)

Critic: Nate Hume

BAROQUE TOPOLOGIES

study of the planned vs. the built

SUMMER 2019 (research)

Mentor: Andrew Saunders

There is a mismatch between the original plan or section drawings and the actual scan of all the examined churches. No academic writings have addressed this because of the lack of scanned information on what’s actually been built, thus reasons for this discrepancy are unknown. What can be observed from the original drawings is that they include a lot of design details (especially in the section drawing), drawings the that indicate which are certainly made for aesthetic purpose.