2017–2020
Work Volume Architecture Animation Filmmaking Photography Mixed-Reality Robotics
Xin Liu.
Architecture Interactive Architecture, 2020
Phygital Supermarket Trilogy
007—Three Supermarkets
027—Phygital Shopping Cart
043—Phygital Supermarket Worlds Speculative Architecture, 2019
077—Augmented Library Aggregation Interior Architecture, 2020
113—Painted Room Experimental Art Film, 2020
All At Onceness
127—Seven Formal Possibilities 147—Phygital Models 155—Endless Section
159—Worlds In Worlds Speculative Architecture, 2018
Make-Believe Trilogy
167—Coexist
185—Engagement DTLA 201—Curiosities
Commissioned Work Music Video, 2020
217—Burberry Monogram World
Media Art & Design VR, 2019
233—Long Day’s Journey into Night 3D Design, 2018
247—The Imagination World of Doraemon Video Art, 2017
257—Liverpool Waterfront Moments Photography Series, 2018
263—Ordos: Cities and Deserts
Xin Liu is a designer and director who works between architecture and time-based media. His practice centers around the influence of digital and physical on shifting the boundaries of the design of spaces and objects. He is currently freelancing and running the studio BIGFLATNOW. His collaborators include Burberry, Wallpaper, NYLON, and Microsoft. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) where he also worked as the teaching assistant for graduate and undergraduate courses; as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with Honors degree from the University of Liverpool where his graduation project was awarded the Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize. Previously, he has worked at Testa & Weiser in the U.S., Sheppard Robson in the U.K., and Tianhua in China. He is traveling around the world examining the notion of both natural and built environments, individual experiences, and emerging techniques. Recognition 2020 - Winner, CGarchitect 3D Awards (Student Film) - “Phygital Shopping Cart” 2020 - Exhibitor, Creative Code Art Festival, NYC - “Three Supermarkets” 2020 - SCI-Arc Graduate Thesis Scholarship 2019 - Exhibitor, Lianzhou Foto Festival - “Liverpool Waterfront Moments” 2019 - Exhibitor, Infinity Festival Hollywood - “Augmented Library Aggregation” 2019 - SCI-Arc Continuing Student Scholarship 2019 - Nominee, CGarchitect 3D Awards (Student Film) - “Augmented Library Aggregation” 2018 - Ten Selected Awards, Hsinta Ecological Power Plant Conceptual Design Competition 2017 - Winner, Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize - “#IMadeLiverpool”
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Stay curious. Stay humble.
Architecture / Animation / Techniques
Phygital Supermarket Trilogy Digital Meets Physical Playfully with Everyday Objects
Three Supermarkets Techniques
Phygital Sho Scen
opping Cart
narios
Phygital Supermarket Worlds Architecture
01. Techniques
Three Supermarkets
Hybrid Compositings of Emerging Physical and Digital Media and Techniques
Role Designer Director In Collaboration with Jui-Cheng Hung Fateme Jalali Yuting Zhu Special Thanks Advisor: Peter Testa AT: Andrew Chittenden Recognition 2020 - Exhibitor, Creative Code Art Festival, New York City Video Link https://vimeo.com/381383256
Coexistence of Three Worlds
2019 7
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STATEMENT
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Three Coexist Supermarkets Across Portal Doors
Three Supermarkets is an infinite loop film with a shopping cart riding across multiple coexisting fictional supermarkets. As the first episode of the Phygital Supermarket Trilogy, this film explores the hybrid compositing of the emerging physical and digital media and techniques. The production process of this film uses industrial-grade six-axis Staubli robot arm as shooting equipment, green screen shooting, volumetric video capture, photogrammetry, 8
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Cinema 4D Mograph, Redshift shading & rendering, 2D/3D compositing, and other custom build techniques and workflows. Familiar but neglected objects, such as apples and snack bags, were scanned as either static models or animated model sequences from the physical world to the digital space. Then their scale, form, and look were manipulated with digital techniques to compose three interlocking “supermarket� scenarios with different visual styles, which are running endlessly.
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SCENE DESIGN
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Supermarket World 001 10
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SCENE DESIGN
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SCENE DESIGN
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Supermarket World 001 12
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SCENE DESIGN
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SCENE DESIGN
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Supermarket World 002 14
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SCENE DESIGN
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SCENE DESIGN
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Supermarket World 002 16
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SCENE DESIGN
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SCENE DESIGN
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Supermarket World 003 18
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SCENE DESIGN
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THREE SUPERMARKETS
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BEHIND THE SCENE
BEHIND THE SCENE
Customized Volumetric Video Capturing Setup at Robot House 20
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BEHIND THE SCENE
Greenscreen Shooting Studio at Robot House
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BEHIND THE SCENE
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Assests Created based on Multiple Media and Techniques Digital Polygon Model / Volumetric Video / Photogrammetry / Greenscreen Footage 22
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BEHIND THE SCENE
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EXHIBITION
THREE SUPERMARKETS
Exhibition 24
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EXHIBITION
360 VR Video
02. Scenarios
Phygital Shopping Cart Miniature Scenarios in a Shopping Cart
Role Designer Director In Collaboration with Yuting Zhu Special Thanks Thesis Advisors: Peter Testa, Devyn Weiser Theory Consultants: Marrikka Trotter, John Cooper Recognition 2020 - Winner, CGarchitect 3D Awards (Student Film) 2020 - Bronze Medal, Momentor Styleframes II Video Link vimeo.com/436558535
A Shopping Cart in a Supermarket
2020 27
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
The main character of the story is a shopping cart (or a trolley). In a shopping cart in a supermarket, we designed six miniature model scenarios, which can be organically combined in a shopping cart. Each miniature scene contains a miniature version shopping cart to tell a short story, and each scene embodies a technology or design method which we explored with Cinema 4D and Redshift Renderer. We selected the most familiar, unremarkable, and most overlooked object in life (that is, common daily necessities in supermarkets), and explored these familiar objects through a unique workflow we developed with Cinema 4D and Redshift rendering technology. Things were explored on the playful side, either enlarge the size or manipulate it with Effectors in order to take a look at what magical effects will burst out. Therefore, in each mini-model scene, in addition to the narrative of the story, a technique is also expressed. As title sequence is used as the format of this film, we use the text on the screen to introduce the story and design techniques of each scene.
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STATEMENT
Phygital Shopping Cart is the second episode of the Phygital Supermarket Trilogy.
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THE SHOPPING CART
The Shopping Cart
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SCENARIOS
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
Farm - Boolean In a farm covered with LEGO blocks, apples are bitten off by blueberries. 30
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
3D Cinema - Displacement The iPhone becomes a theater in a small world. Video and flying texts on the screen are extruded out based on moving displacement maps to play “Real”3D movies to the audience which are mini shopping carts 32
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
Playground - Painting Brush Strokes Floating painting brush strokes are smeared into various slope ramps to create a playground for small shopping carts. Those brush strokes also smeared on gloves, and the bumpy surface becomes a rock wall for climbing. These paint materials are materials that we first test the shape and pattern in reality with real acrylic paint, and then scan, import, and manipulate in the digital world. 34
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
Restaurant - Voronoi Fracturing Lay’s potato chips bag becomes a building, where the inside is a cafe, and the big potato chips become a table for mini shopping carts. 36
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
Viewpoint - Anamorphic Optical Illusion When the twisted patterns on the bottles are viewed at a specific point of view, they can be recognized as a meaningful texture or a perfect pattern. 38
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART
Disorder - Mograph Cloner The shelves in the miniature supermarket are disrupted by a mini shopping cart! 40
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SCENARIOS
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03. Architecture
Phygital Supermarket Worlds Interactive Architecture
In Collaboration with Yuting Zhu Special Thanks Thesis Advisor: Peter Testa, Devyn Weiser Theory Consultants: Marrikka Trotter, John Cooper Video Link vimeo.com/455380249 2020 43
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STATEMENT
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
Phygital Supermarket Worlds is an experimental art film which focuses on the notion of interactive archtecture at the age of post-digital. It’s the third episode of the Phygital Supermarket Trilogy. By merging digital techniques and physical objects in playful and unexpected ways, Phygital Supermarket explores the possibilities of interactive architectural form and challenges the legibility and representation of everyday objects. The convergence of digital and physical occurs in both geometrical and textural levels, as well as, in the architectural 44
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Phygital Supermarket Worlds defamiliarizes our relationship with everyday stuff and disintegrates objects and their representation in novel ways.
STATEMENT
levels, and cinematic levels throughout the representation of the project. An object is able to be digitally “animated” while keeping the illusion of tactility. The same kit of object assets taken from the supermarket are recombined, re-represented, and reinterpreted in different ways to compose five distinct worlds — Snack Bar, Farm, Warehouse, Food Store, and Cafe — around the supermarket ecology.
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
World 01
Snack Bar 46
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
World 02
Farm 52
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
World 03
Warehouse 58
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
World 04
Food Store 64
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
World 05
Cafe 70
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS
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FIVE WORLDS
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Architecture / Film
Augmented Library Aggregation Mixed-Realities and the Form as Content
Role Designer Director In Collaboration with Nero He Special Thanks Advisor: Damjan Jovanovic Recognition 2019 - Nominee, CGarchitect 3D Awards (Student Film) 2019 - Exhibitor, Infinity Festival Hollywood Video Link https://vimeo.com/331634391
Monolithic Building in Context
2019 77
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Library as Information - Multi-layers of Realities
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STATEMENT
A
s Robert Venturi mentioned, architecture is a communicative medium. Our design, the augmented library aggregation is a cloud of information contains multi-layers of realities. As we shift from the virtual/real dichotomy into augmented space, the physical manifestation of the architecture or city becomes only one of many parallel realities. Our occupation of space no longer matches its built form. We need to be progressive in the design of man-made structures with the understanding that the built environment is just one among many layered realities. In this library, there are three layers of realities: the first layer, solid structures, which provides tangible interface; the second layer, ambiguous objects bashing, which influences the spatial configuration; the third layer, virtual holographic, which is directly representing information. All these layers have interactions with people, by either tangible or intangible ways. Therefore, in this project, the notion of the fixed ideal space is replaced by a temporal, dynamic and interactive construction of reality.
Volume Bashing as Formal Devices Endless Greg Lynn mentioned: “Architectural form is conventionally conceived in a dimensional space of idealized stasis, defined by fixed point coordinates� which we could easily discover by opening up any of the mainstream architectural software. However, as a new way of design, volume bashing is the formal device for this project. Each program within is a world of itself made by the bashing of objects sourced from the various catalogs. This chaotic bashing process is able to create unlimited formal features which are dynamically changing, resulting in endless spaces without directions, without boundaries. This library aggregation contains the very old to the up to date version of itself. Scalefulness Volume bashing operation also results in scalefulness. In large scale, objects become the architectural space containing human activities; in middle scale, objects are acting like furniture; and in small scale, they become pixels in order to locally generating aggregations. Organization We speculate the future library would be a collective of science and humanity. The user group can be divided into humans and machines. Only interfacial machines would have been seen by humans and engineers, interfacial humans, who can manipulate interfacial machines to make the adjustment and upgrade for all machinery systems. Programs varied from a temple with monks to stimulation studios with holograms which contain all library types from the origin to the possible future. The collision between old and new enhance the heterotopia identity of the library.
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Royal Library by Claude Nicholas Ledoux
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Forms of Knowledge 79
DESIGN CONCEPT
Form is Content Sourced from Daily Objects
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DESIGN CONCEPT
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Catalogue of Objects 80
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1. Random Orientaions
2. With Rigid Body Simulation
3. Scalefulness
Various Bashing Methods 81
DESIGN CONCEPT
Volume Bashing as a Formal Device
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DESIGN CONCEPT
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Library
Event
Gallery
Future Experience
Data Center + Reading Rooms
Forum / Stage + Cinema / Auditorium
Exhibition Hall + Botanical Garden
XR Platform + Immersive Theater
Office
Leisure
Institute
Maintenance
Admin / Rental Office + Meeting Room
Cafe + Bar + Roof Balcony
Research Spaces + Reading Room
Engineering Room + Control Room
Programmatic Organization 82
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Places
Circulation 83
DESIGN CONCEPT
Circulation Elements
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DESIGN CONCEPT
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Solid Structure Reality
Reality–Virtuality Continuum 84
Objects Bashing Ambiguous
Holographic Virtual
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Solid Structure
Objects Bashing
Holographic
Tangible Interface Physical Reality
Ambiguous Interface Spatial Configurations
Virtual Interface Presentation of Information
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Configuration Effector - Scale Scale objects down
Configuration Effector - Scale Scale objects along the normal direction of the solid structure surface
Objects Bashing
Configuration Effector - Rotation Rotate objects from one direction to opposite direction
Three Layers of Realities Creating Different Interfaces 85
DESIGN CONCEPT
Objects Bashing Objects Bashing
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Reading Rooms 86
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Data Center 88
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Gallery 92
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Forum 94
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
XR Platform 96
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Engineering Control Room 98
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SCENARIOS
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SCENARIOS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Cinema and Auditorium 100
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SCENARIOS
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ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Axonometric Cutaway 102
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READING DATA CENTER
PLAN GALLERY 103
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
PLAN
ELEVATION 01
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ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
ELEVATION 02 104
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SECTION 02 105
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
SECTION 01
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THE PHYSICAL MODEL
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Augmented Physical Model - The Original Status The model is mainly 3D printed with PLA material. 106
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THE PHYSICAL MODEL
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THE PHYSICAL MODEL
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
Augmented Physical Model - The Augmented Status The surface of the model is painted with UV ink to create augmentation effect under ultraviolet light. 108
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THE PHYSICAL MODEL
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THE PHYSICAL MODEL
AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION
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THE PHYSICAL MODEL
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Architecture / Interior Design
Painted Room
Digital/Analog Workflow Creating Ornament with Painting and Fabric Techniques
Role Designer Director In Collaboration with Yuting Zhu Special Thanks Advisor: Florencia Pita
Room Details
2020 113
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WORKFLOW
3GBX VISUAL STUDIES // PAINTROOM
Digital Model of the Object
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THE PAINTED ROOM
PAINTED ROOM
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THE PAINTED ROOM
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THE PROCESS
PAINTED ROOM
Photographic Sample of Brush Strokes 118
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THE PROCESS
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THE PROCESS
PAINTED ROOM
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THE PROCESS
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Experimental Art Films
All At Onceness Novel Representation of Architecture and Objects
Role Director Designer In Collaboration with Jessie Pan Leo Wan Special Thanks Advisor: Devyn Weiser 2020 123
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STATEMENT
ALL AT ONCENESS
By tweaking the way an object is represented and viewed, the reading and interpretation of the object can be shifted or changed. In this project, we curated twelve architecture formal assets from Florence, Italy as source. Then these objects are reinterpreted in various novel ways to explore the potential of architectural form via four experimental art films. This project includes One Assets Kit and Four Experimental Art Films: . Seven Formal Possibilities . Phygital Materials . Endless Section . Worlds In Worlds
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There are 12 curated architecture formal assets from Florence, Italy. 125
FORMAL ASSETS
Curated Assets
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Seven Ways to Bring 2D Drawings to 3D Objects.
Video Link vimeo.com/400055363 127
SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
Seven Formal Possibilities
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
ALL AT ONCENESS
3D Object to 2D Drawing 128
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing on a 4x3 Grid
ALL AT ONCENESS
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TWEENING HI-RES EXTRUSIONS
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 130
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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ALL AT ONCENESS
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TWEENING PIXELATED EXTRUSIONS
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 132
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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ALL AT ONCENESS
03
TWEENING SOFT EXTRUSIONS
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 134
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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ALL AT ONCENESS
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EXTRUDING VISIBLE SURFACES
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 136
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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ALL AT ONCENESS
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MATCH VIEW
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 138
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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ALL AT ONCENESS
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OFFSET VIEW
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 140
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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ALL AT ONCENESS
07
SHADOW AS MATERIAL
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
2D Compositional Drawing
3D Object 142
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SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES
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SEVEN FORMAL POSIBILITIES
ALL AT ONCENESS
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Models Between Physical and Digital.
Video Link vimeo.com/410502283 147
PHYGITAL MODELS
Phygital Models
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PHYGITAL MODELS
ALL AT ONCENESS
Plastic Model Digital Rendering 148
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Digital Rendering 149
PHYGITAL MODELS
3D Print Model
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PHYGITAL MODELS
ALL AT ONCENESS
Tweening Model Digital Rendering 150
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Digital Rendering 151
PHYGITAL MODELS
Flat Model
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PHYGITAL MODELS
ALL AT ONCENESS
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All At Onceness 153
PHYGITAL MODELS
Four Models
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Architecture, Sliced.
Video Link vimeo.com/410504248 155
ENDLESS SECTION
Endless Section
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From Objects to Architecture. From One World to Another.
Video Link vimeo.com/410502967 159
WORLDS IN WORLDS
Worlds In Worlds
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WORLDS IN WORLDS
ALL AT ONCENESS
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WORLDS IN WORLDS
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WORLDS IN WORLDS
ALL AT ONCENESS
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WORLDS IN WORLDS
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1
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3
1. Coexist 2. Engagement DTLA 3. Curiosities
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Speculative Architecture
Make - Believe Trilogy Architecture Between Facts and Fiction
Coexist / Engagement DTLA / Curiosities
The art of the plausible discloses consensus about the way things are; but it also can make a new reality sensible: accessible both to feeling and reason. It not only matches, but mobilizes Rancière’s model of fictions as ‘material rearrangements of signs and images…relations between what is done and what can be done. - Carrie Lambert-Beatty
M
ake-believe – the action of pretending, feigning or imagining – suggests that things may be quite different from how we perceive them to be if, only for a moment, we suspend disbelief. Contemporary cultural and political dilemmas regarding the status of ‘real’ and ‘fake’ permeate our daily interactions, whether mundane or extraordinary, and exert unprecedented pressure on architecture’s historical identity as the locus of the real. The stability and immutability of Vitruvian firmitas has effervesced into innumerous bits of data that congeal in myriad forms to comprise, describe and construct various aspects of our environment. Architecture is challenged to
re-imagine and make-believe; to invent the new stories that demand new forms, aesthetics and ways of being in the world. The 2GAX studio will make-believe through the design of architectures that respond to the question: “What if?”. We will perform acts of architectural duplicity that allow us to cut through the assumed real and discover the possibilities of the make-believe. Our focus is on the aesthetic dimension of architecture and the possible production of new modes of being in the world. We take Los Angeles as our site of inquiry, action and architectural speculation.
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AR Architecture / Animation
Coexist
In Collaboration With Manying Wang Special Thanks Advisors: Angelica Lorenzi, Natasha Sandmeier Recognition 2018 - Exhibitor, Ctrl+Z Motion Design Party Video Link vimeo.com/301813603
Real vs. Fiction
2018 169
COEXIST
W
e were asked to use a hole to X-ray architecture. But what is a hole?
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STATEMENT
In our opinion, the hole is not subtraction, but connection; the hole is not demolition, but creation; the hole is not empty, but occupying. Our site is Walt Disney Concert Hall, only those people who have tickets can enter it and enjoy the music. The function of the concert hall is separated from the public, especially those people who are walking around the building. So we want to transform the facades into a couple of hole stages to make the building as a performer for the public in the world of augmented reality. The form of the building is a series of organic surfaces. Every piece of the façade is a stage which can be used to show the performance. As the music plays on, the façades of the building will be extruded, elongated, hollowed and stages appear. The instruments and activities will fly out of the building creating connections between inside and outside. People with mobile devices can enjoy the same performance in their per-
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sonal aligned perspectives. Therefore, the fictional world and the real world overlapped with each other, this is the first meaning of the title - coexist. We want to experiment with spatial forms primarily in the AR world. So we made our hole stages base on the form of original facade and created deception on it. For instance, different hole stages and objects occupy the same position; same drum kit with different appearances; same instruments in overlapped different holes. That’s the second meaning of the title - coexist. Coexist aims to turn Walt Disney Concert Hall into a series of “Hole” stages in the world of AR to connect its function performance to the public. These stages are created by extruding, elongating and hollowing the original organic facade surfaces with music instruments dancing in them. Therefore, the fictional world and the real world, as well as adjacent stages overlap with each other - which are two layers of meaning of the title COEXIST.
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Every piece of the faรงade is a stage which can be used to show the performance. As the music plays on, the faรงades of the building will be extruded, elongated, hollowed and stages appear. The instruments and activities will fly out of the building creating connections between inside and outside. 171
DESIGN CONCEPT
Coexist Of The Real World And Fictional World
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DESIGN CONCEPT
COEXIST
Coexist Of Different Holes Occupying The Same Space Disney Concert Hall’s covex volumes are transformed to concave holes. Hole stages are created based on the form of original facade. Visual deception of spatial coexistence is created by having distinctive contents in holes which occupy same space. For instance, different hole stages and objects occupy the same position; same drum kit have different appearances across different holes; same instruments can be seen in overlapped different holes. 172
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DESIGN CONCEPT
173
COEXIST
VIOLIN
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DESIGN CONCEPT
VINYL
Hole Stages For Various Instruments Instruments Become The Performers Performing In Various Hole Stages. 174
FRENCH HORN DAFT PUNK
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TRUMPET GUITAR
CELLO
PHONOGRAPH BASS
PIANO
SPEAKERS
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DESIGN CONCEPT
175
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3D ANIMATION
COEXIST
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3D ANIMATION
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3D ANIMATION
COEXIST
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3D ANIMATION
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3D ANIMATION
COEXIST
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Multi-pass for Background and Foreground 1. Building Render Image - background 2. Object ID - masks 3. Object Outline - light effects
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1. Hole Rendering Image 2. Hole Mask 181
BEHIND THE SCENES
Individual Passes of Each Hole Stage
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BEHIND THE SCENES
COEXIST
Compositing Layers 182
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BEHIND THE SCENES
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Architecture
Engagement DTLA Discrete Architecture with Dynamic Textures
In Collaboration With Manying Wang Special Thanks Advisor: M. Casey Rehm Video Link vimeo.com/307822788
Interior View
2018 185
ENGAGEMENT DTLA
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STATEMENT
O
ur project is a high-density LED housing for young artists in DTLA which acting as an interface between city and individuals.
texture become a manipulation of the context, which allows the building to successfully disguise in urban environment. At the same time, it neither conflict nor harmony with the context.
It is located in a narrow gap between the Broad Museum and a residential apartment, the Emerson LA. Currently, there is a small plaza. Because of the rising rents and the commercialization of artwork, it is increasingly difficult for young artists to live and work in downtown LA. They have to live far away where the rent will be cheaper. Only artworks by famous artists can be shown in downtown LA such as the Broad Museum. So we designed a high density housing system with dynamic LED façade.
The component is created by rotating three same units along the XYZ axis, which means the geometry is completely symmetrical. They can be connected with each other no matter the directions. They can form different spatial compositions to fulfill different functions by rotating and moving themselves. Such mechanism ensures a building can be self-grown from a single unit and can adapt to limitless possibilities in the future. The dynamic textures are created by manipulating the building façade from context. Each texture is controlled by three layers of information: diffuse color, reflectivity and bump strength. They are projected to the building from the same direction as the façade of the source building. So the continuity is created across different building parts.
High-density modular housing units allow buildings to be produced and assembled faster and cheaper. This will greatly reduce the rent and attract more young artists. The LED facade is a dynamic interface which not only shapes the interior spaces but also displays young artists’ work for public. It redefines the relationship between architecture and city, the limitation of interior and exterior spaces, the boundary of publicity and privacy, as well as the connection of daily life and public display. While there are no artworks on the LED façade, the dynamic
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In summary, this project provides a bottom-up system partially created by artist for artists, and partially created from the city for the city. In addition, we also made a AR app for this project.
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DESIGN
High-Density Modular Housing
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DESIGN
ENGAGEMENT DTLA
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DESIGN
189
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DESIGN
ENGAGEMENT DTLA
Geometry of the Single Unit 190
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191
DESIGN
Meta-Units
TEXTURE 01_THE EMERSON LA_NORTH FACADE
TEXTURE 02_THE BROAD_SOUTH FAC
TEXTURE_01_Diffuse Color
TEXTURE_02_Diffuse Color
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DESIGN
ENGAGEMENT DTLA
TEXTURE_01_Reflection
Manipulations of Contextual Facades 192
TEXTURE_01_Bump
TEXTURE_02_Reflection
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CADE
TEXTURE 02_THE BROAD_EAST FACADE
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TEXTURE_02_Bump
TEXTURE_03_Reflection
TEXTURE_03_Bump
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DESIGN
TEXTURE_03_Diffuse Color
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DESIGN
ENGAGEMENT DTLA
Texture Manipulations Applied to Unit 194
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DESIGN
Orthographic Views of Texture Manipulation on Unit
ENGAGEMENT DTLA
Continuity Across Units in Different Directions 196
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Architecture / Photogrammetry
Curiosities Sampling and Recreating
In Collaboration With Manying Wang Special Thanks Advisors: Marcelyn Gow, Florencia Pita
The Tower
2018 201
CURIOSITIES
W
e started by thinking of what is the originality of a work of architecture? What is the relationship between context and building, function and form, space and vvv? In this design, we took the buildings from DTLA as sources to create a new design. The form of the design can be divided into solid and frame part. The frames are mainly acting as circulation cores. Regarding the solids, there are two layers of information: photogrammetry facade from DTLA and surface colors.
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STATEMENT
First, we investigated and scanned building facades as assets of the new design. The reason why we did this is that we want to bring feelings and experiences and recombine them at a new place, in a new way, with new functions to create a new story. To blur the original form and identity, these photogrammetry facades are cut, deconstructed, reconstructed, and masked with offset outlines of the original buildings, creating some interesting moments. For example, this staircase, which came from a park is new combined with the facade of the Broad Museum. People sitting here will have a direct view of the downtown, even its original building the Broad Museum. For example here, two arches on the different axis are aligned with each other. The surface color is partially related to the functions. These two complementary color sets represent two types of functions: one is open to the publivc while another is dedicated to private users such as hotel guests or people working here. These analog color gradients look similar but are slightly different. They are assigned across different blocks to blur the identity of the original facades. Therefore, the building can be read 202
at various levels of details and by different means, giving people a journey-like experience to explore it with their memories of DTLA. These surface features, both formal and color, are not only exterior appearances but also part of the interiority. Take the example of this plan, the negative surface of this facade from a syncretism work of architecture became an indoor climbing wall. It allows people to have body contact and a closer view of the architectural features which they can’t reach if it is the original building. Regarding the of the blocks, they are organized not by merely stacking but intersecting, which also contributes to the blurring of the original identity and the making of new integrity. In summary, whether it is the deconstruction of the original building or the re-application of new materials, the building itself becomes more and more difficult to distinguish. What is new? What is old? What is coping? What is creation? What is the facade and what is space? Let’s find the new possibilities of creating a place in its ambiguity.
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DESIGN
Building with Landscape
CURIOSITIES
Facade Composition 204
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DESIGN
CURIOSITIES
Physical Model Details 206
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DESIGN
A Typical Floor Plan
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THE PROCESS
CURIOSITIES
01. Photograpmatry of Facades in DTLA 208
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209
THE PROCESS
02. Digital Model
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THE PROCESS
CURIOSITIES
03. 3D Print 210
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211
THE PROCESS
04. Spray Painting Palette
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THE PROCESS
CURIOSITIES
05. Spray Painting with Masks 212
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THE PROCESS
06. Assembly
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PRESENTATION
CURIOSITIES
Print Details 214
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Music Video
Burberry Monogram World Poolside Party Where Fashion Meshes with Music, Art, and Technology
Role Director Designer In Collaboration with Burberry Victor Ma Nylon China Microsoft Video Link vimeo.com/453484035
Summer Vibe
2020 217
BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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CONCEPT
Burberry launched the hip hop single “Runway 2.0” in collaboration with Nylon China, musician Victor Ma, the artificial intelligence (AI) influencer Xiaobing and her sister He Chang, and music producer Kevin Shin. Inspired by Burberry’s TB Summer Monogram series and elements from the brand’s summer campaign, the song emits a chill, summery vibe. Presented by Chinese visual artist Liu Xin, the production incorporates real-life performances and computer-generated imagery that mesh fashion with music, art, and technology. Users can upload their own photos to join the “Burberry Party Room” to create and listen to customized music. — Excerpt from Jing Daily Credit Director: Liu Xin Presenter: Xuan FENG / Li Baojian Producer: Cai Xiaoli Executive Director: Deng ss Executive Producer: Mo Mo Cinematographer: Cai Fengyu Gaffer: Wu Xiaogang Set Design: Liu Xin / Zhu Yuting 3D Animation: Liu Xin / Zhu Yuting Matchmoving / Roto / Compositing: Zhu Yuting Colorist: Philips Shum Singer: Victor Ma / AI Hechang Composer: Victor Ma / Kevin Shin / AI Xiaoice Lyricist: Victor Ma / AI Xiaoice Arranger: Kevin Shin
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Burberry’s new monogram designed by the famed Manchester art director and graphic designer Peter Saville is reinterpretated architecturally across different scales from large buidings and swimming pools to small suface materials. 219
SET DESIGN
Set Design Inspired by the Burberry’s New Monogram
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FRAMES
BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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FRAMES
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FRAMES
BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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FRAMES
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FRAMES
BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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FRAMES
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FRAMES
BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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FRAMES
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FRAMES
BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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FRAMES
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BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Greenscreen Shooting in Shanghai
Set Design 230
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Virtual Dancers
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231
BEHIND THE SCENES
Motion Tracking & Compositing
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VR Film Set Design
Long Day’s Journey into Night A 2000s Dreamy Outdoor Karaoke Courtyard Scene in Southern China Rural Area
Role Lead Designer In Collaboration with Amparito Martinez, Kidus Hailesilassie, Zihan Gao, Richard Cottrell Special Thanks Advisor: Alexey Marfin Youtube VR Link www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im90BziK1OY
Exhibition
2019 233
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THE VR SCENE
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Experience the Scene via Youtube VR (Scan the QR Code) 236
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THE VR SCENE
237
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CONCEPT DESIGN
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Concept Set Design A Rural Courtyard In South China In Around 1998 To 2003 238
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CONCEPT DESIGN
239
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CONCEPT DESIGN
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Concept Set Design It’s cold and foggy from the outside. There are warm lamps at the center. Colorful neon lights makes the scene psychedelic and dreamy. 240
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CONCEPT DESIGN
241
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CONCEPT DESIGN
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Concept Set Design An outdoor Karaoke with Eurodance music. It features the song Paisley Galaxy by Kelly Chen. 242
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CONCEPT DESIGN
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EXHIBITION
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
VR Room Exhibtion 244
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EXHIBITION
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3D Design
The Imagination World of Doraemon Scalefulness
Role Designer Special Thanks Advisors: Rachael McCall, Jeff Halstead
Close Up View
2018 247
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STILL IMAGES
THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON
Main View 248
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STILL IMAGES
249
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STILL IMAGES
THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON
Time Machine 250
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251
STILL IMAGES
Scalefulness Of Characters
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STILL IMAGES
THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON
Doraemon’s Facial Expressions 252
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253
STILL IMAGES
Nobis’ Residence
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BEHIND THE SCENES
THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON
Lighting Setup to Simulate Studio Environment 254
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MAKING OF
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Video Art
Liverpool Waterfront Moments Dynamic Collage of Urban Spaces
Recognition 2019 - Exhibitor, Lianzhou Foto Festival Video Link vimeo.com/204711420 2017 257
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THE VIDEO
LIVERPOOL WATERFRONT MOMENTS
Single Channel Video (3min) 258
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STATEMENT
Through the form of video collage, the waterfront in Liverpool, England are deconstructed and reconstructed in 2D motion images. This process not only, to a certain extent, corresponds to the original geological spatial relationship but also involves juxtaposition and misreading. In addition to collage, time is also introduced, so that viewers have a perception of the content and intensity of the activities happened at different locations in the waterfront area, in real time.
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EXHIBITION
LIVERPOOL WATERFRONT MOMENTS
Solo Exhibition at Lianzhou Foto Festival 2019 Exhibition Opening Date 2019.11.29 - 2020.01.03 260
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EXHIBITION
261
Photography Series
Ordos: Cities and Deserts A Visual Essay on a China’s “Stillborn” City after a Decade
2018 263
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
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STATEMENT
PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES 264
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O
After a decade since the first report that
Featured in Underscore Vol.05 Money 265
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called it a modern ghost town, and since the beginning of the Ordos 100 project, I visited the city for a few days and noticed a hybrid and contradictory situation not as pointed out by previous reports as a typical dead city. There is a substantial population there, as well as a considerable number of daily tourists who were visiting public buildings such as the Ordos Museum by MAD. At the same time, numerous area in the city looked “perfect” but had a little number of people in the “image.” The city is more like an urban painting rather than urban planning. The facilities and infrastructures, even the amusement park rides looked brand-new, but they were randomly scattered because nobody was managing or operating them. The CBD area, where weeds have grown from the seams of plaza tiles, and skyscrapers only have facade completed, had an office of a Chinese bank which was operating. The reasons, economically, politically or culturally, behind these situations are complex. This photograph series is as a documentary of the phenomenal after a decade as an update. It consists of two parts: Cities, which focuses on the “urban painting” and city life; and Deserts, which focuses on the topic “architecture without context” through examining of Ordos 100 project.
STATEMENT
rdos Kangbashi is a new city which was planned and built based on international standards on the barren deserts of China’s Inner Mongolia. It has world-class architecture, international scale stadiums, and brand new housing. However, this new city soon gained negative reputations as a representative of such as ghost town, or stillborn city. The earliest reports about Ordos Kangbashi may be two stories by an Al Jazeera reporter and a Time Magazine photographer respectively in 2009. After then, this new city soon became a shining example of phenomenons in China such as housing bubbles, bankrupt developers, and local government staff artificially boosting GDP in order to get promoted. Most of the coverage is regarding its lack of people living in the new city; the planning of the city center which is not for human scale; as well as deceptive tricks while operating the city such as commercial office buildings whose facade which have lighting effects are completed resulting vibrant impressions on evening from a distance while its interior is merely brutal structure. At that time, the Ordos 100 project lead by Ai Weiwei and one hundred international architects was also at the center of public opinion. It was supposed to build one hundred different houses, but finally, only five building structures are at the deserts as a result of the negative economic situation of the developer, which was a local water treatment company.
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS Part I
Cities
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CITIES
Urban painting rather than urban planning.
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CITIES
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CITIES
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
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CITIES
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CITIES
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
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CITIES
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CITIES
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
272
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CITIES
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CITIES
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
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CITIES
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ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS Part II
Deserts
Architecture without context.
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DESERTS
277
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
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DESERTS
ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS
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DESERTS
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Copyright Š 2020 by Xin Liu All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Xin Liu
Designer, Director
liuxinstudio@gmail.com liu-xin.com