Xin Liu Portfolio

Page 1

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”

1



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


- 01 -

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


XIN LIU

- 01 -

9

STATEMENT

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.


- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Supermarket World 001 10


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

11


- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Supermarket World 001 12


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

13


- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Supermarket World 002 14


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

15


- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Supermarket World 002 16


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

17


- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Supermarket World 003 18


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENE DESIGN

19


THREE SUPERMARKETS

- 03 -

BEHIND THE SCENE

BEHIND THE SCENE

Customized Volumetric Video Capturing Setup at Robot House 20


XIN LIU

- 03 -

21

BEHIND THE SCENE

Greenscreen Shooting Studio at Robot House


- 03 -

BEHIND THE SCENE

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Assests Created based on Multiple Media and Techniques Digital Polygon Model / Volumetric Video / Photogrammetry / Greenscreen Footage 22


XIN LIU

- 03 -

BEHIND THE SCENE

23


- 04 -

EXHIBITION

THREE SUPERMARKETS

Exhibition 24


XIN LIU

- 04 -

25

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.

- 01 -

STATEMENT

Phygital Shopping Cart is the second episode of the Phygital Supermarket Trilogy.

28


XIN LIU

- 02 -

29

THE SHOPPING CART

The Shopping Cart


- 02 -

SCENARIOS

PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART

Farm - Boolean In a farm covered with LEGO blocks, apples are bitten off by blueberries. 30


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENARIOS

31


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENARIOS

33


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENARIOS

35


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENARIOS

37


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENARIOS

39


- 02 -

SCENARIOS

PHYGITAL SHOPPING CART

Disorder - Mograph Cloner The shelves in the miniature supermarket are disrupted by a mini shopping cart! 40


XIN LIU

- 02 -

SCENARIOS

41


42


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


- 01 -

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


XIN LIU

45

- 01 -

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.


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

World 01

Snack Bar 46


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

47


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

48


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

49


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

50


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

51


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

World 02

Farm 52


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

53


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

54


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

55


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

56


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

57


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

World 03

Warehouse 58


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

59


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

60


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

61


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

62


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

63


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

World 04

Food Store 64


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

65


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

66


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

67


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

68


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

69


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

World 05

Cafe 70


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

71


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

72


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

73


- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

PHYGITAL SUPERMARKET WORLDS

74


XIN LIU

- 02 -

FIVE WORLDS

75



XIN LIU

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

- 01 -

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.

78


XIN LIU

Royal Library by Claude Nicholas Ledoux

- 02 -

Forms of Knowledge 79

DESIGN CONCEPT

Form is Content Sourced from Daily Objects


- 02 -

DESIGN CONCEPT

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Catalogue of Objects 80


XIN LIU

- 02 -

1. Random Orientaions

2. With Rigid Body Simulation

3. Scalefulness

Various Bashing Methods 81

DESIGN CONCEPT

Volume Bashing as a Formal Device


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

Places

Circulation 83

DESIGN CONCEPT

Circulation Elements


- 02 -

DESIGN CONCEPT

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Solid Structure Reality

Reality–Virtuality Continuum 84

Objects Bashing Ambiguous

Holographic Virtual


XIN LIU

Solid Structure

Objects Bashing

Holographic

Tangible Interface Physical Reality

Ambiguous Interface Spatial Configurations

Virtual Interface Presentation of Information

- 02 -

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


- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Reading Rooms 86


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

87


- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Data Center 88


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

89




- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Gallery 92


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

93


- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Forum 94


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

95


- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

XR Platform 96


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

97


- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Engineering Control Room 98


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

99


- 03 -

SCENARIOS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Cinema and Auditorium 100


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SCENARIOS

101


- 04 -

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Axonometric Cutaway 102


XIN LIU

- 04 -

READING DATA CENTER

PLAN GALLERY 103

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS

PLAN


ELEVATION 01

- 04 -

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

ELEVATION 02 104


XIN LIU

- 04 -

SECTION 02 105

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS

SECTION 01


- 05 -

THE PHYSICAL MODEL

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

Augmented Physical Model - The Original Status The model is mainly 3D printed with PLA material. 106


XIN LIU

- 05 -

THE PHYSICAL MODEL

107


- 05 -

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


XIN LIU

- 05 -

THE PHYSICAL MODEL

109


- 05 -

THE PHYSICAL MODEL

AUGMENTED LIBRARY AGGREGATION

110


XIN LIU

- 05 -

THE PHYSICAL MODEL

111



XIN LIU

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


- 02 -

WORKFLOW

3GBX VISUAL STUDIES // PAINTROOM

Digital Model of the Object



- 01 -

THE PAINTED ROOM

PAINTED ROOM

116


XIN LIU

- 01 -

THE PAINTED ROOM

117


- 02 -

THE PROCESS

PAINTED ROOM

Photographic Sample of Brush Strokes 118


XIN LIU

- 02 -

THE PROCESS

119


- 02 -

THE PROCESS

PAINTED ROOM

120


XIN LIU

- 02 -

THE PROCESS

121



XIN LIU

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


- 01 -

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

124


XIN LIU

- 02 -

There are 12 curated architecture formal assets from Florence, Italy. 125

FORMAL ASSETS

Curated Assets



XIN LIU

- 03 -

Seven Ways to Bring 2D Drawings to 3D Objects.

Video Link vimeo.com/400055363 127

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

Seven Formal Possibilities


- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

ALL AT ONCENESS

3D Object to 2D Drawing 128


XIN LIU

- 03 -

129

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing on a 4x3 Grid


ALL AT ONCENESS

01

TWEENING HI-RES EXTRUSIONS

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 130


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

131


ALL AT ONCENESS

02

TWEENING PIXELATED EXTRUSIONS

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 132


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

133


ALL AT ONCENESS

03

TWEENING SOFT EXTRUSIONS

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 134


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

135


ALL AT ONCENESS

04

EXTRUDING VISIBLE SURFACES

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 136


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

137


ALL AT ONCENESS

05

MATCH VIEW

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 138


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

139


ALL AT ONCENESS

06

OFFSET VIEW

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 140


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

141


ALL AT ONCENESS

07

SHADOW AS MATERIAL

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

2D Compositional Drawing

3D Object 142


XIN LIU

- 03 -

SEVEN FORMAL POSSIBILITIES

143


SEVEN FORMAL POSIBILITIES


ALL AT ONCENESS



XIN LIU

- 04 -

Models Between Physical and Digital.

Video Link vimeo.com/410502283 147

PHYGITAL MODELS

Phygital Models


- 04 -

PHYGITAL MODELS

ALL AT ONCENESS

Plastic Model Digital Rendering 148


XIN LIU

- 04 -

Digital Rendering 149

PHYGITAL MODELS

3D Print Model


- 04 -

PHYGITAL MODELS

ALL AT ONCENESS

Tweening Model Digital Rendering 150


XIN LIU

- 04 -

Digital Rendering 151

PHYGITAL MODELS

Flat Model


- 04 -

PHYGITAL MODELS

ALL AT ONCENESS

152


XIN LIU

- 04 -

All At Onceness 153

PHYGITAL MODELS

Four Models



XIN LIU

- 05 -

Architecture, Sliced.

Video Link vimeo.com/410504248 155

ENDLESS SECTION

Endless Section





XIN LIU

- 06 -

From Objects to Architecture. From One World to Another.

Video Link vimeo.com/410502967 159

WORLDS IN WORLDS

Worlds In Worlds


- 06 -

WORLDS IN WORLDS

ALL AT ONCENESS

160


XIN LIU

- 06 -

WORLDS IN WORLDS

161


- 06 -

WORLDS IN WORLDS

ALL AT ONCENESS

162


XIN LIU

- 06 -

WORLDS IN WORLDS

163




1

2

3

1. Coexist 2. Engagement DTLA 3. Curiosities


XIN LIU

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.

167



XIN LIU

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?

- 01 -

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-

170

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.


XIN LIU

- 02 -

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


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

DESIGN CONCEPT

173


COEXIST

VIOLIN

- 02 -

DESIGN CONCEPT

VINYL

Hole Stages For Various Instruments Instruments Become The Performers Performing In Various Hole Stages. 174

FRENCH HORN DAFT PUNK


XIN LIU

TRUMPET GUITAR

CELLO

PHONOGRAPH BASS

PIANO

SPEAKERS

- 02 -

DESIGN CONCEPT

175


- 03 -

3D ANIMATION

COEXIST

176


XIN LIU

- 03 -

3D ANIMATION

177


- 03 -

3D ANIMATION

COEXIST

178


XIN LIU

- 03 -

3D ANIMATION

179


- 03 -

3D ANIMATION

COEXIST

180


XIN LIU

Multi-pass for Background and Foreground 1. Building Render Image - background 2. Object ID - masks 3. Object Outline - light effects

- 04 -

1. Hole Rendering Image 2. Hole Mask 181

BEHIND THE SCENES

Individual Passes of Each Hole Stage


- 04 -

BEHIND THE SCENES

COEXIST

Compositing Layers 182


XIN LIU

- 04 -

BEHIND THE SCENES

183



XIN LIU

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

- 01 -

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

186

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.


XIN LIU

- 02 -

187

DESIGN

High-Density Modular Housing


- 02 -

DESIGN

ENGAGEMENT DTLA

188


XIN LIU

- 02 -

DESIGN

189


- 02 -

DESIGN

ENGAGEMENT DTLA

Geometry of the Single Unit 190


XIN LIU

- 02 -

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

- 02 -

DESIGN

ENGAGEMENT DTLA

TEXTURE_01_Reflection

Manipulations of Contextual Facades 192

TEXTURE_01_Bump

TEXTURE_02_Reflection


XIN LIU

CADE

TEXTURE 02_THE BROAD_EAST FACADE

- 02 -

TEXTURE_02_Bump

TEXTURE_03_Reflection

TEXTURE_03_Bump

193

DESIGN

TEXTURE_03_Diffuse Color


- 02 -

DESIGN

ENGAGEMENT DTLA

Texture Manipulations Applied to Unit 194


XIN LIU

- 02 -

195

DESIGN

Orthographic Views of Texture Manipulation on Unit


ENGAGEMENT DTLA

Continuity Across Units in Different Directions 196


XIN LIU

197





XIN LIU

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.

- 01 -

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.


XIN LIU

- 02 -

203

DESIGN

Building with Landscape


CURIOSITIES

Facade Composition 204


XIN LIU

205


- 02 -

DESIGN

CURIOSITIES

Physical Model Details 206


XIN LIU

- 02 -

207

DESIGN

A Typical Floor Plan


- 03 -

THE PROCESS

CURIOSITIES

01. Photograpmatry of Facades in DTLA 208


XIN LIU

- 03 -

209

THE PROCESS

02. Digital Model


- 03 -

THE PROCESS

CURIOSITIES

03. 3D Print 210


XIN LIU

- 03 -

211

THE PROCESS

04. Spray Painting Palette


- 03 -

THE PROCESS

CURIOSITIES

05. Spray Painting with Masks 212


XIN LIU

- 03 -

213

THE PROCESS

06. Assembly


- 04 -

PRESENTATION

CURIOSITIES

Print Details 214




XIN LIU

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

- 01 -

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

218


XIN LIU

- 02 -

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


- 03 -

FRAMES

BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD

220


XIN LIU

- 03 -

FRAMES

221


- 03 -

FRAMES

BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD

222


XIN LIU

- 03 -

FRAMES

223


- 03 -

FRAMES

BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD

224


XIN LIU

- 03 -

FRAMES

225


- 03 -

FRAMES

BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD

226


XIN LIU

- 03 -

FRAMES

227


- 03 -

FRAMES

BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD

228


XIN LIU

- 03 -

FRAMES

229


BURBERRY MONOGRAM WORLD

- 04 -

BEHIND THE SCENES

Greenscreen Shooting in Shanghai

Set Design 230


XIN LIU

Virtual Dancers

- 04 -

231

BEHIND THE SCENES

Motion Tracking & Compositing



XIN LIU

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




- 01 -

THE VR SCENE

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

Experience the Scene via Youtube VR (Scan the QR Code) 236


XIN LIU

- 01 -

THE VR SCENE

237


- 02 -

CONCEPT DESIGN

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

Concept Set Design A Rural Courtyard In South China In Around 1998 To 2003 238


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CONCEPT DESIGN

239


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CONCEPT DESIGN

241


- 02 -

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


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CONCEPT DESIGN

243


- 03 -

EXHIBITION

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

VR Room Exhibtion 244


XIN LIU

- 03 -

EXHIBITION

245



XIN LIU

3D Design

The Imagination World of Doraemon Scalefulness

Role Designer Special Thanks Advisors: Rachael McCall, Jeff Halstead

Close Up View

2018 247


- 01 -

STILL IMAGES

THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON

Main View 248


XIN LIU

- 01 -

STILL IMAGES

249


- 01 -

STILL IMAGES

THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON

Time Machine 250


XIN LIU

- 01 -

251

STILL IMAGES

Scalefulness Of Characters


- 01 -

STILL IMAGES

THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON

Doraemon’s Facial Expressions 252


XIN LIU

- 01 -

253

STILL IMAGES

Nobis’ Residence


- 02 -

BEHIND THE SCENES

THE IMAGINATION WORLD OF DORAEMON

Lighting Setup to Simulate Studio Environment 254


XIN LIU

- 02 -

MAKING OF

255



XIN LIU

Video Art

Liverpool Waterfront Moments Dynamic Collage of Urban Spaces

Recognition 2019 - Exhibitor, Lianzhou Foto Festival Video Link vimeo.com/204711420 2017 257


- 01 -

THE VIDEO

LIVERPOOL WATERFRONT MOMENTS

Single Channel Video (3min) 258


XIN LIU

- 02 -

259

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.


- 03 -

EXHIBITION

LIVERPOOL WATERFRONT MOMENTS

Solo Exhibition at Lianzhou Foto Festival 2019 Exhibition Opening Date 2019.11.29 - 2020.01.03 260


XIN LIU

- 03 -

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

- 01 -

STATEMENT

PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES 264


XIN LIU

O

After a decade since the first report that

Featured in Underscore Vol.05 Money 265

- 01 -

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

- 02 -

CITIES

Urban painting rather than urban planning.

266


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CITIES

267


- 02 -

CITIES

ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS

268


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CITIES

269


- 02 -

CITIES

ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS

270


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CITIES

271


- 02 -

CITIES

ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS

272


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CITIES

273


- 02 -

CITIES

ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS

274


XIN LIU

- 02 -

CITIES

275


ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS Part II

Deserts

Architecture without context.

276


XIN LIU

- 03 -

DESERTS

277


ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS

278


XIN LIU

279


- 03 -

DESERTS

ORDOS: CITIES AND DESERTS

280


XIN LIU

- 03 -

DESERTS

281






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


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.