WING IT! II EXERCISE - FLYING BUTTRESS

As in the previous task, the staircase, supported by cables, was designed to get people on the city wall. However, in this case, the space under the stairways was liberated from the columns to minimize the footprint of the structure on the land plot and preserve the potential of the territory as a public space. The idea of crossing two axes to give visitors a sense of choice of the climbing way and the inner courtyards’ element came from a previous project. A large pillar is fixed to the ground to hold the structure with cables. This big pillar is designed and structurally wise the stable core that gives the rest of the structure the possibility to fly. It is almost a flying buttress that is being held instead of holding. The connection to the wall remains subtle.

BELLAOZOID III EXERCISE - BELVEDERE

The structure is aimed to take visitors above and beyond the city wall. To solve the question of going up of people on the level of the wall the double helix staircase was added to the project. The idea of the staircases, inspired by Bramante and Palladio, is to just get from point A to B but to try and make this experience as interesting as it can be possible. It is held by the three eclipse cages, shaping three courtyards, which refers to the morphology of the traditional Chinese houses. The belvedere itself sits above the wall, offering the viewers a 360 panorama of Nanjing. The elliptical roundness of the stairs is articulated at the belvedere too, making the structure seem like a peaceful organism that just exists in the given surroundings.