TIANFANG FANG Architecture Portfolio 2017- 2020
t.fang@wustl.edu 19962007077
01 University City Montessori School Prologue
Architectural design of a Montessori School in University city, St. Louis.
02 The Bubble
Architectural design to me is like a way to explore and widen the connection between people and nature. Compare with seeing architecture as a mirror which reflects social value I prefer to treat it more like a piece of art which not only insipire people but also enhance the relationship between people and the environment they are in. In this modern age architecture has envolved far beyond a building and how to enrich the meaning it could bring to the world and to people who have opportunity to access has always been the critical aspect I want to express and pursue. In this portfolio I would like to show my work and process I made from year 2017 to 2020.
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Architectural design of a series of conceputal and consecutive multi-functional structures based on an existing and reviving city infrastructure in St. Louis.
03 Barcelona Cultural Center
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Architectural design of a cultural center in Barcelona, Spain.
04 Yesler Twin Building
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Architectural design of a multi-family housing project in Yesler Terrace, Seattle.
05 Matrix Boutique Hotel
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Architectural design of a boutique hotel in urban context in downtown Champaign.
06 Nepal Community Centre Architectural design of a community centre in a countryside in Nepal.
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University City Montessori School Site location:
University city, St Louis, MO
Project year:
2019
Design Period:
Full-semester
Design of this Montessori School in University City, St Louis includes five individual classrooms which has assigned outdoor and indoor space accordingly for kid's activities designated to the teaching program. Students of this school are ranged from 3-year-old to 14-year-old. The school also provides a 2500-sqft indoor green house for planting activities in the winter time.
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Stairs up to the second floor of the classroom
Front door area at the entrance of each classroom
Gathering space for the whole school
Large green house for winter use for the whole school
Entrance School staff office
Classrooms are arranged in a diagonal movement and it enables the sunshine to come into the mat area covered with wood panels locating on the west side. Each classroom has a square shape of front door area that interacts with the piazza in the center space surrounded by the five rooms.
Site Plan, Scale: 1/16”=1’,
Waiting area for parents
Ground Floor Plan, Scal
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Corten steel panel
Insulation for the roof Upper window allow more light to enter
Black steel window frame to match the structure Terrazzo tile for piazza floor Insulation for the foundation
Short Section, Scale
Steel structure corporates with wood panels installed on the higher part of the room give kids a feeling of staying in a delicate box. Steel beams and joints are exposed intentionaly inside the classroom for kids to watch. Gypsum boards on lower part of the wall allow kids to draw anything they want on them, and they can be uninstalled and renewed easily.
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Short Section, Scale: 1/8”=1’
Long Section, Scale
The Bubble Site location:
Old North St. Louis , St Louis, MO
Project year:
2020
Design Period:
Full-semester
Design of this conceptual proposal was based on a whole semester's research on the specific needs of City of St. Louis. The site is set at the Old North, a declining neighborhood on east-north of the city that experienced huge population loss and limited access to fresh food for the past decades. The series of buildings includes three mixed-used structures that provide local population fresh tomatoes and also places for having rest and joy.
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The Leisure Buidling -Functions: restaurant + Cafe -Target population: residents of the city, travelers, greenway bikers and visitors
The Trade Buidling -Functions: greenhouse + farmers' market -Target population: residents of the city, travelers, related workers
The Production Buidling -Functions: greenhouse + gym -Target population: residents of Old North Neighborhood, travelers
The bubble's surface consists of two hard and rigid facades at the two ends and a wrap of ETFE membrane connects the two facades meanwhile covering the whole inner space. Diamond pattern was created by cables that held the membrane together. In order to keep the shape of the structure, air expressors are equipped to keep positive pressure in the inner space at a certain level.
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On the existing Trestle, visitors are able to walk through the Bubble via the elevated tunnel covering by storefront systems. They can have a nice view over the tomato growing field from above during the walk.
The second structure is a farmers' market along with a greenhouse for production. Space underneath the Trestle was designed for trading, and a long narrow greenhouse was built on it with pedestrian walkways on the two sides. 13
The long narrow space encourages visitors to walk through while having their activities. On the Trestle they walk by the framed greenhouse and below the Trestle they walk through the trading stalls.
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Barcelona Cultural Center Site location:
Barcelona, Spain
Project year:
2019
Design Period:
Summer school
This project is design of a cultural center in Barcelona. The site is located in a plazza with restaurants, residential apartments and grocery stores all nearby. The whole building made with pure and white concrete was formed by multiple corridors in various shapes stacking on each other, and the space created by the gap between them became poetic meanwhile fulfilling exhibition, study and office purposes.
Protruding corridors that reaching out of the 'glass box' become balconies for visitors to step on, and they provide views towards Barcelona's historical building clusters.
Semi-open space, open space and closed space coexist in this building, light enters the inner space through the outer glass box and shadows are put on the white surfaces.
The idea of having narrow and tall space as walkways comes from expression given by the dense surrounding streets. Spike looked plan is a representation of the sky sliced by the buildings when looking up while walking around the site.
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Up to the second floor, the space is used for exhibition as well as the ground floor. The third floor contains a classroom that can be used for cultural education mainly open for children.
The fourth floor has other two classrooms for discussion uses, and the staff office for the cultural center is located on the top floor.
People could be very close to each other while they will not meet or disturb others during their walk, work and visit inside the structure. This is a building that encourges visitors to meander and discover, they can encounter various types of space in rich relationships and compositions during the journey. 19
Concrete structure is supported by columns hidden inside several walls; denser and larger walls on lower levels help build the upper structure. Glass panels connected by cables are hanging from steel structural web that installed to the giant structural wall at the east. A huge transparent glass box that covers the stacking walls help create exhibition space on ground level and balconies on higher levels.
Stairs of the cultural center are arranged on the north western cornor with an irregular layout, the purpose is to move the visitors in a free way and express them a feeling of walking inside a maze. People walking inside the building may unintentionly meet others at several spots due to the rich spatial connections within. 21
Yesler Terrace Housing Project Site location:
Yesler Terrace, Seattle, WA
Project year:
2018
Design Period:
Half-semester
This housing project designed for multi-family located on a steep slope which adjcent to a busy highway with noise from morning to night. The project not only served as a residential place but also functioned as a passway for pedestrians to go through. In the proposal, several other housing projects are located at the same site and visitors can reach each of them by using the walkway that connects them all.
Due to the extremely noisy condition of the site, the starting point for design is to rise the height of the building and stay back away as far as possible from the highway, so the residents could get minium disruption. The form transformed from two rectangular volumes to two individual towers with the space in between been used as a community space.
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Tower form is chosen for this project. Units with multiple bedrooms which designed for families are located on the lowest level, and units with single bedroom which designed for individuals mostly the new employees of companies in the city are located on the upper floors. The twin towers are facing two directions -- one to the Elliot Bay and one to the SODO in order to distract from the noisy highway on the south.
B a l c o n y i s t h e ke y f a c t o r w h e n developing the plans. All the units in this project have at least one balcony included so the residents could have sufficient natural light coming into the room in frequent rainy days in Seattle.
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Matrix Boutique Hotel Site location:
Downtown Champaign, IL
Project year:
2017
Design Period:
Full-semester
Design of this boutique hotel in downtown Champaign, Illinois includes a bar and a indoor garden on the ground floor, a restaurant on the second floor and guests' bedrooms on the second and upper floors. The most intriguing spot of this hotel is the 'secret garden' located on the northeast corner, which provides visual connection to the guests walking along the hallway.
This boutique hotel proposed to locate at a corner space in a crossing road way in downtown Champaign. Facade design is the main focus of this project because south and west sides of the building will be watched by numerous people driving and walking in the hub area of Champaign city.
Indoor garden with temperature control
Access from the alley way
Waiting and relaxation area for guests and visitors Central vertical circulation
Hotel front desk for reception
Kitchen area for the bar and garden use
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Fire stair 1
Structural concrete column Central core for elevation
Fire stair 2 One-way slab structure
Ground level Underground level for mechanical uses
Air condition control unit Central core for electrical and water transition
Facades of the building were formed by matrixes finishing in green and dark gray, in order to express a feeling of nature and forest to correspond with the hidden garden inside.
Rectangular shape of the building ensures the stability, meanwhile perfectly matches the surrounding environment for a small city. 29
Community Centre in Nepal Site location:
Nepal
Project year:
2018
Design Period:
Half-semester
Design of this community centre in Nepal is proposed for an architectural competition in 2018. This group work design is named 'under the dome' which utilizes the canopy made of organic plaster to collect rainwater and thus achieve the goal of reusing natural resourses through filtration. Furthermore, such expanded roof structure provides villagers a chill place for resting on their way home under the hot climate in Nepal.
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Sustainable design of this community centre allows the structure to harvest rainwater by the smooth and curved surface supported by bamboo structure on the top, and water will be filtered and stored in a tank set at the lowest of the topography where water will naturally flow to.
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t.fang@wustl.edu 19962007077