Zhengyu Wu Portfolio Applied to UCL riba part 2

P O R T F O L I O Zhengyu. WU Selected Works 2018-2022 Personal Email: wuzhengyu2012@163.com (Old account: t-xp2012@hotmail.com) Tel: +86 13382005181 Ins: @tomasgriffin2012 (videos & extra info) Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpoorl University Design School 2022 A tour of my cultural identity, my past and my future.

Thank you for reading my Portfolio. In my favourite book, In praise of shadow, the author Junichiro Tanizaki described the beauty of toilet, the glowing buddha statue in the temple and darkness cast by the eaves. In my point of view, these description summarize perfectly the aesthetic value of the east asian culture.

I have never forgot my cultural Identity and critical thinking during all my works and I believe this portfolio should stress upon this important spirit. Grown up in "modern" environment, the education and society has significantly shaped my way of thinking, which is a mixture of both west and the east. After built up my philosophical foundation during my bachelor degree, I fully acknowledged the "abnormal" situation in modern Chinese people's mind. The contradiction caused by unforgettable traditional thought and western ideas brought by media and books. Many chinese people, including myself, are wondering, deciding and struggling whether they should accept the tradition ideas, or the modern but western ones. As Tanizaki said, chinese and japanese people can have their own ways to achieve modernity.

In my portfolio, I include 3 renovation projects(or conservation projects to some extent) out of 4, in order to discuss this contradiction between historical heritage and modern demand. By using these projects, I would like to show the necessity to embrace the history and explore other ways of thinking except from the western ones. Creating "comfortable space" with consideration of the sites' cultural and historical characteristics, have always be my core idea of design. I wish every user in my design can truly enjoy the simple but strong feeling of the space, while rediscover the history, just like I did when doing the research.

PROJECT 03 _ Cyber Socialism Utopia What fiction can Monotown tell . Preface

Contents 01. Pry into Tokyo | Using GAN to learn the Tokyoness and Cultural Spirit of Tokyo 01 02. Mine of Time | Ireland Meditation Mine 10 03. Cyber Socialism Utopia | A Utopian Dream 16 04. Grow From The Past | Renovation Project of a Suzhou Garden 23 05. Other Works | Material study/Intership/Workshops 28 PROJECT 01 _ Pry into Tokyo PROJECT 02 _ Mine of Time PROJECT 04 _ Grow from the Past Page 10-15 Page 1-9 Page 16-22 Page 23-28 What is Tokyoness ? Without Mine, what will Allihies become ? How historical site fit into modern community .

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1 2 3

1. Interior view a - Entrance

The stairwell works as a side mini garden inside of home. Hiding within the enclosure of the walls, the garden is the spirit centre of Japanese. It also cope with the idea of using transportation area as the centre of the house.

2. Interior view b - Bedroom

The bedroom is illuminated by the skylight from the stairwell. I created this space for the owners to enjoy peaceful and warm atmosphere. This scene is captured from the physical model.