2006 to 2012
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Contents
Flipping Space
26 Trash Monuments around Bay Area
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People’s Park
A Case Study of Multiple Publics and Their Space
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Cloud
CED Commencement Canopy Design and Installation
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Engrafting
Renovation of Historical District
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Re Cycle
Restoration of Factory--Information Center Design
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Photography
Mirror of the World
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Resume
Wenfei Chen
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FLIPPING SPACE
26 Trash Monuments around Bay Area Studio One Thesis, collaborated with Yuchen Lai, 2011-2012 Instructor: Nicholas de Monchaux
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sites
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system to
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as Tr
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S Trash
The museum has two system, One is the flipping trash system, the oher one is the flipping exhibition space. Tw tric circles with different radius. The trash ciecle is connect to the trash sorting system, which would deliver t sorting. The exhibition system is connected to underground museum, which would transfer people to the flipp
When people go into the flipping space, they will see the trash in different position around one hour rotating pe to above their head. 11
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wo systems are two concenthe trash to the circle after ping exhibition space.
eriod, from under their feet
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Different space situation along one hour period rotating The flipping exbition space has one-hour rotating period. In orfer to let the space fit people’s activity and protect people from hurting, the radius of the space is 2.5 meter and propose the division of the space.
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system to
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sites
Perspective
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Perspective
Perspective
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Site 1 Section Plan
Ground Floor
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1-1 Section
1st Floor 1
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PEOPLE
A Case Study of Multiple
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Research Report of ARCH 21 Collaborated with Jiong (A Wilasinee Suk Instructor: Mar
E’S PARK
e Publics and Their Spaces
19 Publics and their Spaces, Abingo) Wu, Amna alrueili, ksawang, 2011 rgaret Crawford
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People’s Park People’s Park in Berkeley, California, USA, is a park in the south of UC Berkeley Campus, off Telegraph Avenue, bounded by Haste and Bowditch street and Dwight Way. The park was created during the radical political movement in 1969. The Park is around 145 meter by 80 meter, covering the area around: 11,600 squre meters. Some Properties of People’s Park Land ownership: UC Berkeley Control: UC Berkeley/ 1989-1999 partially by City of Berkeley Management: UC Berkeley Accessibility: closed at night from 10:00pm to 6:00 am Actors now: Students, So-call “homeless people”, residents around, charity groups, non-profits group, UC Berkeley Policeman etc. 21
QUESTIONING UNIVERSAL DEFINITION OF PUBLIC SPACE “A public space is a social space that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level.” --Definition of public space from the Wikipedia Apparently, this definition of the public space has two underlying concepts: a universal concept of “Public”, which constitute of all the people in the world; an abstract concept of the “Space”, which accommodates the “public”. However, as what we have gone through in the class, both concepts have the limits when projecting them into the physical environment.
“A PUBLIC” & “MULTIPLE PUBLICS” As Nancy Fraser points out in her article “Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing”, the notion of the public has the limit. The contemporary definition of the “public” is based on the concept of citizenship of the state, and associated with the bourgeois conception of the public sphere. But it has been never successfully represent “all” in realistic. It suggests, in contemporary society, there’s an ideal concept of “A public of all” in one hand; there’s a realistic picture of certain “publics” which constituted by specific bodies of people in the other hand.
“FROM “PUBLIC SPACE” TO “THE PUBLICS” & “THEIR SPACES” Followed by Fraser’s arguments, Margaret Crawford pointed out in her article “Blurring the boundaries: public space and private life”, that “no single physical environment can represent a completely inclusive space of democracy.” It suggests that if we want to discuss “Public space” in the physical environment, we need to shift the focus from the ideal “A public” and its absolute “Public Space” to the realistic “The Publics” and “Their Spaces”.
FROM “LAND OWNERSHIP” TO “SPATIAL PRACTICES” In addition, Henri Lefebvre argued in his book “The production of the space” that the meaning of the social space shapes and being shaped by the social process and spatial practices. This suggests that the meanings and the characteristics of the so-called “public space” are framed by spatial practices there, but not determined by land ownership--the public owned land property. In sum, if we want to discuss, understand, and even define a so-called “public space”, what we need to examine are the spatial practices there, which embody the specific notion of “public(s)” and “space(s)”. 22
NOW
The multiple weak publics & Public space as marginalized land In our observations, we found out the center actor of the park today are the so-call “homeless people”. As shown in our research, the presence of the charities group, Churches around, Food Not Boom NGO and UC Police to large extent is because the “homeless people”. We adapted Nancy Frasier’s definition on “weak publics” (Fraser, 1990) to describe this “homeless ”group. Because to large extent, as Fraser pointed out that they are hard to make collective decision, and as Don Michell pointed, they are lacking of the rights to the city(Mitchell, 1995) But meanwhile, we do not agree to generalize them as merely a group “weak public”. As indicated in our interviews, they are very varieties. To leave without home is due to different factors. We try to reveal this aspect by correcting the term to describe them as “the multiple weak publics”.
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Thought the park located in the central area of Berkeley, yet it becomes a marginalized land that create the perception of exclusion. “Exclusion” is reciprocal. When the other group of park users reduce the use of the park and said the homeless people occupied the park, they exclude themselves from the Park but not being excluded by the “homeless group”. In another word, a space as such being marginalized is not because its location, but people’s perception.
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CLOUD
CED Commencement Canopy Design
Group Project of ARCH 269: MIN/MAX, Special Topics of Construction and M Instructor: Lisa Iwamoto
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and Installation
Materials, 2012
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It is a group project of the ARCH 269 which aim to design and install the commencement canopy for CED. The canopy is supporsed to be used for about 15 years which require that the design would be in fashion for a long time. After trial of different materials and modules, we finally choose MYLAR and TRIANGLE as the materials and module. Use the module to construct a cloud above the CED couryard. The semitransparent mylar would also creat increadible shadow appearence. The blue wahers would add blue to the cloud.
Except for the top layer, the other layers are use the grommet to assembly the modules and washer together.
The top layer would be attached to the wire rope to hang above courtyard.
CANOPY
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Unroll all the layers’ module and washer.
layer A
layer B
layer C
layer D 33
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ENGRAFTING
Renovation of Historical District
Group Project of Urban Design Studio, Collaborated with Yujiao Shi, Xueru Guo, Yao Yao, 2009 Instructor: Hongyi Lv
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The s
Thoug the or house
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size of the new house
gh the research and collection of riginal house data, I design the new e.
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Restoration of Factory--Information Center Design Personal Project of Undergraduate Thesis, 2011 Instructor: Xing Liu
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PHOTOGRAPHY Mirror of My World
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Along my way, I see the architecture and space. The roof, the windows, the stairs, the skin, the structure, every part of architecture. The triangle, the aquare, the circle, the nonlinear, every component of space.
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Lloyd’s Building, Designed by Richard Rogers Photographed in London, 2012/01
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Staying or moving, how people react to the people, react to the space, react to the world. People in front of Sleeping lily Photographed in Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012/04
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Occupy Cal Photographed in Berkeley, 2011/11 In front of BIG APPLE Photographed in Manhattan, 2012/04
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Education:
Master of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, U.S, 2011-2012 Bachelor of Architecture, Zhengzhou University, School of Architecture, P.R China, 2006-2011
Honor & Awards
1st Prize, Zhengzhou University Energy-saving and Emission-reduction Social Practice Competition, 2009/04 Excellence Award, “Revit� National University Outstanding Architecture Design Work Competion, 2008/09 National Inspiration Scholarship, 2007/09 Zhengzhou University Scholarship, 2006-2010 (4 times)
Working Experience
Teaching Assistant in University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, US, 2012/06-Recently Intern Architect in Shanghai Xiandai Architectural Design, Shanghai, P.R China, 2011/02-2011/03 Intern Architect in Pei-Zhu Studio, Beijing, P.R China, 2010/072010/08 Intern Architect in Shenzhen General Institution of Architecture Design& Research, Shenzhen, P.R China, 2009/07-2009/09
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Wenfei Chen Date of Birth: April 18th, 1988 Birth Place: Yangjiang, Guangdong, P.R China Address: 1519, Hearst Ave, Apt 6, Berkeley, CA, 94703-1244, U.S Tel: +1 510.541.2398 E-mail: 13archen@gmail.com
Research Experience:
Case Study of People’s Park, Berkeley, CA, U.S, 2011/10-2011/12 Survey and Drawing of Vernacular Dwelling in Xiaodianhe Historical District, P.R China, 2008/08
Professional Skills:
Good hand-drawing skills to do the design and communicate design concept with others; Good physical model-making skills, able to prepare Laser Cut file; Software: 3D Modeling: Auto CAD, Rhinoceros, Sketch Up, Maya basic Programming: Grasshopper, Processing basic, Arduino basic Analysis: ArcGIS, Design Builder Graphic: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign Video: Adobe Premiere, After Effects Rendering: V-ray
Language
Fluent in English, Native in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese
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