XIANCHENG XU PORTFOLIO SELECTED WORKS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 2010/2016
Xiancheng Xu
X T +86 186-937-99337
M xianchengxu@outlook.com
Education 09.2016 - 11.2017 09.2010 - 06.2015
The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom Master of Arts Lanzhou University of Technology, China Bachelor of Engineering
Work experience 09.2015 - 03.2016 08.2014 - 09.2014 02.2014 07.2011 - 08.2011 03.2015 - 06.2015 05.2015 11.2013 - 01.2014 07.2013 - 10.2013
Internship at Architectural Survey and Designing Institute of LUT. Internship at Architectural Design and Research Institute of Gansu Province. Internship at China Construction International (Beijing) Architectural Design Co., Ltd. Internship at Minqin County the 3rd Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. Participated in the project of new campus planning of Hexi University, China. Participated in the project of indoor arboretum design, LUT. Participated in the renovation of architectural department, LUT. Participated in the Planning Project of Zhangjiasi Village, Ping'an Town, Lanzhou.
Honors 2017 2015 2013 2011 2010
Participated in Architecture Fringe exhibition “WAR ZONE CREATIVES� in Edinburg. Participated in SSoA Exhibition in London. Excellent Award of Graduation Project with the highest score in the department, honored by LUT. The 2nd prize in the 3rd Jincheng Architectural Expression Competition held by LUT. The third-class Scholarship. The 3rd prize in the 2nd Hongliu Design Art Competition awarded by LUT. The 3rd prize in the 2nd Jincheng Architectural Expression Competition held by LUT. The 1st Prize in Debate Contest awarded by School of Design Art, LUT.
Campus activities 2017 2015 2014 2011
Field trip in Syria refugee camps in Jordan. Participated in Live Project hold by SSoA, the University of Sheffield. Organized a series of lectures about architectural study, PG Entrance Examination as well as architecture related software studies in LUT. Participated in the ancient architecture mapping of Chenghuang Temple in Sanyuan County, Shaanxi Province, China. Organized and participated in the annual meeting of Chinese architectural history.
Skills Calligraphy, Poetry, Sketch, Seal cutting. Revite, AutoCad, SketchUp, Rhino, Grasshopper, Vary, Photoshop, Illusstator, InDesign.
Contents
Post-disaster temporary resettlement system
1
Moving caravans, Border topologies
7
Fountainhead, School of Architecture
15
Lost memories, Shougang museum
21
Manor Allotments, Sheffield
29
Border mapping, Iran & Pakistan
31
Connecting, Hexi University campus planning
33
Walls, Calligraphy Museum
35
Galaxy, River bank renovation
37
In the field, District planing
39
Dougong , Wooden structure
41
Architektonische mapping, Sanyuan county
42
Post-disaster temporary resettlement system
http://www.china.com.cn
Earthquake, one disaster faced by all mankind, can still not be prevented from happening with current techniques. This imposes post-disaster rescue and resettlement with great importance. Wenchuan was attacked by a terrible earthquake on May 12, 2008 in China, which had caused huge losses. In the affected areas, huge numbers of architecture were damaged, which made post-disaster temporary resettlement become a difficult problem. I designed a simple assembly system for post-disaster temporary resettlement. 1
Through the experiment of many types of structures, I decided to use the structure of splicing and inserting to design the adapting piece. Based on utilizing the principle of splicing and inserting, this structure is extremely easy and convenient to assemble for ordinary people. There are four kind of adapting pieces. Three of them are fixed which are a linear type, a t-shaped type and a cross type respectively, and the last one is movable. Thus architectural form can be controlled through the selection of adapting pieces. 2
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The structural plywood, 2400mm x 600mm x 30mm, is connected by the adapting piece. In addition to part of adapting piece, all the components are at a fixed size. As a consequence, it is convenient for mass-produce, controlling and recycling. Each cabin has 3m2 activity space and 3m2 storage space, which fully meets the daily needs of refugees. There are four basic functions in a cabin, including living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Users can assemble cabins according to different groups of people. When different functional cabins are assembled, there will be a community, even a small-scale city.
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the morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all and even if I could, it'd all be grey but your pictures on my wall it reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad Dido, Thank you 6
Moving caravans, Border topologies
In this project I focused on the daily life of children in Zaatari refugee camp, north of Jordan. In 2012, this camp received refugees during the Syrian war. Most refugees here are from Daraa in Syria. Zaatari refugee camp, an informal settlement with semi-permanent architecture, is gradually evolving into a permanent settlement. Currently Zaatari hosts 80,000 refugees approximately, and over 58% of refugees are children aged 0–17 years. 7
20000 Refugees Camp
1250 Refugees Sector
500 Refugees Block
80 Refugees Community
6 Refugees Family
Zaatari refugee camp started to develop infrastructures after receiving refugees. Most infrastructural development depends on the resources and funds from NGOs and Jordan government. Resources, space and power are very significant aspects for the growth of camp. Besides, in the early development, the camp planning followed a uniform standard. Refugees are separated in different areas of the camp to make up different groups. 8
The resources for children in Zaatari refugee camps is scarce and thus I put forward a strategy for their education and entertainment. This strategy is organized by NGOs to carry out a number of activities related to culture, religion, science and so on. As a supplement to the education in school, the strategy provides a series of interesting activities for children in spare time. As a trigger device, the moving caravans provides a mobile place for these activities. NGOs control the resources, space, and power in the camp. Therefore, for the strategy of Moving caravans, NGOs are fully responsible from organization to operation. Moving caravans play a role of coordinator between NGOs and children in refugee camp. Also, Moving caravans provide a place for these activities. Taking into account the chaos of the construction of Zaatari refugee camp, moving caravans are designed to be mobile and flexible to meet the needs of each districts. The system of Moving caravans closely linked with the NGO's service network in each district rather than independent of the operation, such as connecting with the youth friendly space, refugee servise station and business street which offer assistance to the operation of the entire strategy. Meanwhile, some refugee volunteers can get involved, such as traditional craftsmen who can teach traditional skills for children. NGOs give them proper salary.
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The length, Width and height of a standard caravan are 6 m, 4 m and 3 m approximately. The operation of Moving caravans requires 5 to 6 staff members. Moving caravans are composed of five types of transformed caravans which used for reading, media, making, praying and retail respectively. Because of the scarcity of resources in Zaatari refugee camp, all building materials come from the recycling station. With the increase in refugees and the improvement of infrastructure, the spatial layout of the camp has become increasingly irregular. In consequence, Moving caravans can be used separately or as a system according to different activities.
Praying caravan
Reading caravan
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Media caravan
Retail caravan
Handicraft caravan
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TOUGH LIFE ?
We're coming !
13
Are you ready?
Let's party !
14
Fountainhead, School of Architecture
FORMS?????? FOLLOW????? FOUNTAIN???
Modern architecture has inherited freestyle spatial layout from large scale construction in industry times. In the modern age when people are more concentrated on the creativity and uniqueness of architecture, the demand that people have on architecture is not only plane partition, but rather the experience visually and spiritually. The project idea is to combine teaching space and studying space through a series of open spaces and a consecutive slope floor, to form a circle for spatial experience. In addition, the using space is integrated with the traffic space, resulting with a more flexible organization of space. 15
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The rchitects represented by Le Corbusier et al have defined form and function of architecture in a new way. While, for the pure form relationship, some architects have tried to break away from traditions to adapt themselves to the needs of the industrial society, resulting in greater change of form than change of buildings themselves. In this project, the integrated function organization form meets requirements of traditional education and results in more flexible and effective utilization of space at the same time.The horizontal traffic organization integrates with that in vertical direction, forming a spiral traffic organization form.
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Besides functioning for traffic, the daylighting and illumination and exhibition, the cylindrical atrium is also a giant air conditioning system benefiting energy saving which is constructed by utilizing green building technique. Meanwhile, the atrium is also the best choice for gatherings.
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Lost memories, Shougang museum
Introduction
Background
Shougang Group was founded in 1919, is a major steel industry base in Beijing, China. In December 2010, Shougang moved from the city center of Beijing. Its site has become the largest and the most complete iron industrial heritage in Beijing. How to retain its unique industrial style in the transformation process is a worthy architectural research subject. In the steel-making system of Shougang, No. 3 blast furnace is the most typical production line. As a result, in the process of updating the large area of Shougang industrial heritage area, the transformation of No. 3 blast furnace has become the key project.
With the development of productive forces into the post-industrial era in China, the traditional industrial civilization suffered a strong impact. Many traditional industrial enterprises located in the city gradually decline or move out the urban areas due to their own business issues, land prices and environmental protection. This makes a large number of old industrial buildings in cities are facing the demolition or alteration.
Looking back at the special historical circumstances of China, the construction of No. 3 blast furnace in Shougang Group has a direct relationship with Great Leap Forward movement in 1958. Due to the special political system and ideology in China at that time, the government-led steelmaking movement led to a series of serious social problems, such as the great destruction of the ecological environment, the serious imbalance in the proportion of the national economy and the Great Famine which starved at least 20 million people. For that reason, the regeneration of No. 3 blast furnace can be understood as a reinterpretation and reflection of the past 100 years of Shougang Group. As a result, this special history will be retrieved by the form of museum to encourage new generation to learn about history and reflect on the society at that time in China. The industrial heritage area of Shougang Group is located in the westernmost of Chang'an avenue in Beijing, only 18 kilometers away from Tiananmen Square which is the city center of Beijing. It covers an area of 8.63 square kilometers. No. 3 blast furnace is located in the north of Shougang industrial heritage.
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The transformation of old industrial architecture in China began in the late 1980s. Most governments still take the "demolition and reconstruction" approach in urban renewal, since the impacts of the economy and technology. Especially in some small cities, people have no concept to protect old industrial architecture. With the progress of society, the reuse of old industrial buildings gradually aroused public attention. For Shougang Group, those chimneys used to be the pride of that great industrial age, but eventually they became the representative of air pollution. Those steelmaking plants used to be dream places for the young to work, but now they are in ruins. When industrial plants moved from city centre, the memories of Shougang was lost. Hence, how to retrieve the lost memories is worthy to research.
History exists so long as an object is in use; that is, so lang as a form relates to its original function. However when form and function are severed, and only form remains vital, history shifts into the realm of memory. ... memory becomes the guide to its structure. Aldo Rossi, 1982
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No. 1 blast furnace
No. 3 blast furnace
Industrial heritage conservation area
History corridor
Art gallery
2022 winter olympic plaza
Winter sports training centre
Entrance of Shijingshan park
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In the transformation of Shougang Museum, taking into account the unique form of the original industrial buildings in Shougang Park, the form and space of new functions follows original architecture pattern to enhance the visual connection with other existing buildings. The visiting routes of Shougang Museum adopts a tandem way to organize a series of exhibition areas: No. 3 blast furnace, history corridor and industrial art gallery.
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Visit with VR Blast furnace museum mainly shows the steelmaking process of the blast furnace, as well as the important events occurred in the past 100 years. It helps visitors intuitively understand that history. When visiting the museum, visitors can connect their mobile phones with VR glasses offered by museum. With this virtual reality technology, visitors can feel more truthfully the scenes of what happened here, and even interact with these virtual scenes. Besides, using virtual reality technology and augmented reality technology makes the visiting process more interesting, and the spatial experience is also stronger than visiting ordinary museum. The mobile game "PokĂŠmon go" is a case in point.
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The establishment of new China liberated the proletariat. The socialist industrial transformation has brought China into industrialization.
The drastic changes in history made people get lost; old ideas begin to melt. People crazily made steel, but did not get the corresponding results.
The utopia dream of planned economy was destined to break when it started. The history from 1958 to 1960 was a carnival of Chinese collectivism.
The mad Great Leap Forward led tens of millions of people died of hunger; the fate of struggling people was like ephemera, but people still had hope.
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For the lost memories The project is based on the history of Shougang Group, through the transformation of industrial heritage to reflect Chinese society and steelmaking industry over the past few decades. Politics is the cornerstone of Chinese society, but it is a sensitive topic on public occasions. In addition, history of Shougang also reflect on the changes of Chinese society. However, the Chinese authorities are more willing to propagandize the great achievements they have made in the past few decades, while rarely mention the mistakes they have made in the past, such as the Great Leap Forward. That is what I called as " for the lost memories".
Beyond the memories In my perspective, Shougang Museum is to describe the history rather than defining the history. Shougang Museum shows the history of Shougang Group, the social situations at that time and relate dartistic works. The future of Chinese society should be more open and tolerant. Consequently say, beyond the memories is people reflect on the history and the current social context. Due to the different social background between Chinese socialism and capitalism in western countries, there are some misunderstandings to that particular history. Not what we experience, but how we perceive what we experience,determines our fate.
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Manor Allotments, Sheffield
Before transformation
This project is my first postgraduated project in the University of Sheffield. Manor allotment is a community garden, located in southern Sheffield, which is made up with dozens of plots and assigned to individuals and families to grow their own vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers, furthermore, people who live around can be outside to enjoy a piece of quiet. The project site is one plot with a shop container. However, the existing container had a lot of restrictions on the use of space.To have a place where can accommodate at least 6 people and collect water in winter months was an urgent need for them. Additionally, a ramp for disabled was necessary as well. Clients need us to build the structure and roof of the extension to the shop with ÂŁ750.
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After transformation
The key point of this project, we need to consider the possibility of the construction about joints and structure system in the way of labor capacity, budget, tools and limited time. Meanwhile, we provided clients with integrated strategy about forthcoming project, including site planning, interior and facade design, as well. They can complete the follow-up construction afterwards.
Foundation detail
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Border mapping, Iran & Pakistan
The rising regional cooperation of the border of Iran & Pakistan
In a world of rising regional economy and growing border cooperation are becoming increasingly complex. While the border as spatial metaphor is used extensively in architecture, borders as commercial and material realities are often overlooked. This project explored economy’s relationship with border geographies. On the other hand, in a context where unprecedented numbers of people are on the move across the world due to war, climate change and poverty, how can architectural design contribute to solve this increasingly urgent situation is what we are looking for. Our team researched different border conditions of Iran and Pakistan and experimented by mapping to represent them.
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The distribution of main infrastructure system in the border of Iran & Pakistan
The economic and trade relations continue to expand in both absolute and relative terms, leading to the signing of a seriou of Trade Agreement between the two countries. At present, both countries are cooperating and forming alliances in a number of areas of mutual interest, such as signing Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement in 2009 and fighting the drug trade along their common border.
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Connecting, Campus planning
Before planning
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After planning
This campus planning of Hexi University belongs to a part of my graduation design. Because of the dispersive buildings, I decided to start from the conception of 'Connecting' to integrate the new buildings, roads and landscape into old campus. The total area of new campus planning is 993,330 square metres: 668,000 square metres belong to the original campus, and 325,330 square metres belong to the new pampus of medical college which can meet the needs of 6,000 students. 34
Walls, Calligraphy Museum
35
The employer for the project is Gansu Calligraphy Association. Through researching the spatial form and structure of Chinese calligraphy, I transformed the calligraphy elements into architectural space. In traditional Chinese garden, wall is used to divide courtyard space. This is similar to the spatial nature of calligraphy. Besides, architecture should be a part of landscape. Thus I tried to organize sectorization and landscape by walls. The spatial crack between outdoor space and indoor space can be sewed by this way. Functional organization in tandem type is adopted for this project. A series of continuous walls connect exhibition space, and allow visitors to have a continuous visiting experience. Also, this continuous spatial conversion between indoor space and outdoor space reflects design philosophy of classical Chinese garden. As a result, the transition from calligraphic space to architectural space was completed by introducing the conception of successive walls. 36
Galaxy, River bank renovation
When looking up the night sky, you'll see a luminous belt stepping over the sky, like a river. In China, the ancients regarded the Milk Way as river, where the cowherd and the weaver girl in Chinese mythology met on Qixi Festival. That's the reason why the project named after it. 37
The project lies on the Yellow River bank in Lanzhou, China. I believe architecture is a part of the riparian landscape for the project, rather than an independent existence. Thus by means of well-arranged glass buildings in different size, architectural form and massing are "melted" into environment. Most architecture in the north of Yellow River is ancient Chinese style, while in the south is modern style. It is extremely opposite. Therefore, new architecture also should balance the conflict of architectural form, as well as connecting the function of two sides of the Yellow River. 38
In the field, District planing
39
With faster pace of urbanization in China, massive cultivated lands are used for city construction. Famers who lost their lands are forced to make their lives in cities, and their living habits are greatly changed at the same time, resulting that some of them cannot adapt to the urban life. My design was dedicated to help peasants to adapt to the new life better by redesigning the environment in the district. In rural areas , neighbors communicate with each other frequently. When people move into cities, they live closer and closer to each other, while communication between them is becoming more and more difficult. For this problem, I redesigned for landscaape system of the district to enhance association between the neighbors. 40
Dougong , Wooden structure
Dougong, a kind of wooden bracing member adopted in ancient architecture, is the part of the most brilliant creation among wooden structures in ancient China. We learned the structure of Dougong and made a model of it which was scaled up by five times.
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Architektonische mapping
The Town God’s Temple in Sanyuan County, one of the architectural complex of Ming and Qing dynasty that have been best preserved in China, takes a gross floor area as 13,390m2 and has a history over 600 years. Our team undertook the surveying and mapping of the main hall of this temple.
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Acknowledgement I would like to thank all my tutors for their guidance and support. Thanks are also due to the University of Sheffield and Lanzhou University of Technology for providing the opportunity to undertake architecture. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their support and encouragement.