Xin Liang Works Volume 2014
01 THE CULINARY CENTER IN CHINATOWN, NEW YORK Learning From Chinatown: Architecture As Events Media
02 THE FIVE-COURTYARD HOUSE Tress, Landscapes and Courtyard
03 THE BRICK SHOWROOM Brick, History, And Memory
04 THE REVE ACADEMIC CENTER The Meanings Of Core: Structure, Light, And Habitation
01 LEARNING FROM CHINATOWN: ARCHITECTURE AS EVENTS MEDIA A Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
The Architecture of Symbol In Learning From Las Vegas, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown explored the symbolic and rhetorical characteristics of architecture. Going beyond space, they considered architecture of Las Vegas a system of communication, by the symbolism of architectural form, which expresses or reinforces the content in building. More specifically, the billboard or signage become the architecture of Las Vegas, whose words and symbol are used in space for the commercial persuasion.
The Architecture of Events As Bernard Tschumi mentioned, “Architecture is as much about the events that take place in spaces as about the space themselves. The static notions of form and function long favored by architectural discourse need to be placed by attention to the actions that occur in inside and around buildings – to the movement of bodies, to activities, to aspirations.” In Chinatown of New York, where is a cultural enclave different from Las Vegas, I propose an alternative architecture of symbol based on events, in order to further explore the potential that architecture acts as a system of communication.
Street View
Located at the bottom of Manhattan Island in New York City, Chinatown is a cultural enclave. There is a clear cultural boundary between New York Chinatown and the adjacent neighborhoods. For example, one of my friends has resided in Chinatown for several years without speaking English. As immigrants colonize Chinatown, they intervene in the territory by creating a layer of signs as a new immigrant skin to the buildings. One recognizes the boundary of Chinatown by the distribution of signage, which is important to its identity. After arriving in Chinatown, new immigrants generally survive by opening restaurants, which are one of the attractions of Chinatown.
Elevation
Separation
Attachment
Differentiation
Penetration
Expansion
Axonometric
Street View
Interior View
Signs in Chinatown progressively intervene in public space through a series of spatial manipulations, such as penetration, elevation, expansion and differentiation. In my opinion, in terms of space and form, this signage is a successful example of immigrants showcasing, and adapting to new circumstances.
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
Signage
However, as Venturi mentioned, sometimes architecture is not only about space, but also about communication. In this case, although the space, and color of signage are interesting for pedestrians, one cannot understand the content of restaurants – unique spaces where your taste, smell, hearing, touch, and sight are stimulated, merely through signage that features the abstract colors and Chinese words.
Content
Learning from Chinatown, in order to showcase the unique experience of Chinese kitchen, I propose to establish a kitchen-based culinary center open to the public, to teach and demonstrate authentic Chinese cooking techniques to non-Chinese people – including frying, steaming and so forth. This building, referring to the existing signage and symbolic architecture of Venturi, acts as signage to showcase the unique characteristics of the Chinese kitchen. More specifically, experiencing the culinary center, you sense the light and shadows of flame, the movement of students and chefs, the sound of dishware, the smel of frying woks and the warm steam from the steamers. Existing Signage
Visual Signage vs 5-Sense Signage
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Site Plan
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Axonometric View
The site I chose for this culinary center is located in the middle of Chinatown with a triangular lot adjacent to the entrance to Manhattan bridge. It is currently occupied by a forty-four story residential building with seven hundred sixty-two units exclusive to Chinese immigrants, and a sunk parking lot on the north of the apartment building. For security reasons it is enclosed by fences and trees to maintain privacy. Referring to the spatial strategy of the Chinatown signage, the culinary center is attached to the existing apartment building in the manner of a sign. Also, the juxtaposition of the apartments to culinary center encourages communication between Chinese immigrants in the apartment building and customers in the culinary center. In terms of volume, the culinary center is elevated and expanded to maximize the surface area exposed to the public. As a consequence, the culinary center pops up above the existing trees, and can be seen by pedestrians around the site. More importantly, the culinary center acts as a new sign floating above ground, competing with the existing signage, and differentiates itself from the curved existing apartment building. Also, the existing sunken parking lot is preserved and utilized by the culinary center. An altar is externalized from the culinary center to the plaza outside to attract pedestrians, and a bridge connects the altar and culinary center.
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
Circulation Sign (Metal Panel)
Urban Wall (Brick)
Kitchen Sign (Ceramic Tile)
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Site Section
Site Section This culinary center is a form of bilateral signage with two different events: one is kitchen signage for the city, the other is circulation signage for the existing apartment building. The pair of signs have opposite characteristics: the circulation signage is silent, by contrast, the kitchen signage is active and dynamic. A brick wall inbetween the two signs maintains the privacy of the apartment building. The circulation signage will encourage visual communication with the apartment building, by showing the movement of people. Meanwhile, the opening of circulation is limited to control the visual connection between the apartments and the culinary center.
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Site Section
Site Section This culinary center is a form of bilateral signage with two different events: one is kitchen signage for the city, the other is circulation signage for the existing apartment building. The pair of signs have opposite characteristics: the circulation signage is silent, by contrast, the kitchen signage is active and dynamic. A brick wall inbetween the two signs maintains the privacy of the apartment building. The circulation signage will encourage visual communication with the apartment building, by showing the movement of people. Meanwhile, the opening of circulation is limited to control the visual connection between the apartments and the culinary center.
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
This culinary center is a form of bilateral signage with two different events: one is kitchen signage for the city, the other is circulation signage for the existing apartment building. The pair of signs have opposite characteristics: the circulation signage is silent, by contrast, the kitchen signage is active and dynamic. A brick wall inbetween the two signs maintains the privacy of the apartment building. The circulation signage will encourage visual communication with the apartment building, by showing the movement of people. Meanwhile, the opening of circulation is limited to control the visual connection between the apartments and the culinary center.
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
Existing Apartment
Circulation Masonry Wall Experience Space (Corridor & Exhibition)
Event Space (Kitchens, Office & Classroom)
Layering Diagram
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2
1 3 1
2 4 6
2 7 5
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10 11
12 8
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13 14
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1 Restroom 2 Classroom 3 Frying 4 Steaming 5 Without Heat 6 Office 7 Exhibition room 8 Lobby 9 Cutting 10 Preparing 11 Lab 12 Restaurant 13 Kitchen 14 Demonstration Kitchen 15 Loading Dock
Programatic Diagram
The kitchen signage is composed of two parts: one is the event spaces, such as kitchen, restaurant, office, and so on; the second part is the experience spaces, such as the corridors and exhibition room. The event spaces are arranged as a linear sequence with gaps in between volumes and different levels, which leak the events taking place in each room. Because the Chinese kitchen is generally chaotic and massive, the gap acts as a filter to the unnecessary information of the kitchen. Meanwhile, the gap cladded by reflective ceramic tile acts as an amplifier of the light of events. The experience spaces – corridors and the exhibition room, are dark and silent.
1 Metal Panel 2 Steel Stud 3 1” Insulation 4 Sheathing 5 Steel Stud 6 Metal Panel Metal Block
1 Ceramic Tile 2 3” Insulation 3 Waterproofing 4 Sheathing 5 Steel Stud 6 Ceramic Tile
1 Brick Wall 2 2” Cavity 3 3” Insulation 4 Waterproof 5 Sheathing 6 Steel Stud 7 Metal Panel
Sectional Perspective
Events in Chinese Kitchen
8
Ground Plan
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
RODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
8
15
Underground Plan
1 14
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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT Second Plan
1 2 2 2 7 9 1
10 3
11 4 5 7
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6 8
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1 Restroom 2 Classroom 3 Frying 4 Steaming 5 Without Heat 6 Office 7 Exhibition room 8 Lobby 9 Cutting 10 Preparing 11 Lab 12 Restaurant 13 Kitchen 14 Demonstration Kitchen 15 Loading Dock
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Underground Plan
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
15
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
View a - Hallway of without heat kitchen
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
c
View b - Hallway of steaming kitchen
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4
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Section A-A
1 Restroom 2 Classroom 3 Thematic Kitchen - Without Heat 4 Thematic Kitchen - Steaming 5 Thematic Kitchen - Frying 6 Office 7 Exhibition room 12 Restaurant 13 Kitchen
View EDUCATIONAL c - Circulation View PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK PRODUCT
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13
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5
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a
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A
The third floor
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
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View d - Gap inbetween kitchens
BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT View f - Observation PRODUCED Room View e - Street View
A 1 Restroom 2 Classroom 7 Exhibition room 9 Cutting 10 Preparing 11 Lab
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f
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7 d e
The forth floor
The Culinary Center in Chinatown, New York
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02 TREES, LANDSCAPE AND COURTYARD The Five-Courtyard House
Concept With function of private villa, this house lies beneath a mountain at suburb of Beijing, surrounded by spectacular scenery. More specifically, there are some original trees in the site, which are conserved by client’s will. Therefore, how to deal with the relationship between house and tree is the pivotal issue among this project.
Site Condition
The Relation between Trees and House
First of all, these trees at site are precious shelter for the house; they can provide shadow to the house to safe energy in summer. By contrast, in winter, with the fall of leaves, sunshine could come across no-leaf-branch to heat the house, which is a virtually automatic and natural temperature conditioner.
View from River
View from Hill
Considering the relationship between trees and house, we separate the building into some bricks, putting them in the courtyard veiled among trees. Some of trees are in the courtyard, others are not. By doing so, this house is integrated with trees holding a private atmosphere, which is also the request of client.
The Five-Courtyard House
Bird’s-eye View
The separated organic volumns are integrated into not only the trees but also the surrounding. Also, the relationship between courtyard and buildings are various.From the view of entrance, as a private villa, the building is enclosed, but it is open to the natrual side.
Entrance View
4 3
5
6 7
8
1 spa 2 drawing room 3 exhibition 4 vedio 5 study 6 living room 7 room for children 8 gym
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2
Ground Floor
4 5
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6
2
1
1 guest room 2 terrace 3 passenger compartment 4 KTV 5 private study 6 bedroom
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0m
Second Floor
The Five-Courtyard House
8m
16m
Courtyard View
The physical model indicates the relationship between tress, walls, and buildings.
Living Room View Sitting in the living room, one will see the building as a frame to make you focus on the trees, the courtyard, and the hill.
Living Room View
Interior rendering shows the relationship between people, interior, hill, and trees. In this case, the building and surrounding are organically organized together.
The Five-Courtyard House
Underground Courtyard View
2 4
3
5
1
1 Cellar 2 Playroom 3 Courtyard 4 Private room 5 Swimming pool
Underground Plan
Not only the ground floor, the underground courtyard is also open to nature. Through the gaps between volumns, one will sense the view of hill, river, and sky. The sunken courtyard acts as a public space for client’s gathering.
Underground Courtyard View
Underground Courtyard View
Even staying inside, one will sense the scene of four seasons. The rustication of material create a sense of weight to keep intimate touch with ground.
The Five-Courtyard House
03 BRICK, HISTORY & MEMORY The Brick Showroom
This is a showroom for selling a residential project by exhibiting sand table of building, which is located around some old residences (built in 1950’s) that was going to be demolished and chaotic surrounding. Therefore, to establish a pure circumstance to exhibit the sand table so as to promote the sale of this residential project, our team conceived an introversive space to prevent negative elements of circumstance such as noise and dust from influencing indoor space, and created some complicated space by associating some brick-shape rooms with different functions among the so called “introversive space”. On the other hand, the connected rooms could slow down visitor’s pace, enhancing exhibiting atmosphere.
In terms of construction, in order to conserve the trace of site, we used some bricks collected from the remains of local building, inserting them into a steel fame as the exterior wall of this showroom. The wall could not only arouse some memories for people who used to live there, but it could also isolate the indoor place from outdoor circumstance efficiently, even attracts pedestrians to take a look at the showroom, who are one of the potential consumers of this residential project.
Site Plan
The Introversive Courtyard
1 2 6
3
4 5
1 Entrance 2 Exhibition 3 Sand Table 4 VIP 5 Meeting Room 6 Office
Programatic Diagram
Following the main form of building, we design visitor’s experience as zigzag, spreading exhibits to avoid direct experience. By doing so, visitors could have a temporal experience rather than a direct one, which is also an obvious feature of museum.
Bird’s-eye View Model
Study Model
Considering the function of showing room, we locate the sand table - focus of this building in the middle, putting other auxiliary rooms around it. Visitors will begin at entrance, then experience with this order: entrance - exhibition - sand table - VIP - meeting room - office, which is also a standard process of a consumer who plans to purchase residence.
The Brick Showroom
a
c
b 1 reception 2 exhibition 3 sand table 4 rest 5 video room 6 bar 7 prototype room 8 office
0m
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3m
6m
9m
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e 5 4 3
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2 1
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Ground Plan
The plan reveals subtle and private inside courtyard created by the exterior wall. In addition, the complicated form could also decrease the pace of visitors.
section a - a
section d - d
section f - f
section c - c
Not only is the plan complicated, but in terms of section, the space has various scale to fit different demands of programs and privacy.
The Brick Showroom
Perspective of Veneer
Mock-up of Veneer
The courtyard wall is made of steel frame and filled with recycle wall from the demolished buildings. In order to test the stability of wall, a mock-up model is assembled by the real brick collected from site.
A
1 2.5mm flanged steel sheet with metal connecting piece 2 recycled bricks 3 50mm insulation 4 cement mortar layer 5 concrete segment 6 interior trim
1 2.5mm flanged steel sheet with metal connecting piece 2 recycled bricks 3 2.5mm flanged steel sheet with metal connecting piece
1 2.5mm flanged steel sheet with metal connecting piece 2 recycled bricks 3 50mm insulation 4 cement mortar layer 5 concrete segment 6 interior trim
B Section of Veneer
Plan of Veneer
1 metal flashing
2 cement mortar layer 3 recycled bricks 1 concrete segment 2 main structural I-column 4 metal connecting piece to main structure
3 rock wool 4 50mm insulation 5 steel I-column welded with main structure 6 angle iron welded with I-column
5 50 mm insulation 6 concrete segment 7 2.5 mm flanged steel sheet 8 120 mm horizontal channel steel
Detail A
Detail B
The detail drawing explores the different relationship between courtyard wall and other components, such ceiling, roof, and column.
The Brick Showroom
Entrance View
Showroom Section
Veneer Detail
Showroom View
Showroom Detail
The Brick Showroom
04 THE MEANINGS OF CORE: STRUCTURE, LIGHT, AND HABITATION The Reve Academic Center
Conventionally and literally, the core means structure element, which could support building by resisting the vertical load and lateral force. Beyond that, there are something more than structure. Core could be a room, for instance, elevator shaft to accommodate elevator; core could be media to orient light, as the water pipe to orient water.
Core for Structure In terms of this project, the Reve Academy, an off-school academy teaching the consulting for the surrounding neighborhood, is located on the corner of W Broadway and Dupont Ave. The site consists of a parking lot and an existing building with brick bearing wall and wood structure. The client try to preserve the existing building and reuse it. Therefore, in order to reserve the existing structure and to make a flexible space for consulting office, a structure core replace the existing wood bearing wall; it also acts as the circulation core to serve the existing building. Behind the existing building, a new mass is established above the existing parking lot. By elevating the new building, more parking lots are kept for the commercial neighborhood. Among the new building, there are three types of core: core to illumination, core for way finding, core for gathering.
Core for Illumination Due to the elevated mass, the parking lot is shadow by the building, which is dangerous especially in the high crime rate neighborhood. Therefore the light core is used to orient more light to illuminate the ground parking lot.
Core for Way Finding Since it is a complex building with different programs, it is necessary to provide a clear circulation for visitors. Three light cores are located in the threshold of different program to identify the boundary. When people enter the boundary, they could easily differentiate the location by the light cores with different colors.
Core for Gathering In an academy, gathering place could activate the communication between students. In this case, the light core with translucent skin located in-between classrooms could attract students to gather around the light core. Core is not only a rigid object. It will have different aspect in different conditions. In order to improve the civil qualities, it is necessary to understand or research the characteristic of structure and how the structure influent our daily life.
Axonometric View
Existing Condition
The site is located on the corder of W Broadway and Dupont Ave. It is composed of two parts: a wood frame building with brick wall, and a parking lot behind the building.
Old Structure and New Structure
New Office View
In order to generate a open and flexible space for the offcie and shop meanwhile preserve the exsiting iconic wood structure, the existing wood baaring wall is removed and a steel-frame circulation core is set into the wood structure acting as a new sturcture portion. Also, the steel I beam substitute the existing wood bearing wall.
The Reve Academic Center
1 Retail 2 Visitor Parking Lot 3 Employee Parking Lot 4 Gallery
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3
4
2
Ground Floor
2
1 Open Office 2 Private Office 3 Meeting Room 4 Open Classroom 5 Kitchen
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1
1 Open Office 2 Private Office 3 Meeting Room 4 Non-profit Consulting 5 Classroom 6 Exhibition 7 Office
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Second Floor
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Third Floor
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Structural Study Model
Cores Study Model
For the addition, which acts as the academic part, on one hand, the core is used for structure to resist the lateral force, on the other hand the core is used for room to inhabitate the enclosed programs such as meeting room, storage room and so forth.
The Reve Academic Center
Sectional Model to Show Light Core
Furthermore, core works as illumination to illuminate the parking lot on the ground level, for the security reason.
Meeting Room with Light Core
Corridor with Light Core
A light core penetrates slabs to provide light for the meeting room, at the same time, it could create an inspiring gathering space for students.
The Reve Academic Center
Entrance with Light Core as Way Finding
The core is also used for way finding, with different light and color. Because it is a complex building in terms of program, the core for way finding would help you identify the space during the experience.
Structrual Diagram
Exterior View In order to attract pedestrian to the entrance on the alley, the brick facade is extended to idenfity the building. But different from the existing brick bearing wall, the new brick wall acts as veneer.
312" 1'-3"1'-4" 4" 3 " 31 " 71'-4" 2 8 312" 1'-3" 73 8" 1'-3"
1 Back-fastened concrete panel 2 Steel girt 3 Water proof 4 Sheathing 5 Metal stud Louver for exhausting heat from unit
73 8"
Rooftop single packaged unit
4"
4"
4"
4"
Weep hole
4"
4"
1 Masonry Brickwork with stainless-steel ties 2 2" cavity 3 Water proof 4 4" rigid insulation 5 Site-cast concrete core
1 4" rigid insulation 2 Concrete foundation 3 4" rigid insulation 4 Concrete masonry block 5 Waterproof 6 Drainage panel 7 Fileter fabric
4"
3'-6"
4"
4"
Concrete Slab with wire mesh 4" rigid insulation Stone base
3'-6"
3'-6"
Minimun footing depth for frost protection (MN Rule 1303.1600)
Core and Skin
Open drainage pipe in crashed stone
Detail of Core and Skin
This detail drawing show the relationship between brick veneer and the concrete core. The brick wall on one hand wrap the main structure to hide the detail, on the other hand, the concrete core goes beyond the brick wall to show the feature of the building - core.
The Reve Academic Center
Xinai Liang gys44@sina.com +1 612-222-7320
Education UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, TWIN CITIES Master of Architecture 2011.9 - 2014.5
FUZHOU UNIVERSTIFY, CHINA Bachelor of Architecture 2002.9 - 2007.5
Software Autocad Rhino,Sketchup, Adobe Suite
Language English Chinese Mandarine Chinese Cantonese
Professional Experience FR-EE / Fernando Romero Enterprise, NYC, New York Summer Internship, 2013.06 - 2013.08
AUVI Design, Beijing, China Project Architect, 2010.3 - 2011.01
T-A-O/TRACE ARCHITECTURE OFFICE, Beijing, China Project Architect, 2007.11 - 2010.01
DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE STUDIO, Beijing, China Assistant Architect, 2007.7 - 2007.11