XUAN YU LIU DESIGN PORTFOLIO
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(de)Monstrative Architecture
3-6
Adaptive Architecture
7-12
Interpretive Design
13-18
Structual Systems
19-24
Environmental Systems
25-28
Comprehensive Design
29-34
Personal Artworks
35-38
B-Arch Year 1 Semester 1
B-Arch Year 1 Semester 2
B-Arch Year 2 Semester 1
B-Arch Year 2 Semester 1
B-Arch Year 2 Semester 2
B-Arch Year 2 Semester 2
High School
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MONSTERS WITHIN ARCHITECTURE GESTURES OF A PUFFERFISH
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Contruction drawings for the body armour (de)Monstrative architecture is a theme that connects architecture with a certain exotic animal’s special mechanism. A wearable body amour/ tool is designed to create an abstract drawing which portrays the animal’s special ability. My animal is the pufferfish, and I explored the expansion of its body and how a primary system affects a secondary system. I created
a machine that imitates thepufferfish’s expansion. The user wears the machine on his arm and pulls a handle which triggers a series of “scales” to expand, and that expansion then pushes the “spikes” attached onto the “scales”. The charcoals attached on the “spikes” then creates a drawing (left) that shows the expansion and contraction of the pufferfish.
Design I
Fall 2013
Instructors: Jim Williamson, Val Warke
Teaching Assistant: Deborah Chang
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The sequence following the body amour and the charcoal drawing is to design a dwelling for a person who is obssessed with the pufferfish. The dwelling must reflect the uniqueness of the animal and its movements. A site must be designed to accomodate the dwelling. I approached the design of this dwelling by creating two sep-
Model detail
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Sections
arate systems. The two systems are derived from the charcoal drawing. The first is a series of uniform and regulated strokes, and the second system is a series of chaotic and random ones. The two systems must merge into each other to create volumes and voids. The uniform system is represented with wood and the
chaotic system is represented with metal. The metal cuts into the landscape and seemlessly creates excavations and spaces which ccomodate the various programs required for the dwelling.
1�=8’ scale model
Axonometric Design I
Fall 2013
Instructors: Jim Williamson, Val Warke
Teaching Assistant: Deborah Chang
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THE IGLOO KINDERGARTEN
ADAPTATION TO A VERNACULAR PRECEDENT
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1”=8’ scale model details
Long Section
Exploded Axonometric
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1”=8’ scale model Short Sections
1”=4’ scale sectional model
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Interior Render: Cafeteria
Plan Design II
Spring 2014
Instructors: Jim Williamson, Val Warke
Teaching Assistant: Caio Barboza
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Interior Render: Atrium
The objective of Adaptive Architecture is to design buildings which contain vernacular characterirstic for a specific location/climate zone. My vernacular precedent is the Igloo, and my site is in the arctic tundra. The preschool borrows from the Igloo, focusing on ground manipulation and layered thick insulation to create a comforta-
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ble study environment. The preschool is half submerged underground to prevent heat from escaping, and it is insulated by a primary layer of wall constructed by blocks of ice (local material). The program is divided into 3 large sections and these large spaces are then further divided up by a series of small partitions.
Composite Drawing/Section Design II
Spring 2014
Instructors: Jim Williamson, Val Warke
Teaching Assistant: Caio Barboza
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CONEY ISLAND VISITOR CENTER A GAME OF BOXES AND PLANES 13
Floor Plan Transformation
Gravity Load Distribution
Sections Design III
Fall 2014
Instructors: Sofia Krimizi
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Exterior Render
Interior Render The central idea for this visitor center design originated from a study model which shows the relationship between open boxes and planes. By experimenting with various ways of the stacking and placement of these boxes and planes, I developed a structural system which houses different programs in two main realms. The first
Interpretive Study Model
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are the spaces within the boxes which are mainly private spaces such as office, conference and auditorium. The second are the free, open spaces on the planes which houses public programs such as exhibitions and cafe areas. Each of the four floors contains a different arrangement of boxes and puntures through the planes to allow
a continuation of vertical voids through the entire building. The visitor center also acts as a bridge which directs people from a higher altitude (The Coney Island Train Station) to a lower altitutde (The amusement park across the road)
Design III
Fall 2014
Instructors: Sofia Krimizi
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1”=8’ scale model details
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1”=8’ scale model Design III
Fall 2014
Instructors: Sofia Krimizi
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SALT CANOPY
HIGHWAY SUPPORT CENTER
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The Model Project is a partner project in which the students pick a building that has a certain unique structural quality and reconstruct a scale model showing the overal structural systems as well as details of its many structural elements of the building. The salt storage unit of a highway support center in Norway by 24H Architects is
the structure of choice for me and my partner. The structure has three main systems: concrete walls, diagonal wood columns, and a diagrided roof canopy. Each system has a very different structural quality in itself, but every one of these systems is essential to make this structure stand.
Structural Systems
Fall 2014
Instructors: Mark Cruvellier
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Structural Systems
Fall 2014
Instructors: Mark Cruvellier
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CREVICE
A WELL-TEMPERED ENVIRONMENT
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The objective of this project is to design a low cost temporate shelter which will provide at least a 15 degree temperature differential out in the freezing cold. My team and I chose a location which already has an existing heat source, a vent. The goal is to create a waiting area for a food truck. Due to the narrow space, the
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second objective is to evenly distrubute the heat along the space and prevent the heat from escaping the crevice. Multiple design iterations are created to find the most efficient, intuitive, and low cost mechanism. The final design consists of a large airbag that encloses the crack from the above, and air being distributed from the ground.
Design IV
Spring 2015
Instructor: Aleksandr Mergold
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DRAPE
MUSEUM UNDER A LANDSCAPE FABRIC
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Study Models
1”=32’ scale model
The prompt is to design a museum for the AD White cast collection at Cornell. The site is a small green hill next to the Cornell Observatory. Preservation of both the site and sculptures are the central themes of the project. First, the excavation, then two retaining walls are inserted, and finally a complex triangular fabric-like structure drapes over the existing landscaping.
Design IV
Spring 2015
Under the “fabric” is a large open space with three separate and unique paths for visitors to view the sculptures from radically different perspectives. The museum morphs into the existing two hills, and funnels visitors from the road upward to the observatory. It has an occupiable roof which acts as a bridge between the two hills, and provides a panoramic view to the campus
Instructor: Aleksandr Mergold
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Exterior Render: Roof View
Exterior Render
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Site Plan
Elevation Design IV
Spring 2015
Instructor: Aleksandr Mergold
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Water Collection
Lighting
Heating/Cooling/Ventilation
Exterior corrugated fiberglass panels Rigid foam insulation Secondary roof structure
Ventilation/AC Steel structure joints
Interior secondary structure Primary steel truss system Interior corrugated fiberglass panels
Sectional Perspective
Steel corner connections Large metal pin joints Metal anchoring plate Grided metal flooring Ball joint Flippable insulated panels
1’
4’ 2’
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Detailed Wall Section 8’
1”=2’ Scale Sectional Model
Design IV
Spring 2015
Instructor: Aleksandr Mergold
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PERSONAL ARTWORKS
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Self Portrait
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Acrylic Painting
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Live model drawing
I have always been passionate about painting and drawing since I was young. I attended an art studio during my high school years. At there I explored art in many different kinds of media. The first painting on the previous spread is an abstract portrayal of antique chinese furnitures. The second painting is a self-portrait.
The painting depicts the idea that I am an “bland� individual in a colorful world waiting for me to explore. The painting on the left is an acrylic painting of two Guatemala children I met. Finally, I also enjoy figure drawings and sketches with charcoal, ink, and other media.
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THANK YOU Xuan Yu Liu 6162 Adera Street Vancouver BC (778)318-9958 xl438@cornell.edu