XU TONGDA Architecture Portfolio (work samples)

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XU TONGDA, 2014-2016 Department of Architecture design, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University.

WORK SAMPLES

01.The Scaffold of Babel self-built community of construnction and other workers Since the industrial revolution, production fuels the capitalism and consumerism, the big cities and skyscrapers become possible. And this was when workers began to play an important role in this complicated social system. They are risking their life building our cities when architects and city planners seem to take all the credit.

Ironically, the builders are underpaid, ending up at the bottom of the society. As our city sprawl over the land, the confrontation between the worker class and the social upper class has been sharper than ever. The luxurious skyscrapers take up the urban space, while the constructers of these buildings, some end up in the city corner, some are even homeless. They have laid every piece of brick in the cities, yet were driven away from the kingdom they built by high prices and other urban problems.

Seldom do they have a chance to live a city life. The ones who paid most to our urban space have no place to live in our city.

The slum area of Guangzhou city.

The strike of workers in China. One the board written: NEED TO LIVE; NEED HOME. Next to it is the concrete jungle, full of luxurious houses and rich-men, while the ones who built them with their The pathetic living condition of workers in the city should own hands ends up in the slum and edge of the city. be paid attention to. They are treated in a unfair way and could cause serious social confrontation.

Change will happen. The workers start from a common strike and take up movement. Soon the site of taking up become a site to live. With the scaffold erected, workers move in, infrastructure built, a community of workers leaded by constructors grows up from the top of our concrete jungle. That’s the babel tower of workers, a heterotopia for worker class in the central and topmost area in a metropolitan, a deserved decent place to live and reproduce in the city they built and contributed.

“Workers of the world, unite!”

Representing revolution of construction techniques as well as the new roll construction workers played, skyscraper is chosen as both the prototype and the site of the monument. Scaffold and safety net, reminding people of constructing set, are used to symbolize construction workers. The skyscraper is also a heterotopia for construction workers to live a life.

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The Fir

The worker’s movement map in a big city.

The tallest and most influential skyscrapers are occupied first as a monument and spiritual symbol. Then the revolution just radiate the rest of the city, more buildings are taken up and hatted.

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LOND LES NTO ANGE TORO LOS YORK NEW

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ESCO

INM

BERL

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BEIJI

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PARI

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DUBA

HONK

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The worker’s movement map globally.

Once the movement start, all the media are broadcasting the event to simulate the worker and the poor among the world to join. The bigger the city is, the more politically and media influential it is.

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The Construction Floor

The living Floor

The Composition Considering construction progress, the monument consists of 6 layers from the bottom up: Defending, Production, Infrastructure, Housing, Communication and Construction. A group of skyscrapers connected with cable-way will be built to meet the need. The whole process would be like the reversal of Marlow’s hierarchy of need.

These skyscrapers will provide construction builders to live a self-sufficient life in the centre of the metropolitan and exist as a memorial of a group of hard workers.

The Communication Floor

The need of workers

Level of Need

Construction’s Pursuit Need Decent Living Need Communication Need Livelihood and Feeding Need Food and Energy Need Security Need

The Production Floor

the Infrastructure Floor

the Defence Floor

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The Construction Base

The Temp Controller

The Watering System The Heating System

The water and Energy Pipe

The Water Pump

The Heating Exchange System the Cycling Center of the Building

The Energy Pump The Energy Storage

the Energy Center

The water cycle/ storage

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02.Hybrid Peking On how to form a space and tell a stroy

Many things are formidable, and none more formidable than Man! Man are skillful! He together build cities. He together build up species stronger than He, in big cities like BJ. Archetypes of things are erected, morphed, copied, pasted, reproduced, generation cascading through generation. Man haven’t got time to deal with the things in this city; He haven't got time to acquire some knowledge of how to deal with those things in this city. He must be: More quick good energy-saving.

Hybrid Beijing is more of a piece of context than an architecture project. It tries to explore a new way of story telling and space making in an information age like now.

The site of the project is at Wangfujing. A historical place with mixed context and complicated condition. The area is surrounded with architects which context could be derived from Western, Chinese, historical, contemporary.

So the best word to describe the site is "Hybrid".

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Delirious Beijing/Peking

The Youth: Mr.Zhang

The Youth: Miss.Guo

The Qing: Mr.Cha

The Boss: Mr.Wang

The Peking: Mr.Lee

Delirious Beijing/Peking

The Alien: Mr.Wai

Master Plan

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Hybrid

Hybrid Big.Wang

Miss.Guo

Hybrid Mr.Cha

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Mr.Zhang

Mrs.Wann

The Baby: Mr.Bao

The Bike: Mr.Zee

The Car: Mrs.hoo

The dog: Mrs.wann

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Big Model Picture The Comprehensive model of the Hybrid Peking.

Photographed in 2016.

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Scattered Model Picture The Scattered model of the Hybrid Peking. Illustrating the architectural and living character of this mad city. photographed in 2016.

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The world is all Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatu

03.The Chronicle of

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2016.9 2889 2016.9 2016.9 2016.9 AD 1855 AD 1800 AD 40 The The The Last The Drum Drum Space Drum The set set Drum ship set ofofthe of the Launched.on set The the Horniman Horniman ofHorniman Drum the Horniman set of theSir Horniman Horniman born in England Jesus Christ was cruxifed. The the Museum Museum Earth Museum Museum Museumand started his mysteriousbirth life. and prevalent of religion hit Photographied Photographied Photographied Photographied Photographied the world.

The Pyr Egypt. It'

that is the case us Logico-Philosophicus, P17

f Horniman museum

BC 7000 ramid was erected in 's the Tablot of human civilization.

BC 15000 The architype of human civilization was generated in the Africa.

BC 36,000,000,000 The First life form appeared on Earth. The Earth was alive.

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The Drum age of Horniman Musum, This illustrate the Ultimate architecture and containing all possible history of human kind.

Plan View +1.50m

Section View A-A 15

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Sectiom View C-C

Sectiom View B-B

04.The Heidegger's Museum On how to create a mini-size universe of meaning

The site of this project is at Xi Zhimen Bridge, Beijing.

The bridge is famous for its absurd complexity which is necessary to meet the function of transportation.

The bridge itself is a notorious labyrinth as the transportation centre for Beijing.

The project aims to exploring the paradoxic of the site and the city. Revealing the complexity and blur of the crazy Beijing city in an ironic way.

The project itself is a self-contained Mini-Universe.

Mixing the conceptual meaning of Heidegger, the Chinese architecture elements, conceptual diagram -based form manipulation, a small but rich inner universe is given birth.

Here is Beijing, a mad city full of complexity and paradoxical.

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