Portfolio by Xueyuan Wang 2017-2020

PORTFOL I O 20 17 -2020 X U EYUAN WANG

Content

Architecture

Study - LINEAR SEQUENCE [ Units and Massing | Styrofoam Model Study ] Project 1 - COUNTERBALANCE [ Form and Morphology | Single Family House ]

Project 2 - THE BOX [ Space and Organization | Houston Photography Center ]

Project 3 - HIERARCHY OF SOLITUDE [ Program and Experience | Graduate Student Dormitory ]

Project 4 - THE SPLIT [ Technology and Material | Boat House ] Graphic - BANKINTER [ Culture and Abstraction | Analysis of Bankinter, Rafael Moneo ]

Photography

LINEAR SEQUENCE Styrofoam Model Studio: ARCH 101, Fall 2017 Instructor: Jesús Vassallo, Gail Chen

COUNTERBALANCE Single Family House Studio: ARCH 102, Spring 2018 Instructor: Andrew Colopy, Gail Chen Generated through a controlled geometric operation of intrusion and extension, the house presents the quality of a cohesive mass subdivided with internal soft devices. Organized by a central core, the house maximizes visual and acoustic fluidity. The delamination of floorplates and the wall poche generate implied subdivision on the open interior, challenging the conventional usage of walls.

Inherited from the counterbalancing geometric moves, the project exists as a harmonic collage of opposing moments: central/peripheral volumes, orthogonal/ oblique boundaries, isolation/connection of spaces.

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dining space living space open kitchen guest rest room outdoor dining space swimming pool private garden public garden parking private relaxing space master’s bedroom master’s bathroom leisure room home-office

Punctured by small aperture to create tension for movement

Louver system indicates gradient of privacy

Delamination of floorplates

Wall poche utilized as bookshelf

Punctuated with two sets of apertures, the house distinguishes private and public space through elements directing circulation. Large windows identify gathering space and allow illumination while small openings allow an instantaneous glance at the exterior during movements.

THE BOX Houston Photography Center Studio: ARCH 201, Fall 2018 Instructor: Ajay ManthriPragada

Phase I - Concept Space is defined by the existence of boundaries, whose presence could be physical, or implied. The Box utilizes the implied boundary of space to represent conceptual volume, derived from spatial operations following mathematical principles.

Subtraction from a solid leaves a void. Subtraction from a void creates a solid. This inherent mathematical property of space inspires the concept of The Box. The Box performs a series of volumetric subtractions from a primitive cuboid, including three sequential subtractions that overlay each other. First, a volume is subtracted from the cuboid. The second volume to be subtracted intersects the remaining solid and a void. The third subtraction intersects a conceptual solid and a void. The result illustrates an interchangeable reading between solid and void conditions. The model instills alternating perception of solid and void when viewed from different angles.

THE BOX Houston Photography Center Studio: ARCH 201, Fall 2018 Instructor: Ajay ManthriPragada

Phase II - Final Project The concept model in Phase I was developed into a building project, designed and programmed as the Houston Photography Center. The transparent enclosure of the conceptual solid in the center creates a nesting “box” within the photography center, protruding exterior boundaries at two corners on opposite sides, evoking pedestrians’ visual wander into the “box” from street level. Conceptual symmetry is established through two crosses, organizing the space containing the “box” into an administrative block and a visitors’ block. While the “box” functions as the main gallery, its staging effect remains throughout exhibition levels. Circulation bifurcates towards the two blocks with walkways remain visually connected to the main gallery.

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Third Floor 1 Learning Center 2 Studio Space 3 Photo Darkroom 4 Cleaning Room

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Fourth Floor 1 Lecture Hall 2 Library and Lounge 3 Archive and Preservation 4 Administration offices 5 Conference Room

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First Floor 1 Lobby / Reception 2. Gallery / Exhibition 3 Employee’s Longue 4 Cafe and Bookstore

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Second Floor 1 Main Gallery 2 Studio Space 3 Printing Lab 4 Archive and Storage 5 Learning Center

HIERARCHY OF SOLITUDE Graduate Student Domitory Project Studio: ARCH 202, Spring 2019

Instructor: Ryan Roark

Exclusiveness is designed for inhabitants to have control over their social life. The project contains various levels of gathering spaces with different accessibility: a central hub unites the three residential blocks; a lounge organizes each residential community; each dormitory unit shares its balcony and kitchen with different neighbors. Within the hub itself, the central cafe opens up to the entire student body while the study rooms are accessible only through reservation. The gathering spaces intermediate the interior and exterior through skylights and louver systems, constructing semi-exposed spatial experiences. Articulating the openness of the hub towards the landscape, paths centering at the hub break down the residential volumes, organizing the circulation with a rotational quality.

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Ground Floor Plan

1 Walk-through Gallery 2 Cafe 3 Study Room 4 Lounge 5 Balcony Lounge 6 Roof Garden

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Second Floor Plan

Exterior View

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Phase I - Precedent Analysis: New National Gallery, Mies Van der Rohe, Berlin, 1968 The New National Gallery realizes a monumental clear span of 64.8m through the use of steel two-way structure. Digital simulation of the structural system reveals the tendency of this structure to exhibit complex deform behavior under different support conditions.

THE SPLIT Boat House Studio: ARCH 301, Fall 2019 Instructor: Mark Wamble, Viola Ago Colleague: Wenyu Jiang

Phase II - Structural Model The location of support and loading forces is vital to the deformation pattern. The structural model aims to amplify and control the deformation while maintaining structural strength.

The beams are manufactured with expanded PVC foamboard for its flexibility and durability.

Uniquely designed connection pieces hold the beams together at intersections while leaving space for deformation. PVC beams are manufactured with CNC milling; connection pieces are 3D printed. The model is a friction-fit without the use of adhesive.

CNC Milling Process

THE SPLIT Boat House Studio: ARCH 301, Fall 2019

Instructor: Mark Wamble, Viola Ago

Colleague: Wenyu Jiang

Phase III - Final Project: Boat House at Buffalo Bayou, Houston Undesired deformation in the precedent is adopted as the central design concept for The Split. The undulating ceiling structure challenges preconceived rigidity and flatness of traditional two-way structure with highly controlled sagging behavior. The application of the cross split in the uniform two-way structure produces four semi-autonomous two-way structures connected on the periphery. The resulting structure exhibits both global and local deformation, responding to the crystalline structures that hold the ceiling up at specific intersections from the bottom. The project responds to the site with its wavy span reaching down and opening up to the Buffalo Bayou. Walking through the building from the entrance down to the bayou, visitors experience varying spatial quality and interchanging transparency and opaqueness.

The two-way structure is designed to be manufactured flat and deform on-site in response to the support structures below. Wood-neoprene composite beams provide the flexibility needed for the construction process. Neoprene layers function as cushions between hardwood layers, allowing sight displacement between each layer during deformation. Buffer space is also designed into each joint to enable the deform.

BANKINTER Culture and Geometric Analysis Studio: ARCH 302, Spring 2020 Instructor: Scott Colman

PHOTOGRAPHY