[ESTHER ZHOU]
SELECTED WORK | 2011 - 2017 ARCHITECTURE
[H ABI TAT ION ] [N A R R AT ION ] [I M AG E ] [L A N G UAG E ] [ME MORY ] [N AT U R E ] [S E N S E ]
“I confront the city with my body; my legs measure the length of the arcade and the width of the square; my gaze unconsciously projects my body onto the facade of the cathedral, where it roams over the mouldings and contours, sensing the size of recesses and projections; my body weight meets the mass of the cathedral door, and my hand grasps the door pull as I enter the dark void behind. I experience myself in the city, and the city exists through my embodied experience. The city and my body supplement and define each other. I dwell in the city and the city dwells in me.“ - Juhani Pallasmaa
[PROF E S SION A L ]
[ H A BI TAT ION]
Site Strategy
* AIA Fort Worth 2018 Student Design Merit Award
The ground floor houses public programs that open to public and help to activate street-life. Residents and public passersby are encouraged to across the floating the bridges and grab a full view of the project. The grass terrains respond further to the experience of softness and playfulness.
INDIVIDUALITY & SOCIALITY / Microhousing Apartment Queens, NY The project aims to rediscover the value of domesticity for individual entity. It pushes the capacity of a micro-housing unit to construct a rich intimate living environment and supports the balance between individuality and sociality. With the strategy of shifted vertical grids, it blurs the boundary of units and encourages new social relations beyond individuals. The centripetal force of arch bridges neighbors together. Instead of erecting an aggregation of individuals on the site, it displays a building of grouped clusters in an urban environment.
Typical Plan - Units
Project Collaborator: Xiaoyun Ni. Drawings presented here (if not otherwise noted) are produced by Yixin Zhou.
Typical Plan - Shared Terrace Unit Grid System
Shifted Grid
Interior Division
Individual Intimacy
Neighbor Included
Shared Terrace
Units
Neighbor
Site Plan
Imposed Supergrid
Communal Space
Integration
*Drawings On This Page Collabrated With Xiaoyun Ni
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Layers
Neighbor Included
The project critiques the spatial indifference in existing architectural typologies. This strong instrumentality of plan results in a sameness in sectional experience that where you work looks like where you study looks like where you live except the furnitures.
The combination of a thickened facade and individual unit provides the maximum potential to enjoy both private intimacy and sense of community. The curved ceiling becomes a soft and fluid surface that appeals and freshes the touch of the eye. The high clearance releases the intensity of metropolitan and allows maximum freedom to arrange the space to personal preference. The loft space generates an intimate bodily engagement with a sense of coziness and protection.
Balcony
Unit Clear
Unit Loft
Corridor
1’’ WOOD FLOOR FINISH 2’’ SOUND INSULATION 8’’ LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE FLOOR PLATE
WATER PIPING AIR DUCT
STEEL CONDUIT COVER
RETURN DUCT CONDENSER
STEEL REINFORCEMENT
SUPPLY DUCT
SLOT DIFFUSER RECESSED WALL LIGHT 1’’ WOOD FLOOR FINISH STEEL BEAM STRUCTURE
RETURN GRILLE 1’’ WOOD FLOOR FINISH 2’’ SOUND INSULATION
2’ - 6’’
THERMAL BREAK
8’’ CONCRETE FLOOR PLATE
7’ - 6’’
TINTED GLAZING FIXED WINDOW
2’ - 6’’
Unit Loft - Detail Section 1’’ WOOD FLOOR FINISH 2’’ SOUND INSULATION 8’’ LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE FLOOR PLATE
2’’ WOOD HANDRAIL CAP
4’ - 0’’
ALUM. RAILING
WATER PIPING
WIRE MESH
SLIDING DOOR
RECESSED LIGHT TUBE DROP ACOUSTIC PANEL
Unit Upper Level Plan
STEEL CONDUIT COVER
2’ - 6’’
TIMBER FLOOR BOARD
AIR DUCT
STEEL STUD
GYPSUM BOARD
WOOD PANEL
15’ - 0’’
BRONZE PLATE
SLIDING WINDOW TEMPERED GLASS INSULATION
2’ - 6’’
DRAINAGE PIPE
Corridor - Detail Section 6
Unit Lower Level Plan 7
Balcony Detail Section
[ N A R R AT ION] * Selected Work for AIA Texas 2016 Student Biennial
SOLID & VOID / Multifunctional Club
Montrose, Houston
The project addresses the dispersed, horizontal condition of Houston. It proposes to create a continuum of public spaces - voids, shaping and channeling the movement of users. Working with the technique of “taper”, it establishes a continuity between the urban environment and the programmatic spaces. The inherited geometric quality of “taper” provides a smoother transition between spaces with a clear directionality. Along with the sequential movements, the user arrives at different positions and activates new figure-ground relation.
Formal Mitoses and Functional Differentiation
Sequential Experience Fragment Views 8
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Envelope Strategy
[ IM AG E]
To separate is to define, to differentiate and to protect. To connect is to reclaim the relationship and to engage.
PRIVACY & PUBLICNESS / Civic Mediatheque Bayou Park, Houston
Private programs or public programs for individuals are placed in the frame. Public programs providing collective experience are placed inside the boxes. The form is registered in a simple and generic way to address public legibility. The graphic pattern created by the horizontal and vertical sunshading panels groups the possible relationship between private and public and blurs the formal boundary.
The thesis aims to speculate of a public institution that is legible to the audience. It flattens the density of activities to the surface and displays them through the transparency. The project challenges the way of engaging audience in a public institution. It brings in a one-to-one floor and program relationship. The tension between private and public, frame and box, defines a new publicness in experiencing it.
Sunscreen
Private Programs
Circulation
Void - Bridge
Platform- Access
Curtain Wall
Structure
Public Program
Solid
Screen Panels
Support
Glazing Frame
Bracket Floor Plate
+ 154' - 0''
LV 10
LV 9 LV 8
LEVEL 10
LEVEL 10
Media Research Center Recording Studio Lecture Media Library
Media Research Center Recording Studio Lecture Media Library
LEVEL 9
LEVEL 9
Staff
Staff
LEVEL 8
LEVEL 8
Staff Staff Terrance
Terrance
LEVEL 7
LEVEL 7
+ 137' - 6'' + 132' - 6''
Public to Public
+ 121' - 8''
Records
+ 107' - 6''
LV 7 LV 6 LV 5
Judge Office
Language Lab
LEVEL 6 Language Lab Workshop/Studio
LEVEL 6 Courtroom
Faculty (temporal)
LEVEL 5 JUSTICE IS
TRUTH IN ACTION.
LV 4 LV 3
Clerk Office
LEVEL 5
Private to Public
Judge Office
LEVEL 4 Platform Outdoor Media Projection
LEVEL 4 Courtroom Jury Conference
LEVEL 3
Clerk Office
Rehearsal Room
LEVEL 3 Clerk Office
LV 2
LEVEL 2 Theater
LEVEL 2
+ 45 - 6''
Clerk Office Chilcare Center Platform Outdoor Playground
LV 1
LEVEL 1
T 1035 - COUNTER 1 T 1036 - COUNTER 6 T 1037 - COUNTER 8
L 1035 - COUNTER 3 L 1036 - COUNTER 6 L 1037 - COUNTER 8
LEVEL 1
Service Counter Tax Counter
Service Counter Tax Counter
LOWER LEVEL
LOWER LEVEL
Recetion Souvernir Cafe Exbition Parking
Recetion Souvernir Cafe Exbition Parking
Inside to Outside, One Layer
+ 30 - 6'' + 24 - 6''
LL
+ 15 - 6''
+ 0' - 0''
Inside to Outside, Several Layers
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[ L A N GUAG E]
Clubhouse
Corner Joint
Media Room
PLATFORM
CHAOS & ORDER / Residential Development
Fitness Studio
Clubhouse
Houston
This project aims to propose a model that addresses the urban densification in the city of Houston. It critiques the sameness of repetition in urban topology. Instead, it responds to the issue of multiplicity of urban fabric and contributes to a rich physical experience within a community.
PLATFORM
Clubroom
Child Care
Clubroom Lease Office PLATFORM
petwash
One of the most important forces in shaping the geometry of each block is through the definition of the corner. A corner serves both as a turning point in plan but also a vertical joint of the lower and upper layer in section. It is where the circulation and social encounters occur. Four types of circulation are proposed with a bias in program, and means of circulation. They are equally distributed in each block and throughout the project.
Clubhouse Cafe Fitness Studio
pet park
Massage
PLATFORM
PLATFORM
cafe
The opposition between artificial grid and natural chaos generates the formal compromise of geometry. The off-grid transformation provides variations winthin the structure of similarity to create a series of differentiated urban spaces inbetween the formal boundary of street block and architectural envelope. The irregularity facilitates the picturesque stroll for the pedestrians and allows extended occupancy of interior amenities to street life.
yoga fusion lawn
cafe
Game Room
Childcare
PLATFORM
PLATFORM
PLATFORM
Media Room
Clubhouse
childcare
Massage Work Center
Fitness Studio
Clubhouse
TYPE A: staircase well + view platform
TYPE B: elevator + interior amenity
TYPE C: elevator + lobby
TYPE D: staircase + communal space
swimming pool
playground
PLATFORM
leasing office PLATFORM
PLATFORM
cafe
cafe PLATFORM
Leasing Office
volleyball court
Clubhouse
Work Center
Media Room
zen garden
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
FIFTH FLOOR PLAN
childcare
playground basketball court
bike shop/sports
cafe
foodstore
swimming pool
sculpture garden
pet park grilling area
leasing office
bar
Study of Massing: Infill, Perimeter Block, Order, Chaos 12
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Unit Arrangement The introduction of movable partition allows the unit to be able to adapt to individual need. Non-party walls are elongated to maximum the natural light.
Cafe
Cafe
Swimming Pool Zen Garden
BATHROOM W
D BEDROOM
KITCHEN
Lobby
Lobby
Studio, 441 sqft
W
D
LAUNDRY BEDROOM
Lobby
Childcare LIVING ROOM
KITCHEN
Lobby
1 BR, 700 sqft Basketball Court W
Playground
D CLOSET
LAUNDRY
BEDROOM
Bike/sports Shop LIVING ROOM KITCHEN
BEDROOM WALK-IN CLOSET
2 BR, 1040 sqft
Articulation of Movement The envelope intends to articulate the different movements and reinforce the argument of a recognizable variation. Exterior: emphasizes the verticality to push the tension between the surface and street. Interior: acknowledges the horizontal movement along the corridor and break down to a domesticate scale. Corner: accommodates both the vertical modular and the horizontal movement with a flat undulating mullion system.
Exterior: Verticality
Corner: Accommodation
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Interior: Horizontality
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[ M E MORY ]
Transformed Courtyard
PAST & PRESENT / Folk Art Museum Nanluoguxiang, Beijing
Development
Movement Joint
The project searches for the relationship between elements in an architecture. A single architecture itself grows like a city, networked and flexible. The repeated basic units symbolize the temporality of time and response to the context of historic area in Old Beijing. It serves as a metaphor of a large city structure. In this way, the architecture preserves the memory of the city and reflect the city structure itself.
The traditional Sihe Yuan is modular. In the abstracted exhibition units, the independence of each individual exhibition is preserved. The narrative is develped around a core of courtyard, which is a void. It directs light and provides meditation over nature and time. The exhibition features objects from normal lives: It is not the grand history but our lives that is lost in the passage of time.
Relaxing Joint Pause Exhibition Platform
Pause
Pitched Roof
Light Louvers
Pause
Center Courtyard
Pause
Exibitions Pause
Denouement
Beginning Traditional: One Cell
Simplifiedl: One Cell
Entry Corridor
Setting
Exploded Exibition Unit
Appendex
Prelude Traditional: Connection
Simplifiedl: Connection
Upper View Platform
Roof Light
Ground Exhibition
Landscape
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[ N ATUR E] LIGHT & DARKNESS / Meditation Pavilion Westgarden, Beijing
Time Elapse Light lingers in the space and varies its shape casting on the wall and the roof. The idiosyncratic roof shapes allow light effects to change along with the movement and passage of time. The sense of time is amplified in the flow of light. The contrast of strong light and deep shadow provokes the sense of space and being, and therefore, achieves tranquillity.
The project addresses the spatial potential of light in architecture. Through the medium of light, time and space could be weaved together for its full dimension. The project aims to direct the vision to the branches stretching to the far and high sky. It passes on the freedom and power of lives of trees.
7:00 a.m
Massing Iterations: Curved Roof and Enclosed Garden
8:00 a.m
H : D = 0.4m : 0.2m H
10:00 a.m
D H : D = 0.4m : 0.4m H
D H : D = 0.6m : 0.4m
12:00 a.m
H
D
2:00 p.m
H : D = 0.8m : 0.4m H 3:00 p.m
D H : D = 0.8m : 0.8m 5:00 p.m
H
D
Model Iteration: Proportion Experienments
Unrolled Section: Rythm of Roof and Ground 18
Physical Model Daylight Simulation 19
[ SE N SE ]
PROF E S SIONA L * Works at Schaum/Shieh Architects
SOFTNESS & COLDNESS / Tectonic Installation*
Blow Up The Wall MOMA PS1 YAP, 2017 | Finalist
The project emphasizes the properties of material, and how tectonic works as a primary means to generate form. The form is restricted to a maximum of 2.4 x 2.4 x 2.4m. Different materials are chosen for the exterior and interior to amplify different senses of materiality. Two opposite adjectives are chosen to describe the feelings. Aluminuim panel is used on the exterior to contrast the softness of cushion in the interior.
Work Credit: Troy Schaum, Rosalyne Shieh, Tucker Douglas, Yixin Zhou, Drew Heller, Hazal Yucel, and Ibrahim Salman.
* The projects and all the drawings are the collaboration results of: Liqi Cheung, Zhuo Pang, Lanqin Wang, Junran Yang, Jackie Young, and Yixin Zhou.
*Renderings produced by Ibrahim Salman
Object Invokes Behavior: See-Saw
The Iceberg And The Forest Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday Design, 2017 | Finalist Work Credit: Troy Schaum, Rosalyne Shieh, Tucker Douglas, Yixin Zhou and Andrea Brennan.
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ESTHER ZHOU B.E, Tsinghua University, China M.Arch, Rice University, US