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THE EDGE OF INFRASTRUCTURE 2023-2024 Thesis
THE WET SLAB 2022 Fall | Looseness: Indeterminate Architectures
PONT DE SPORT 2023 Spring | Architecture of Perimeter
Yufei Wang Rice University, M.Arch candidate
FREEWAY HOUSING 2022 Spring | Right to Housing
1-10
11-22
23-32
43-42
Email: yufwang993@gmail.com, Phone: (+1) 346-212-6511
BREATHING SCHOOL 2021 Fall | New Assembly of Primary School
ORIGAMI 2020 Fall | Super Residence for Post-Pandamic Life
SEASONAL HOUSE 2022 Fall | Timber Construction in Houston
43-54
55-60
61-64
THE EDGE OF INFRASTRUCTURE Reclamation Strategies for the Yangtze River 2023-2024 M.Arch Thesis, Individual Instructor: Nathan Friedman
Wuhan, as a city born along the Yangtze River, has been learning how to coexist with the water for thousands of years. The water crises are intensified in the contemporary and future context, including flooding, drought, urban waterlogging, and pollution. The thesis is situated on the bank of the Yangtze River in Wuhan, China, and proposes a new layer of inhabitable infrastructure responding to water crises. It argues for an ecological way of cohabitation with water, especially in a compromised climatic future. The project attempts to explore the tension between built and unbuilt (city and river), stable and indeterminacy (building and landscape), and macro and micro (infrastructure and human activities). The design strategies are deployed at different scales within the city through a designed phasing plan, including urban intervention, building facilities, and layers of green infrastructure. The integration of infrastructure and ecological factors will create a resilient environment strategically.
Traditional Watertreatment Process biogas
A influent pump station B bar screens C grit chamber D primary clarification - sedimentation tank E secondary treatment - aeration tank F final calrification - sedimentation tank G distinfection - cholorine contact / UV light exposure / ozone tank H anaerobic digestion - digestion tank I dewater - gravity belt thickener and dewater centrifuges
fertilizer
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C
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B D A
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Refined Watertreatment Process
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“C” gravel filter zone “D/E/F” sedimentation pond J floating wetland L sewer waste pipe M rainwater runoff pipe N sludge pipe
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clean effluent
biogas
Sidewalk Repavement
Gravel Filter Zone
Sedimetation Pond
Floating Wetland
Breaakwater (drought/in construction)
Breakwater (flooding/natural wetland)
“C” G “D/E/F”
landfill I J H K
B A
Green Infrastructure Intervention
L M N
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The layers of landscape strategies are implemented to replace certain processing steps in traditional water treatment, including a gravel filter zone beneath the building, a sedimentation pond separated by a gabion structure, a breakwater to claim a clean water zone from the rivers as well as facilitating the waterways and maintain river ecosystem, floating wetlands that provide flexible access to the riverfronts in different seasons. The building houses facilities in the middle and public programs like new terminals, and production spaces at two ends. Heavy facilities are lifted parallel to the rivers which minimize the footprint and water flow pressure on the structure. 4
Ferry Terminal (Second Flood)
Gravel Filter Zone
Walking on Floating Wetlands
In The Ferry
Building Intervention
Ground Floor Plan 0
5
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8km
The idea for the newly built project is it will act like a “water treatment gate” to manipulate and treat wastewater from the city to clean effluent by connecting with the existing pipe systems under the city blocks. Besides, the versatile activity platforms defined by the green infrastructure are able to pull the public flow back from the inner city to the water front. Entrances are designed to bridge the city and the rivers which align with the old port terminal buildings and the axis of city streets. 6
Indeterminate Infrastructure As a whole system, the pipes and the buildings are settled to manipulate the water flow in the city while the green infrastructures are indeterminate to seasonal changes and provide activity platforms. The adaptive design of floating wetlands offers versatile access to the riverfront, accommodating varying water levels across different seasons. During the flood season, excess water, including rainwater runoff and pre-treated sewage, will be captured and purified through multiple layers of green infrastructure. During the dry season, sludge collected from sedimentation ponds will be processed into lightweight aggregate material for constructing breakwaters. 7
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Contemporary City Axon
water bodies connected with rivers
Proposed Water Treatment Network Map
independent lakes purposed new pipe system purposed new water treatment plants
Projected City Axon
Urban Intervention Facing an urban-scale problem, the project is constructed by a designed phasing plan. On the urban scale, the proposal is to create a new type of water treatment system with the existing ones to form a network that would increase the water treatment ability. The network is constructed through the new pipes along with the river banks and the highway where it will cost minimum reconstruction in the existing urban fabric. 9
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THE WET SLAB An Environmental Machine for Living in a Climatic Future Academic Work, Group Instructor: Adam Frampton Collaborator: Ignis Zhang 2022 Fall Totalization: Looseness: Indeterminate Architecture Role in Team: research on water infrastructure, conceptual design, technical drawings, study on materials, renders, physical model making
This proposal for a housing project in Brooklyn, New York speculates living in a climatic future, where environmental forces play an active role in shaping the living environment. In 2070, increasing precipitation will displace a large population from low-lying neighborhoods of New York City, and contribute to a tropical climate. Thus, the building has a system of change based on how water can help organize living in a denser, wetter future. A “wet wall” consolidates the wet programs into a continuous band that runs alongside the slab building. This allows the wet programs to become communal when the layout of the units change to create a denser co-living living environment in the future. By doing so, the building facilitates a return to a collective culture around water, where the wet programs become a space of socialization.
Massing Strategy The sinuous, single-loaded slab typology allows the building to negotiate with the conditions on the site, curating the views and orientation of the units as it meanders, while the wet wall can effectively act as a buffer between the units and less desirable conditions such as noise from the elevated tracks. We also create larger aquatic programs such as a swimming pool and public bath in the intermediate floor at the height of the elevated tracks, which avoids the lack of privacy if living units were set on this floor. The middle portion of the building is trussed to avoid the underground rail tunnels; braced framing on both ends of the building provide lateral stability.
Ground Floor Plan
Site Strategy The building’s footprint is essentially reduced to a line on the ground floor. It creates two triangular spaces. The wet half (on the north) is devoted to water detention: it is lined with a bioswale and detention ponds with lush vegetation, which are able to store water and delay rainwater run-off in heavy precipitation; the dry half is a public plaza, which becomes an extension of the park across the street. 13
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Typical Floor Plan (Present)
Typical Floor Plan (Future)
Indeterminancy of Dometic Life At present, the building has market-rate one-bedroom and two-bedroom units with private wet programs; in the future, the building becomes communal housing with 60% more beds, where the wet programs become shared. This change in organization allows us to create more vertical connections such as the spiral stairs and double height spaces. This facilitates a more collective culture around water, where people live out their social lives around the wet programs. 15
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Interior Section Perspective (Present)
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Interior Section Perspective (Future)
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1 metal copping 2 roof drainage 3 brick cladding 4 water proof 5 rigid foam insulation 6 batt insulation 7 concrete floor 8 glulam post 9 CLT plate 10 glulam beam 11 drop ceiling with air ducts 12 water reservoir 13 batt insulation 14 shading 15 concrete footing
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Facades This system of change is enabled by a stable structure consists of mass-timber post, plates, and CLT walls. Both sides of the facades are cladded by bricks, which help the building integrate in the city context. The wet side and dry side have distinct facade conditions that respond to solar orientation; the south and west facing dry side has large windows with deep recess that provides shading; the north facing wet side has shallow openings and responds to the needs of the wet programs inside. The single-loaded slab allows effective cross ventilation to cool the building in an increasingly hot and humid future. Furthermore, all the rainwater collected from the roof, wet programs in the building, and the plaza will eventually go to the detention pond, where it will be treated on site to reduce runoff in the lower areas of the city.
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Wall Section & Partial Elevation 19
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Exterior Figures The circulation stairs and elevators are unconditioned and have their own micro-climate, with the building shielding the northern wind and the bricks’ thermal resurfacing effects, it encourages use of the outdoor stair throughout most of the year. 21
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PONT DE SPORT
Architecture of Perimeters
Academic Work, Group Instructor: Federico Pedrini Collaborator: Nicole Yip 2023 Spring Architecture Design Studio Paris: Urban Investigation Role in Team: conceptual design, diagrams, tectonic design, technical drawings, renders, physical model making
A lack of large public sports facilities within the immediate neighbourhood and Paris at large guided us in the direction to propose a public building, which would engage with users of different age levels over a range of activity types and skill levels. Focusing on urban strategy, Pont de Sport bridges over Boulevard Saint Germain to break the Haussmannian architecture and axis of 19th century Paris urban fabric, connecting two blocks of our greater site. Through the act of bridging the project faces the seine with a direct connection from river bank level to street level.
Site massing
Frame the view
Inserted light well
From street to river
Urban Strategy As one of the densest cities over the world, the urban fabric of Paris has a strict "hierarchy" system where the streets serve the Haussmannian blocks. The project approaches the hierarchy in a similar way that brings vertical street into the building as a gap. Therefore, the building is distinctly divided into two parts: the sports complex and the facilities. The gap holds the circulation elements to connect both sides while acting as an atrium. Street View from Boulevard Saint Germain
Tectonics Two different structural strategies exist within the building to further identify the spaces. A load-bearing concrete wall structure creates a rigid volume to hold the perimeter bar and the basement. A steel structure allows for large spans to create more open sports facilities. These two structures come to a meeting point at the court level of the buildings where the object of the large truss structure intersects with the concrete where the spectator area and hard court level are held together. 25
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Ground Floor Plan
Pool
24.6m 19.8m 16.5m 13.2m 9.9m 6.6m 4.3m 0m
+6 +5 +4 +3
service space
lobby/cafeteria/ spectator
office/health care
auditorium/technical
swimming/diving
fitness/multi-purpose/rock climbing
hard floor courts
roof playground
+2 +1 ground
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Longitude Section through Sport Complex
Program Matrix
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The building is meant to serve the public, engaging with users of different age levels and activity types. The sports complex is stacked on the street-facing side. The perimeter bar is defined as the space of production, holds the support spaces as acting as a buffer between the residential neighborhood and the sports complex. 28
River Bank (-2) Level Plan
Hard Court Level (+4) Plan
Cross Section
Gym Level (+2) Plan
Cross Section
Longitude Section through Gap
Section Design The sport programs work sectionally between the perimeter and sport complex and allow for an interaction between the different users. In the perimeter there is a density and rigidity in the spaces where the floor heights are more compressed and narrower. In contrast, the sport complex has higher floor plates and larger spans to accommodate a greater number of people and activities. 29
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Hard Court Level
Lobby in the Gap 30
Roof Playground
FREEWAY HOUSING
Right to Housing
Academic Work, Group Instructor: Reto Geiser Collaborator: Anna Brancaccio 2022 Spring Architecture Design Studio Role in Team: preliminary investigation, conceptual design, research on construction technology, technical drawings, architectural representation, physical model making
Sited on Rice University-owned land in Houston’s Midtown District, the project offers supportive low-income housing for university students and formerly homeless individuals as they gain stability. The site is bisected by the sunken Southwest Freeway which currently acts as a forced border for Midtown’s south end. The project investigates a design approach that mitigates this harsh site condition to bring high quality affordable housing to the rapidly gentrifying district. Housing units line the property’s perimeter, maximizing access to light and air while prioritizing the formation of a set of two large green spaces at the center. Fourfoot thick concrete walls line the freeway edge to form a sound barrier, reducing traffic noise for residents and the nearby community.
Gentrification Boundary Growth
1967
1940
City Council approved the expansion of the Midtown, expanding its boundaries.
Completion of I-45; the elevated highway marks the physical boundaries of Midtown, shrinking the footprint of Third and Fourth Ward.
2009
in progress
North Houston Highway Improvement Plan that will sink an elevated portion of the I-45, eliminating the boundary between Midtown and Downtown.
Housing Crisis in Houston
What if gentrification gave way to co-existence? Homelessness is woven into the urban landscape underneath the highway underpasses of Houston. Even though the city made significant progress in reducing homelessness over the course of the past decade, there are still many individuals who are forced to sleep rough. This is particularly visible in areas that are undergoing the early stages of gentrification, such as Midtown, which is to be turned into an innovation district. In response to this challenge, this project will tackle the development of a speculative approach to collective living with a focus on longterm support for Houston’s homeless population. “Right to Housing” is a design and research project that will address homelessness through the architectural lens of housing: reconsider the role of domestic space; and propose new typologies for multi-unit housing. 35
Site massing
Bisected by the highway
periphery and open space
city park and courtyard
Site Diagram On the northern portion of the site, the western edge of the site remains open, creating a large city park oriented towards the metro stop and bus terminal. On the southern portion, the building encloses the site, creating a courtyard serving the residents of the housing complex. 36
Woodshop
Ground Floor Plan
Street View
Second Floor Plan
What if a neighborhood was truly walkable? Total Units: 247 FAR: 2.2 ADA Units (600 ft2) : 16 SROs (Single Room Occupancy) (250 ft2): 180 Four-bedroom Units (1500 ft2): 51 37
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Rather than packing the site with a maximum quantity of housing, we sacrifice FAR and unit capacity in favor of a large park and walkable green space. The ground floor holds various publicly accessible programs to support residents and surrounding community, including wood shop, fabric shop, retail, gym, community center, job market, etc. 38
Roof Garden High-way Side SRO High-way Side SRO
Typical Unit Layout
Cross Section 12
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Typical Unit Layout (four-bedroom unit + SRO)
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Four-bedroom
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Typical Unit Layout
Organization The 8-floor building is organized with a mix of four-bedroom units and SROs, between which the patio spaces connected by the access balconies become a share space and entrances of units. The four-bedroom units are loft and organized as shifted for reducing traffic on each floor. On the high-way side, the compact SRO units are provided with shared entrances facing concrete walls and private balconies toward the courtyard/park. Open air roof accommodate public garden and mechanical rooms and the ADA units locate at the ground floor for accessibility.
Circulation
ADA Unit
The cores in this project occupy the hinge areas of each building including the vertical circulations and service spaces. All access balconies acting as horizontal circulation in the buildings face the courtyards with the exception of the units located along the highway edge to create public, open air hallways to encourage a sense of safety and community. On the enclosed side, two public staircases connect the units across different levels with the elevated courtyard.
Access Balcony
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built-in plywood furniture
concrete slab
concrete slab access balconies windows
steel frame
windows
external shading
Four-bedroom Unit Axon
What if we built for one hundred years instead of fifteen? This project adopts a steel frame structure, which allows maximized flexibility in interior space and an open-view facade. The four-bedroom units use built-in plywood furniture which provides the possibility for residents to organize their homes. In the future, they could be divided or replaced as different layouts. Furthermore, considering the design for one hundred years instead fifteen, the structure system is easy to be renovated and reused.
BREATHING SCHOOL
New Assembly of Primary School Academic Work, Individual Instructor: Brittany Utting 2021 Fall Architecture Design Studio
This project is located in 349 W 24th St, Houston,Texas. After studying the materiality and structure particularly for air circulation of the precedent (Gando Primary School), as well as the extremely hot and humid weather in Houston, the idea was proposed to make a “breathing” primary school where kids could enjoy both indoor spaces and outdoor environments. Instead traditional enclosed school space, a series of flexible thresholds blur the interior and exterior environment. The permeable proposal is not only limited to air circulation but also aims to sunlight and people circulation. By the "overscaled" consisted facades surrounding the building, fresh air would be introduced into the building to reduce the humidity. Furthermore, the light steel frame and fragmented roofs could bring more natural light in.
Space of Threshold
Space of Learning
Space of Assembly
Permeable Space Study By studying Bauhaus School Glass Facade by Walter Gropius, the operable windows were used to define the space of threshold with the ability to facilitate ventilation and protect students from outside noise if need. The idea applies to the fifth facade, the double roof system, which introduces more natural light in the interior spaces. The whole system aims to encourage students to interact with exterior environment.
Massing Strategy Two horizontal buildings and two connections between them enclose the courtyard. The classrooms and offices are elevated so the first floor with other public programs are open and accessible. Four pop-up canopies in courtyards are designed to be more dynamic where kids can enjoy the sunlight, and be protected by shade. The design language continues to the landscape area that opens to surrounding narrow neighborhoods as public green spaces after school. 45
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Second Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan
Extension All the classrooms are on the second floor with the wide semi-outdoor corridors viewing the courtyard. When the windows and doors close, students get a quiet learning space. As they open, the indoor classrooms are extended to the corridors, which helps the communication between different classes. The bridges in between not only connect the dynamic stairs in the courtyard but also connect the classroom on both sides. 47
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Longitudinal Section
Cross Section
Facade and Roof The operable panel system on the facade with air circulation gap between itself and the classrooms promotes the breathing idea. Additionally, the separated roofs with different orientations allow more lights and air to get in and the similar operable windows on them provide conditioned indoor spaces. 51
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Second Floor
Ground Floor
ORIGAMI
Super Residence for Post-Covid Life Academic Work, Group Instructor: Xia Zhang Collaborator: Mengjia Liu 2020 Fall Special Topics on Architecture Design Role in Team: preliminary investigation, conceptual design, research on construction technology, technical drawing, architectural representation
In 2019, human beings have suffered from COVID-19, and had to swich from normal living style to the "suspend mode". When our social scope change from the whole world to only one community or even our little house, we believe that responsive design with resilience can suit for both normal mode and "suspend mode". Because even during this time, people should also have the right to enjoy nature to satisfy psychological freedom. Origami is a magical game because the same paper can fold countless different forms according to different creases. Suppose that our house can change some parts of it to provide different spaces just like easily foldable sheet in our hands. While we are confined in our houses, we are rethinking our requirements and needs, along with the "Suspend Mode": green areas and gardens, exploitable rooftops, natural light, ventilation, balconies, terraces, minimal indoor environments, transitional and filtered entrances, etc. If parts of our house become foldable, individuals are allowed to customize their own space by customizing the size of sheet and creases. Also, the facades of public space are movable so that people could enjoy the outdoor environment as much as possible during pandemic.
PRE-COVID19
POST-COVID19
Pre-Covid19 intensive cluster activities happen in atrium centralized shared space physical contact activities
home
private transportation
community
outdoor entertainment
quarantine
Prototype from Creases (1) Input boundary, mountain, and valley (creases with different directions) (2) Input folding rigidity to form different forms (3) Confine some surfaces or lines to if necessary
public space
Post-Covid19 Life Shenzhen is a young city with great ecological flourish which attracted a great amount of migrants. Therefore, if such a fatal pandemic like Covid-19 happened, Shenzhen would suffer it first because of the high density of population, particularly in the high-rise buildings. After our investigation and research on demographics, we decided to provide an indeterminate housing for migrant workers and their families including all ages which could potentially satisfy both normal mode and suspend mode.
boundary mountain lines vally lines
Form Development
Post-Covid19
1. Original Shape: customize foldable area
separated cluster activities happen in foldable space dispersed household space visual-contact activities
2. Unfolded Sheet: customize boundary and creases according to function of the extra 3. Folding: fold the sheet according to the creases and form a new space 4. Assembling assemble the extra space in foldable area
Typologies of Indeterminate Space According to “A survey on the housing demand of Shenzhen people”, we concluded that these space would be needed in addition to typical housing layout: (1) semi-outdoor space to enjoy sunlights, (2) scattered public space in communities, (3) independent study room to support on-line class or work (4) a sanitary transition between home and public space.
skylight
transition 57
workstation
balcony
living room
balcony
stair 58
Cluster Plan 1F (Pre-Covid)
Cluster Plan 1F (Post-Covid)
Community Library (Pre-Covid)
Outdoor Exhibition (Post-Covid)
Cluster Plan 2F (Pre-Covid)
Cluster Plan 2F (Post-Covid)
Living Room (Pre-Covid)
Balcony (Post-Covid)
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Second Floor Plan
SEASONAL HOUSE Timber Construction in Houston
Academic Work, Group Instructor: Jesús Vassallo Collaborator: Yuhan Chen, Nino Chen, Bailey Stevens 2022 Fall Architecture Seminar: Tall Timber Role in Team: conceptual design, research on construction, technical drawings, physical model
This project attempts to explore the tectonic potential latent in timber construction systems, that adapt the potential of the technology to the specifics of Houston’s warm and humid climate. In this house, all essential programs are consolidated in the “summer house”. The cork insulation wrapped around the summer house provides great condition with less energy consumption. In winer, the shared space on the ground floor could be extended in the periphery shaded by rolling curtains.
Ground Floor Plan (Winter)
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Detail of Post and Walls Plan 61
1 rigid insulation, 1” 2 glulam post, 9” x 9” 3 CLT wall, 4” 4 cork insulation, 6” 5 wood stud, 2”x 6” 6 water proof 7 cladding joint 8 wood cladding 9 wood door frame, 9” x 4” 10 glass, 1” 11 air gap, 3”
Detail of Sliding Door Plan 62
1 metal copping 2 wood blocking, 2" x 12" 3 furring strip 4 wood clading, 1" 5 water proof 6 rigid insulation, 1" 7 glulam beam, 9" x 12" 8 wood stuck, 2" x 6" 9 cork insulation, 6" 10 CLT wall, 4" 11 purlin 12 metal nail 13 corrugated metal 14 drip edge 15 rolling curtain 16 glulam post,9" x 12" 17 hard wood flooring 18 split wood stud, 2" x 6" 19 CLT floor, 6" 20 metal joint 21 concrete base, 3' x 3'
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Post-Beam Joint
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Detail Cross Section 63
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