Zhaoxing's Architecture Portfolio

06

Culture Crossover

Light Filter

Location: Atlanta, Georgia // Type: Graduate School of New and Emerging Media Personal Exploration 2022 Summer

Second Home for Kids

Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee // Type: K-5 School // Campus-wide Competition

Tower of Interlocking

Location: New York // Type: Business School with Rented Offices Studio VIII 2021 Spring

Art Block

Studio V 2019 Fall Studio VII 2020 Fall

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Deep Skin

Construction waste has always been a vital problem for our environment and world, and it is hard to reuse construction waste as direct construction material in mid-rise or high-rise architecture. On the one hand, the weight of solid infill will be consequentially heavier when the construction goes higher. On the other hand, the infilled fragments are not fixed within the steel mesh. It then can not take any tension to span.

At this point, some precedent studies enlightened our research. In ancient Rome, Opus Craticium was described as using a wooden frame to reinforce masonry inside. Using a wooden frame not only ensured the infilled element was in place but also became the potential element to span as a part of the structure.

In this construction-based design studio, we attempted to infill a wooden truss frame with construction waste to solve this problem because the reinforcement of the wooden frame creates opportunities to span and hold lateral force while the construction waste is taking the compression force. A rotation is added to the stacking language. It not only creates potential circulation but also creates a connection between different clusters to increase stability.

As a result, we generate a mid-rise community center for the integration of race between the Aurora and Denver area, including the program of the local market, library, auditorium, gallery, and cafeteria. There is vital segregation of different races and people with various income levels. We maximized the use of local materials and chose an appropriate program based on the surrounding urban context. The use of local material would connect people’s memory together. Also, most importantly, wooden truss frames can take tension, and masonry infill can take compression. They are entirely different yet generate a new system together and can not be achieved individually. People do not need to be the same to generate something extraordinary as well. Alternatively, in other words, their differences are the key to a new and better world.

Construction detail of the precedent study from ancient Rome: Opus Craticium

Construction detail of the precedent study from ancient Rome: Opus Craticium

Iterations are based on different types of combinations between wood and stone. Among all of the iterations, rotation has a lot of potential to develop into different types of spaces

These wooden frames rotate around the center mass. They are composed of construction waste and support each other

Force analysis diagrams of two prototypical structure system show the distribution of load.

Our site locates at a place where different races of people have problems to intergrate and interact

Perspective section rendering shows the connection of different spaces

Under the facade, it us clear to see that circulation is embeded within the structure

Some parts of the ground floor is open outdoor space for local market

Section view from the other direction shows how the rotating structure turns into floor

Facade reveals the logic behind the innner truss structure and the scale of the structure decreases as height increases

Student: Zhaoxing Yang & Yifan Zhao// Reduced-Waste Assembly

The fundamental spiral structure can create complicated spatial relationship and experience

Besides the circulation, structure also combines with other programs such as library

The wooden structures spiral up around a central core composed of construction waste and they expand and become floor plates

Student: Zhaoxing Yang & Yifan Zhao// Reduced-Waste Assembly

A rendering from the auditorium shows abundant visual connection between different spaces

Student: Zhaoxing Yang & Yifan Zhao// Reduced-Waste Assembly

1:50 physical chunk model reveals real material and construction logic

This detailed model image shows the combination of circulation and structure

The carrier of media has always been constantly evolving. However, no matter how it changes its form, the fundamental spirit of media is to convey information and truth. The rise of new media accelerates this delivery process but reduces the authority and reliability of the information. It may sound like going backward, but new media makes information more tolerant and diverse for individuals. So, Students who will be future field leaders need to have their judgments and perspectives about information based on their knowledge. The truth of information could be one and only, but people are unique and diverse. This idea enlightens the project. Information is as neutral and influential as daylight. They both can become overwhelming without control. In architecture, the exact light source can create a completely different ambiance if the receivers differ. The different volumes and misaligned floor plates reform the skylight into various conditions to suit different functions.

Moreover, the transparency of the ground floor creates an exciting contrast between heaviness and lightness. There is an illusion of the concrete mass floating above nothing. From carved slates to printed books, the media carrier has always had a sense of heaviness in its blood—however, the evolution of new media free media from its physical weight. The contrast of the façade also represents this contrast between conventional media and new media.

Light Filter

Project Type: Graduate School of New and Emerging Media Site: 150 Walton St NW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Project Area: 62000 Square Feet

The birds eye view shows that the different types of apertures get daylight into varies floors from above

Circulation mainly distributed around atrium spaces Smaller programs stacks on and between larger public programs

Typology Evolution

Site plan of the project

The contrast between concrete and glass creates a sense of floating heaviness

Pedestrians walked by have direct visual connection to the underground gallery

Perspective section drawing shows the relationship between skylights and different spaces

Diverse spaces share a same light source but can recieve that same light into different ways, and it is similar to the relationship between people and media information

Second Floor Plan Third Floor Plan

0 20 40(ft)

Inside the media studio, students have direct vew of the central atrium. The simple vision helps to eliminate distraction and create immersive feeling

Linear patterns on the curve concrete wall subtly reflect gentle daylight into the underground gallery and leisure space

Student: Zhaoxing Yang // Graduate School of New and Emerging Media

A shaft of sunlight falls on the curve surfaces and creates soft lighting for the central atrium

The profile of walls, floors and ceilings somehow become coherent and harmonious

Student: Zhaoxing Yang // Graduate School of New and Emerging Media

The other media auditorium is more enclosed beacuse it is mainly illuminated by skylight

One of the media auditorium is nearby the outdoor green space

Outdoor pathways connect different area and people can enjoy the view of outdoor greenery on their journey

One point perspective view of the media auditorium nearby the outdoor green space

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Most K-5 schools in Chattanooga are in the suburban area. It is inconvenient for parents who work in the central area. However, most businesses and offices locate there. A K-5 school is needed at the center of Chattanooga for parents to pick and drop their kids on the way to works.

At kindergarten and elementary school, kids first time get the opportunity to socialize with others and explore the world by themselves. Based on their age and their time in school, school means a second home for them. As a second home, it will not be a place that restricts their nature and activities. It will not be a boring and rigid place and will not be a place that disappoints them. Instead, a school could be a bright and warm place with sufficient natural sunlight, a place they can have fun without worrying about the weather, a place will never make them feel bored.

This project intends to arrange students’ life around the central atrium by pushing educational programs on two sides and leaving living space around the light well. Also, the vertical spatial relationship in this building follows the stepped form to ensure abundant natural daylight. Major interactive programs such as the library, the dining area, and the indoor playgrounds directly connect to the atrium. Besides, staircases are designed on various scales, and they intersect with the atrium and outdoor playgrounds. Staircases are no longer merely a part of the circulation. Kids can use them as places to hang out and have fun. They can also provide shading if the sunlight is too strong. Nevertheless, outdoor playgrounds are distributed across the whole building through three platforms of different heights. They connected to one another and to indoor playgrounds so that kids can switch their activities easily.

Second Home for Kids

K-5 School in Chattanooga Arranges Kids' Life Around light and Circulation

Project Type: K-5 School Site: 807 Georgia Ave, Chattanoga, Tennesee

Project Area: Around 76000 Square Feet

Student: Zhaoxing Yang // K-5 Elementary School Spire Competition

Perspective section drawing shows how kids interact with different spaces

This building now has an appropriate form to interact with the sun angle at the site through a series of splitting, extruding, and rotating. Most of the natural sunlight is captured into the central atrium space. Also, because of the stepped form and various staircases, sunlight can reflect between different surfaces, so the atrium has a softer brightness for activities.

Exploded Axon drawing shows the diagram of circulation and program

Outdoor Playground Circulation Path Entrance

Classroom Vertical Egress Auditorium Laboratory

The library is directly open to the central atrium space Fourth Floor

The dining area gets sufficient natural daylight from the central atrium

Three levels of outdoor playgrounds are connected to one another

Exterior Rendering expresses that the confliction of different materials creates a floating feeling.

Student: Zhaoxing Yang // K-5 Elementary School Spire Competition

Interlocking is one of the most effective methods to shape interesting forms and complex architectural spaces. However, interlocking, in many cases nowadays, does not serve any function besides the consideration of appearance. This design could be regarded as an experiment. In order to create meaningful interlocking spaces. This design regenerates a building that pursues the idea of interlocking from inside to outside. The interlocking appearance needed to rely on some inner purpose. In this particular design, the arrangement of inner programs decided its outlook. Programs were interlocked based on the convenience of people who use this building. Working spaces interlock into the volume of leisure spaces; outdoor public spaces interlock into other indoor programs. As a business school, this design took one step further. It interlocks with rented offices to generate a new type of business school that combines practice and knowledge. The project itself is the result of this exploration.

Tower of Interlocking

Project Type: Business School with Rented Offices Site: 173 Broadway, New York

Project Area: Around 700000 Square Feet

The site is nearby the subway entrance and it has direct connection to the underground area of Lower Manhattan

This new business school will become examplary prototype for the surrounding commercial area and other conventional business schools

Typology

Birds eye view shows that the misaligned volume provide sufficent sunlight at diferent outdoor terraces

diagram explains the concept of interlocking

Perspective section renderings from both direction reveal the concept of interlocking

Program involving most people such as dining spaces, library and ourdoor leisure spaces interlocks between other programs to encourage interaction among people

Southeast facade view

South facade view

Southwest facade view

Underground food market directly connects to the Day Street concourse

A Photo of the street view represents the contrast between the project and the surrounding context

Students who come out from event hall have direct access to the outdoor green space at 7th floor

The

staircase serves as

leisure space to influence

Atlanta is home to many galleries and museums. Besides the High Museum, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is also important and influential. However, the size of the existing structure restricted its possibilities, so it needs an expansion. This Expansion will be on the site of the North Ave MARTA Station. It will expand the Contemporary's capacity to engage the public by appreciating contemporary art and maintaining its participation in shaping the public realm.

In this proposal, the building's volume is split into four pieces with different shapes based on diverse programs. The main gallery space contrasts with the rest parts' solid language and floats above those four components. In this way, people are free to walk around the whole site, and this building will not disturb pedestrian traffic. The cylindrical main gallery's strong geometry and the conical aperture at the center congregate all four components into one cohesive design.

Moreover, this design involves different commercial and dining programs at the ground and underground level to cooperate with the MARTA System. These plazas do not only bring more convenience to people who intend to visit the gallery; they also shape a glance of this art center for others who pass by.

Art Block

New Atlanta Contemporary Art Center Dredges Pedestrian Traffic and Makes the Whole Block Worth Staying

Project Type: Contemporary Art Center Site: 713 W Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, Georgia Project Area: 75500 Square Feet

Buildings with diverse programs and functions surround this site. Also, because it directly connects to North Avenue MARTA station, all kinds of pedestrian flow intersect. However, there are no proper public gathering spaces around this site to attract people to stay.

Ponce De Leon Ave NE

Spring St NW Peachtree St NE

North Avenue NE

Art galleries could mean more than just spaces for display. This art center congregates many commercial, administrative, and educational functions to make people stay longer than a regular tour. All these functions attract people from surrounding areas to come here. This art center now becomes an art block.

Bobby Dodd Stadium

Fox Theatre

Gallery Cafe

Shopping

Programs and the form are split at the ground level. This treatment leaves pedestrians enough space to interact with the site. The conical shape and the rounded aperture create a strong visual language to congregate all fragments into one design

Perspective section cut diagonally shows how different kinds of gallery spaces get distributed around the central space

Exploded axon drawing shows the circulation diagram

0 15 45(ft) 30

The perspective section shows the relationship between the central plaza and surrounding spaces.

Elevations show how the fragmented language contrasts with the surrounding context

People who take MARTA transit have direct access to the underground commercial plaza

All platforms have visual connections to the central gallery space

The entramnce of the subway becomes a part of the design and pedestrians will have a glence of the central gallery through frosted glass

The central gallery space is filled with sufficient natural light and the circulation here connects all parts of the building volumes together

Corian, as an integrated material of plastic and mineral substance, can bend and reform while keeping its stiffness. This project is an exploration of its possibility in architectural discourse. Through the process of different fabrication methods, including laser cutting, CNC milling, thermoforming, and robotic arm flocking, our group tries to design a dynamic façade system that reveals the beauty of material and fabrication. The final design is a double façade system that covers two floors and two bays. Different depth of each layer creates visual richness with engraved surfaces and painting style. Orange camouflage-style paintings create various perceptions of the façade based on the different observation distances. The aggressive form of the inner side of the façade creates legible space and functions, such as planting space, for users to interact with the façade system. These activities endow this two-dimensional façade with a threedimensional meaning. The final model is a one-to-one scale façade chunk to celebrate the excellent cooperation between the formal language, the material's smoothness, and the fabrication's complexity.

Deep Skin

Project Type: Facade Design Site: NA(Digital Experiment)

Project Area: It's a Part of a Facade Covering Two Floors and Two Bays

Generating different compositional studies based on the physical collision simulation in Maya and translate them into potential facade system Refining surfaces in Blender and create vusual complexity by adding various patterns

Making physical color swatches containing multiple layers on acrylic panels Vacuum form PVC prototypes to test out different combination of patterns and forms

Using robotic arm to apply flock fiber with differnt color on the thermorformed acrylic panels and assembling them together as a 10” by 15” small scale prototype model

The flock fiber finishing helps to make the color and texture look vivid and dynamic

The design developes into a double facade system covering two floors and two bays and most of panels facing up are transparant to provide abundant natural daylight

The pattern may have an abstract feeling when people are close to the facade, but if people look at it as a whole from a distance, it has a strong directionality

Different layers of the facade work together to create a visual depth from both inside and outside

The facade system interacts with the floor plate to create different uses of spaces

Visual connection between different space make people perceive the complexity of the design

The use of metal material as frame creates reflective visual effect to enrice the spactial atmosphere

The asssembley drawing of the 1:2 scale 2’ by 5’ final model, and this model is a selected chunk of the final facade design

Disassembled rendering shows the idea of creating differnt layers to create visual complexity

Renderings of the prototype from different angles

Robotic arm is used as coloring tool to apply glue and flock fiber on the surfaces and many kinds of patterns are tested to adjust its accuracy

The curving form has dramatic change to keep the whole combination dynamic

Here is the final physical model of the 1:2 scale 2’ by 5’ prototype made with 6” Corian and 3” transparant acrylic, and we decided to maintain its original appearance to appriciate its unique

Each piece of the Corian panel is carved by CNC machine and manually thermoformed with framework underneath

unique materiality

Detail shots of the model