Zijie Nie Portfolio by Zijie Nie

[ In-Site ]

NIE ZIJIE'S PORTFOLIO

FOR JOB APPLICATION

Bachelor of Architecture, Southeast University Master of Architecture, Cornell University Address: Apt5002, 120 Valentine PL, Ithaca, NY, 14850

—photo credit to Michael Wolff

CONTENTS

It was a story of origins—a creation story, in fact—a tale about the modern rage for perpetually new beginnings, fresh starts and makeovers; in short, a story about the genesis of genesis. —Herbert Muschamp, New York Times, February 28, 2007

[NATURALITY & ARTIFICIALITY]

[SPIRITUAL IN WORLDLY]

[DRAWING]

—Lost In Market & Processing Works

—Thermal Bath

—Buddhist Museum

[PHOTOGRAPH] —Shadow & Light

In China, cities are faced with a common problem that they are becoming increasingly the same. There are two main reasons for this problem. The first is the demolishment of the old buildings, the other is

[MULPLICITY OF WALLS]

—Xichong Memorial Centre

[PARALLEL SPACE] —E-Waste Treatment Plant

[CLIMATE SHELTER] —Camsur Capitol

interests me the most is how can we create a building which is both native and universal. 20 In this portfolio, I discussed several kinds of solutions to different urban problems, all of which are 22

related to the memory of the place. Every here and now in a place is so unique and open to the interpretation of individual designs. Choices, such as to blend or to distinguish, to assimilate or to resist, not only insert personalities into places but also enable me as a designer to better understand who I

[GENERATING THE GONELAND] —2020 Evolo Competition

that forms of many buildings do not generate from the place, but the contemporary aesthetics. What

really am and where my link to a place is, and that is exactly what I expect to find in my further study.

01 NATURALITY & ARTIFACIALITY Thermal Bath Translation of nature and artifact Solo Project, Tutor: Alejandro Beals & Loreto Lyon 08/2018-12/2018, Location: Ithaca, NY, America

We, as architects, are constantly confronted by this paradox: we design spaces, voids to be lived and occupied, but what define such spaces are the physical and tangible properties of matter: its resistance, weight, shape, joints, texture, colour. What materials are used and how they are combined, defines the experience of space. Therefore, my project is to explore how a single material and a constructive method, its structure and details, can bestow a particular atmosphere condition. Also, how materiality can relate a pieve of architecture to the histories and narratives of a place.

[ NATURALITY ]

Plan of Stewart Park

Section of Stewart Park 02

Salt Storage

[ ARTIFICIALITY ]

Ridge Skylight

Wood Shingles Ventilation Window

Wood Entrance

The structure of the salt storage shares some similarities with the w i l l ow. T h e w o o d f r a m e a l s o contain a kind of tension inside of itself. Meanwhile, the thinness of the wood frame strenghtens this feeling of tension. The wood structure is restricted by the concrete walls, so that it will not collapse by the lateral force. As a result, the fragility of wood structure and the stability of concrete walls can form a new kind of tension.

Wooden Ribs(Main)

Wooden Ribs(Secondary) Wood Truss

Concrete Wall

Wood Dome on Concrete The dark brown wood panels are dyed by piles of coals year by year, so that they become more and more similar with those coals. Moreover, the coal also gives the dome a new texture that changes gradually. Structure & Material From outside, the doom is heavy and closed, while inside is light. The light comes from the window makes the interior bright. 03

[ COMBINATION ]

Structure & Material

The iron wires reinterpret the tension between the wickers and the ground. The iron wires can collapse at anytime because of the elasticity. Therefore, the elasticity gives a strong tension betwee iron wires and ground.

The curves perfectly depict the tension of the wickers. Thus, the combinition of various curves compose the shape of the void.

Arch structure with light wooden frame can make the building look as light as possible. Even after covered by a heavy dome, there will only be some thin wood structures exposed. The strong contrast between heavy and light makes it even lighter.

Structure & Material

[ STRUCTURE & MATERIAL ] 3

5 7

5 5

5 1 2 5 5

4 1 2 3 4 5 6

Lobby Rest Area Shower Room Fitting Room Sauna Room Swimming Pool

Ground Floor Plan

11 8

7 8 9 10 11

Restaurant 35℃ Pool 38℃ Pool 40℃ Pool Children's Pool

First Floor Plan 05

[ STRUCTURE & MATERIAL ]

Merging in Nature Although the construction of the thermal bath destroy many trees in the site, but the building can provide people with a similar feeling of inside the nature. Moreover, the shape of the building also can merge in the forest with trees. Even the concrete walls in the ground floor are hided by the ground.

02 SPIRITUAL IN WORLDLY Buddhist Museum Study About Buddhist Culture in Putuo Solo Project, Tutor: Guo Yimin, Zhang Junjie, Liu Haiyang 03/2017-06/2017, Location: Putuo, Zhejiang, China

With the fade of the Buddhism, there is few modern Buddist buildings in China. People's impressions upon the Buddhist buildings are always ancient and traditional, so the Buddhism is gradually away from the most people. I intend to interpret the traditional Buddhist buildings into modern architecture language, so that people can get close to the Buddhism again. How to use a brand new space experience to express the spirit of the Buddhism is the key point in my museum.

TEMPLES symbols of the Putuo Island

Huiji Temple

Fodong Temple

Fayu Temple

Xiangyun Temple

Shancai Temple

Puji Temple

Changle Temple

Yueling Temple

HIERACHIES in most Chinese temples

Ground hierachy

Plan hierachy

Section hierachy

Guangji Temple

Yue Temple

Dule Temple

Different elevations of the ground represents different hierachies.

Different layers of the plan represents different hierachies.

Different floors of the building represents different hierachies.

Cultural Background The site locates on the Putuo Island, which is famous for Buddism. Putuo is one of the four Buddhist holy lands and now famous for three temples on the island: Huiji, Fayu and Puji temples. There is a main route connecting them together, and the site is also on this route. Therefore, the museum is intended to be another important symbol of the island.

Hierachy In most Chinese temples, hierachy is one of the most important construction principles, which emphasizes the order of the universe, including ground hierachy, plan hierachy and section hierachy. So the translation of different hierachies become the key word in my museum. 07

[ GROUND HIERACHY ]

Exhibitions space Zen-experiencing space Lighting & transportation space Rampway

Roof greening with grass

Traditional Ground Hierachy In traditional Chinese temples, Buddha sculptures are always on the highest elevation of the room. Moreover, since temples were built on the slope of the mountain, their grounds tend to get higher building by building. Typically, the most forward building's level is the lowest, and the building in the middle of the sequence is the most important.

Walking path & platform

Inner Ground

Contemporary exhibition Storage

Restaurant & Tea bar Office

Historical documents reading

The original ground of the site, which only has two levels.

Amplifying the levels of the ground.

Reorganizing the ground, determing the main space's level. Transitional space

External Ground

Spiritual space

Worldly space

The old temple in the site

Ground & Roof Putting the spiritual space and lighting yards onto the ground.

Adding the roof to make up for the destroyed topography.

Growing plants on the roof and making it merge into the nature.

The lowest and the highest ground represents the worldly space, including restaurant, historical documents reading space, the contemporary exhibition, office and the storage. But the ground in the middle represents the spiritual space for exhibitions. The roof faithfully reflects the change of the inner ground's elevations, and hides the main body of museum under the external ground. 08

[ PLAN HIERACHY ] Traditional Temple

Modern Museum Bottom Floor Representational Simplistic Directionality Dim Single-scale Single-activity

Upper Floor

Abtract Complex Omnibearing Changable light Multi-scales Rampway

Multi-activities

It guides people from spiritual space to the worldly space. When people go down, they can see the opposite sea

The plans of the traditional temples are divided into three layers, and the central space is the most important as the place for the Buddist sculptures. The outermost space is used as corridor, which represents the lowest level. In the museum, the hierachies are amplified, so it can provide more functions and experience. Moreover, the importance of the central space can be better intensified.

Plaza People can choose to go on the roof or into the building

Cargo Entrance The gravestones of the old Buddhist monks

Main Entrance

Secondary Entrance

Tianfu Nunnery

+3.0m Floor Plan

An old hut dating from Qing Dynasty

Gravestone

+6.0m Floor Plan 1 2 3 4 5

Lobby Restaurant Introducing Space Buddhist Music Displaying Zen-Experiencing

6 7 8 9 10

Historical Documents Reading Historical Relic Store Exhibition Store Store Power Distribution Room

+10.0m Floor Plan 11 12 13 14 15

Motor Room Equipment Room Information Consulatation Sculpture of Buddha Exhibition Contemporary Exhibition

16 17 18 19 20

Janitor's Room Guard Room Office Meeting Room Multimedia

+14.0m Floor Plan

The gravestones of the old Buddhist monks

21 Cultural Relic Exhibition 22 Painting Exhibiton 23 Souvenir Sale

[ SPIRITUAL & WORLDLY ] Scale I

III

S Buddhist music displaying

lighting corridor

Zen-experiencing

Buddhist sculptures exhibition

W restaurants

historical documents reading

contemporary exhibition

The size of spiritual space differs from large to extremely narrow, endowing visitors with variable experience. In contrast, that of worldly space is basically appropraite for people without many changes.

Spiritual

Light

The Zen-experiencing space is used for people to experience the power of the zazen. They can see the reflection of the sky on the water, and water is the most bright part in the space. This scene will enlighten people to meditate.

S zen-experiencing

Buddhist sculptures exhibition

cultural relic exhibition

W restaurants

historical documents reading

contemporary exhibition

The light of spiritual space is mostly indirect and dim, creating a myterious and ritualistic atmosphere. In contrast, that of worldly space is bright, which is enclosed mostly by glasses.

Activity S zen-experiencing

sculpture of Buddha exhibition

cultural relic exhibition

W restaurants

historical documents reading

contemporary exhibition

The activities in spiritual space include zen-experiencing and various budda-related exhibitions, which are quiet and still. In contrast, that in worldly space include restaurants, reading and temporary exhibition, which are relatively active.

Worldly The historical documents reading space is open to the old temple in the site. The conversation between the old and new building further displays the museum's connection with the Buddhism. 10

[ SECTION HIERACHY ]

Dim (display paintings )

Dark (display cultural relics)

Darkest (display sculpture of Buddha)

Classified Lighting The hierachy in section means that the lighting condition of each floor in spiritual space is different. The light gets brighter than that downstairs, which indicates people that they are getting close to the outer world. Moreover, each floor corresponds to one certain exhibition according to its lighting condition. The sculpture of Buddha is suitable for artificial light, so its light is darkest. The painting is suitable for natural light, so its lighting condition is the best among the three floors.

Worldly Spiritual

Worldly

Section B

Section A

Narrative Seqence People will experience the process from worldly space(entrance) to spiritual space(exhibition). When getting to the top floor of the museum, they will finally come back to the worldly space(nature) again. The light will change from bright to dim, then from dim to bright again, so that people can feel the purifying process for their souls that the Buddism brings to them. 11

03 MULTIPLICITY OF WALLS Xichong Memorial Centre Dapeng Bay Cemetery Area Architectural Design Group Project, Co-Worker: Jiani Suo; My role: cooperated in everything, Tutor: Zhang Tong 04/2016-06/2016, Location: Shenzhen, China

In Xichong Memorial Centre, I have discussed the meanings of the walls. The idea comes from the form of the cemetery, which has tiers of gravestones. I intend to portray my architecture as a monument, in memorial of the dead and the history of the Xichong checkpoint. Since this area also funtions as tourist attraction, it has two kinds of emotionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;relaxed and grief. Moreover, the architecture has to satisfy different kins of functions. Therefore, the walls should be divided into different kinds to correpond to various requirements.

Xichong Memorial Center coexists with old Xichong checkpoint

Footbridge-Tourism

Xichong Checkpoint-History

Cemetery-Sweeping Tombs & Funeral

Multi-functions The site is located beside the Dapeng-Bay cemetery and the Xichong checkpoint. Also, there will be an overline bridge go through this site. How to integrate these three elements as a whole is the key for our design.

mourning people The project is aimed to mourn the dead in the cemetery, I want to create two emotions in my architecture, so that people can be affected by the active space to recover from the grief as soon as possible.

tourists

[ Condition & Requirements of Site ] Dapeng Bay Cemetery

Three Periods of Checkpoint

In use The checkpoint cuts down the road

Deserted Cars get through on checkpoint's abolishment

Renovated The cemetery can be arrived by bus

Bus station will be built for the cemetery

A footbridge will be built as a landscape line

The footbridge passes by the checkpoint

The footbridge's branch leads to the cemetery

City Planning

Subway will pass through the whole cemetery Route

Connect the bus station with cemetery

Open & Closed The project is faced with the highway and between two mountains. So the architecture should be away from the road to reduce the effect of the noise. However, the site is rather narrow, that's the reason why I choose a linear method to design. For passerbys, the building will be like a retaining wall beside the highway. For mourning people, the linear wall will guide them to enter the cemetery.

[ Walls-Study ] Emotions of Walls

Comparison By comparing different wall-space in scale and end, I find that they have certain relation with the space emotions:

Spirit

Border

Activity

monument of death

division of space

footpath for visitors

Overseas Chinese

Wall

Citizen

Body

Mountain

Visitor

Relative

Rock

Walking

Sweeping Tomb

Plant

Car

Sea

III

End

Death

Life

Running

Highway

Mourning

Life

Death

Commemorate

Scale

checkpoint (old building)

Intersect

Bend

Centralize

The walls bend to form different r o u t e s , a n d t h e h i g hway i s connected with the cemetery.

The central space is used as mourning hall. It represents the spirit of the location.

Overlap

Scale Different space between walls represent different functions, creating a new border for the valley.

The overlapped space have two directions, which also means two different atmospheres.

The taller the space is, the emotion of it can be more nagetive. The shorter the space is, its emotion can be more active.

End The dim and closed end can make the emotion of mystery and stifling. The open and bright end can make the emotion of comfortable and pleasure 16

[ Space Organization ] The ground floor is mostly used for exhibition and rest. It will display the history of the people who buried in the Dapengwan cemetery. The old Xichong checkpoint will be transformed into a service center which can provide food and consulting service.

The first floor is mainly used for mourning ceremony. It contains a large mourning hall and several private mourning rooms. Outside the mourning hall serves as the information consultation

ground floor

Spirituality People will mourn the death of their relatives here, the light on the platform can offer them with comfort. The increasing tendency of space to get larger makes the platform more holy and spiritual

first floor

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

loby cafe exhibition I rest area exhibition II exhibition III business equipment room office yard waiting hall information consultation

13 14 15 16 17 18

contemporary exhibition mourning hall consultation service restaurant private mourning room guard room 17

The wall also serves as the showcase The skylight prevents the direct light into the lobby

Differences In Walls Since different walls should represent different functions, so they have to differ from each other in distance, height and thickness. The distance of the walls is decided by the visitors flowrate. The heights of the walls are decided by the layers and the requirement of the form. The thicknesses of the walls are decided by the functions, with the thickened walls can also function as showcase, seats and acoustical insulation. 18

04 PARALLEL SPACE E-Waste Treatment Plant Ecological Building in Roosevelt Island Group Project, Co-Worker: Guoyu Wang, Junda Liu, Haoming Wu; My role: cooperated in everything Tutor: Tei Carpenter, Jesse LeCavalier 06/2018-07/2018, Location: Roosevelt Island, NYC, USA

The e-waste has been increasing every year. The environment problem and health problem caused by it are threatening many people's life. The aim of our project is to discuss how to develop a system to digest main kinds of e-waste and convert them to some basical materials that can be used again. The project is located on the south of Roosevelt Island, so the huge consumption of e-waste by NYC people can provide the building with enough "food". We propose that the machine and people should have their own circulation, so that the efficiency of program can be promoted and fewer people need to be used.

[ Self-Sufficient ] Past

Now

65%

95%

70%

98%

tpu

30% 5%

Marketplace for resale

56%

50% 60%

tpu

89% 95%

Popularity of Cellphones

w ss

LC D

Inp

n stio

Sorting for Storage

ey idn

g :Dige e,K un t erv ,N C:L rdan V od idney P eta o l R d:B m:K rain Lea ldiu ry:B Ca ercu M

u ng rod eli te p of ted d s Mo Wa delsribu 3D g E- mo ont c n e i s Us maknicuals to ctroivid eleind by

red

Magnetic Separation

ine

ard

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e ea Ar themad ion ks inare s tothe t i t hib or rea tis ut Ex artwn a y ar abo o b le i e t i . e Thhib ast eop ess ex e-wte p roc of uca ng p edcycli re

Micr obial Treatment

Shredding

gP ro ce s

c Cir

LCD Treatment

din

ld ou ing e at c ess ass c c l a h l tp s t proin G et rke terieinto ore ark a M bat ut st e m e p be th Th t beuld eate noe coo cr lin lls t waace. sp

Plastic Pyrolysis

Tre atm en tL bia ine lP ro ce ss Lin e

cro

cts

E-Waste Center for Collection

Thailand Kenya Malaysia Taiwan Hongkong

CD tL

ith

Repair and Refurbish

Community Dropoff Locations

70%

n ee ce pa c scrbe S i d o se ron d t o x-u ect cte e t . Mi e el olle pac tion m c s nc Son be peni-fu cat in o ult serve m se

2 The U.S. North Africa Nigeria

India Taiwan Malaysia Hongkong

Melting

2 1

1 Mix-used Space

E-Waste Processing The e-product has been more and more popular in every family, so the treatment of e-waste has become a severe problem. Most of the e-waste will be transported to some asian or african countries for treatment. Due to the poor protection, many people's life are threatened by the e-waste. In our program system, the plastic, glass, LCD and battery will enter different loops, part of which may share some same

2 3D Moldeling 3 Marketplace 4 Exhibition Area 5 Conveyor Tube for Glass 6 Conveyor Tube for Circuit board 7 Sh Shredding Processing Line (Recycling) 8 Microbial Treatment and LCD Treatment Line (Disposal)

processing programs. Finally the output of the program will be saled for reuse. Some of them will go back to the loops to help the treatment process. 20

[ Parallel Space ]

05 CLIMATE SHELTER Camsur Capitol Ecological Capitol Building CAZA Project, My role: graphic drawings & model photos Internship Works 10/2019-12/2019, Location: Camsur, Philippine

This project is aimed to represent the classic image of Camsur, so we choose a typical vegetation here, which called pilly nut, as our form unit. We stack various units together to correspond to the shape of the mountain behind. The biggest challenge in this design is how to cope with the severe climate in this area. First, we use solar panel and metal mesh to compose our skin system. The distribution of the solar panels is based on the building's lighting condition. Therefore, the excess heat can be absorbed as energy used in the building, and the dark part will allow more lighting and wind with the cover of metal mesh. Second, the basement of the building is a huge shelter. It will provide water and energy collected from the shell system when disasters come.

06 CULTIVATING THE GONELAND

Problem Affected by global climate change, many countries and regions are suffering from sea-level rise problems, where people are losing their lands, plants and animals are losing their homes. The design is based in Kiribati, an island country in the South Pacific. This reef-preserving country is particularly vulnerable to the rising sea level issues, and its territory is thought likely to disappear within the next 60 years. The design proposes to constructs a series of wall-like skyscrapers in the offshore waters, and combats the problems caused by rising sea levels in three aspects. ocean current

2020 Evolo Competition Group Project, co-worker: Zijie Nie, Chen Shen, Jian Zheng My role: graphic drawings & design & 3D model Location: Kiribati

We hope that through this design, we will challenge the traditional architectural design thinkingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;generating land first, then architecture. It provides a new building mode for Kiribati and other regions faced with the same sea-level-rise problemâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;growing land with buildings.

Creating Land First, by studying the erosion of the coast and the direction of the ocean currents, the design of the architectural massing is used to slow down the speed of the ocean currents flowing around the building. With such method, the sand and mud in the water are able to deposit as sediment and gradually cultivate the new islands over time.

Generating Land Through Plan

Ocean current will be slowed down when entering from a narrow entrance into a pocket space. Therefore, the sand in the current will deposit here.

Generating Land Through Section

More and more sands will finally form a wetland in the pocket space.

Ocean current cannot flow out from the pocket space because of the wall. Thus, current will accumulate here, and sand will form the new land.

Only when the elevation of water is higher than wall, part of the water can slowly flow away.

Second, the land starts to form. The metal net underwater between two buildings will help the coral reef to survive.

Third, the lands gradually become lar ger. And the coral reef will continue to accumulate.

Finally, the whole land will be formed. Meanwhile, the endangered coral reef will be well preserved.

Timeline Of Generating The Land

First, ocean current flow into the pocket space.

Living unit

Preserve Coral Reef Preserve Trees

Preserve Seeds

Convert Goneland to Flowing Units

Vertical Ecosystem

With the design of skyscraper, land area submerged by seawater was transferred to the air, and thousands of residential units were built in the air to provide a place for people to live and use, protecting them from natural disasters such as hurricane and flood.

While constructing a vertical ecosystem to provide greening for people living in it, it can also become a seed bank for retaining plant diversity in Kiribati and other South Pacific regions. Meanwhile, a large number of artificial components located between underwater structures can be a place for coral reef's protection and regeneration. 25

OTHER WORKS Drawing

Lost in Market

Processing Work

We assume a plan for the future market that people have already forgotten to walk in the city. They can freely wander in the market without worrying about the exit. Because they can always find the exit through the big gardens which penetrate into the market, and lead the way out.

I first put hundreds of points randomly in the screen. Then I use cos and sin function to control the points run in a curve trace. The trace they have passed will not disappear, so that different traces can overlap together to form different lightness of the curves.

Photograph

Shadow

Light

I try to represent the image of the tombstones in Seljuk period in Armenia. So I use the frame to hold many small panels, which can represent the abstract images of tombstones. When they combine together, they can cast the shadow of the image of past Seljuk tombstones in Armenia.

This is a photo of Noguchi's paper lantern. The soft light just like the waves. However, they are actually the combinition of cones. The contrast between the soft and sharp right presents the property of paperâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;soft but sharp.