University of Cambridge Architecture BA(Hons) 2019-2022
JINGZHI YANG
Grassroots Community Art Center in Venice
WHOLE IN ONE
Community Food Hub in London
DWELL TO MINGLE
Hostel for the Homeless in Cambridge
THROUGH THE LIGHT
Nuclear Bunker Renovation in Cambridge
OTHER SELECTED WORK
Academic and Internship work sample images
IN & OUT
MIXED-USE | GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY ART CENTER
A grassroots community art center in Venice, IN&OUT reenacts the hidden historical landsea-ropery entry link of the Arsenal’s boatmaking past, but breaks away from its previously shielded and protected nature in bringing ‘making’ visible and accessible to the public. The proposal respects the site’s courtyard typology in its massing, but no longer stays selfenclosed and inward-facing. Instead the ropery facades, the water and land frontages and historical link are engaged via two wings. The
exhibition/studio wing works like the Venetian loggia, and with the addition of the new bridge becomes an extension of the public street; the classroom wing performs as the lantern-like StMark’s tower in introducing a rooftop experience close to the Venetian perimeter wall and eliciting two-directional gazes back to the city fabric.
Placing art-making, learning and exhibiting under one roof, the two wings work in relation to each other to create a series of journeys that both bring people in and spill the space out.
DETAILED SURVEY DRAWING OF SITE FACADES
Unfolding the physical and material quality of the site; *work done in collaboration with studiomates
PHOTO BOOKLET
City and site impression of studio trip to Venice
FILM
The interconnection of audio, visual and tactile senses in the encounter with Venetian Wall; Gradual revelation and journeying through a landscape
HULL MAKING CAULKING MASTS
WEAPONS
Study of historical map that unveils the boatmaking sequence of Arsenale; The significance of the site as the entry poi to the adjacent ropery; with both sea and land doors that allow movement of goods and people LAND ENTRANCE
RESEARCH AND PROJECT INSPIRATION
Original sea-land-interior ink remain hidden and ambiguous during the site visit Detailed survey of of floor reveals the underlying logic of space: The route of paving stones to the sea door staircase comes directly from the middle the land door entrance
DEVELOPMENT DIAGRAM
Respect the site typology as a courtyard by keeping the ropery facade open, while breaking away from its self-enclosed, inward facing nature by engaging with the water&street frontage and drawing people in through the land-sea-interior link
EXHIBITION/STUDIO WING THE LOGIA CLASSROOM WING THE TOWER
STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT MODELS
Simplification of timber frame structure; circulation route development in maximsing usable spaces and taking people up to rooftop
MASSING DEVELOPMENT MODELS
Consideration of different height relationships with the free-standing perimeter wall, ways of bringing people upwards to the rooftop and various massing relationships
FACADE DEVELOPMENT MODELS
Challenge of shading at its public facade while ensuring a visual transparency and permeability
SECTION
Occupation of the two wings; A series of journey through the logia (public route), the courtyard, the interior and the rooftop
MODEL DISPLAY
Relationship with the ropery facade, the water&land frontage and the sea-land-interior link
Views, entries and journeys
WHOLE IN ONE
MIXED-USE | COMMUNITY FOOD HUB
A response from the site visit food-findingfrustration and subsequent area research, , Whole In One is a food hub that takes care of the food cycle from growing to consumption, and in doing so providing access to nature and communal focal point that the residentialindustrial area so desired yet lacked. The project retrofits the listed Bromley Hall school - the new programme working closely with the existing layout of specific spaces surrounding communal area and is imagined with reference to existing organisation in Poplar. Assigned precedent study of Nevill Holt Opera by WWM
Architects provide inspiration on dealing with interior exterior relationship and creating unity and integrity in spaces. Intervention includes deconstruction of parts to give space back to the formal, material and lighting nuances of the original space and create a more integrated communal area. Peeling away of roof slates in some parts helps to create lantern-like dinning hall and greenhouses. Th community food hub is more than individual spaces for food grower, maker and diner, but where the boundary of these is blurred, the food cycle is interconnected and the community is build.
YEAR 3 STUDIO 1 | INDIVIDUAL | POPLAR, LONDON | LENT TERM 2022
with landscape (to reference) and the feature corridor (to keep)
Uniting by deconstruction
New entry along central axis;
Creating a more integrated communal area
Simplicity of interior that give space back to the roof
Lowering of garden wall for visual access Historical photo showing the central library
Intervention: Taking down and peeling away
Revealing by deconstruction Removal of the artificial slates cladding of the central dining area & greenhouse at the back
SECTION OF PROPOSAL
DIAGRAM OF PROPOSAL
DWELL TO MINGLE
RESIDENTIAL | HOSTEL FOR THE HOMELESS
This project tasked students to design a place of dwelling for imaginative characters. During the site visit in Cambridge, found traces of the homeless once using the site as a temporary shelter, which inspired a hostel programme for such groups in need. The proposed design consists of public spaces in front, private rooms at the back, and a courtyard. Rooms are staggered to form balconies and to facilitate lighting and view. The threshold of the public and private is created with floor height differences. Together with a structural
‘bookshelf’ that extends from interior to exterior to perform different functions, it also ensures a sense of openness and permeability that is central for community living. Staircases are not just for circulations, but also for creating boundaries, views and resting places. The incorporation of roof space creates ample shared spaces, which encourages collaborative and creative activities. The enclosed courtyard forms a conversation with the adjacent church greenery while mini interior gardens between the rooms introduce more nature and light.
SITE INVESTIGATION
Site photos & CAD drawing of existing site condition
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Proposing the dweller: site photos showing traces of the homeless ; conceptural collage for narrative brainstorming - shelter for homeless street artists
SPATIAL DEVEWWAtomospheric Interior Collage ; sketch drawing and modeling exploring peameability, height differences and circulation
SKETCH MODEL IN SITE
Enclosed courtyard and staggered hostel rooms: diagolue with nearby church greenery and residential units
SECTION
Balance of community-living and privacy; peameability and openness exploring opportunities of floor height differences and structural elements
SECTION
Interior-exterior relationship; different possible use of communual spacs
ELEVATION
Considering material possibilities and tectonic qualities
PERSPECTIVE VIEW COLLAGE
Inhibitation of interior and courtyard spaces
THROUGH THE LIGHT
EATERY | NUCLEAR BUNKER RENOVATION
A light introduction operation, this project started with studying the light-filtering quality of material from daily life. By manipulating my material of choice, rice noodles, into 65X103X215mm (UK standard brick size) model iterations, I explored different levels of light-filtering with formal and density variations. Such explorations are then used as a tool to introduce light into Cambridge’s darkest building, a nuclear bunker built in the 1950s as part of the Cold War Defense system. In my proposed eatery design (assigned programme), the light-transmitting
quality of rice noodles in micro scale is translated into light tunnels punching through the ceiling; while their light-filtering quality in macro scale is translated into branches of glass pipe fixture that brings light to ground level. They are then combined into different designs that work with the spatial potential of the existing structure. I hope my design could transform the bunker, a building associated with the Cold War period, into something that serves society in less obscure and more optimistic ways.
MODEL DISPLAY
Light-filtering quality, formal and density exploration of rice noodles
MODEL STUDY
Sectional and shadow study with density variations
SKETCHES AND CONCEPTUAL COLLAGE
Scale control and porosity translation
DAYTIME
Sunlight entering from light tunnel to be transmitted down and filtered through glass fixtures
NIGHT TIME
Artificial light shining from the bottom and get transmitted upwards
SKETCH MODEL
Emulating the form of glass fixtures with fish wire
Shadow drawing with inverted color: sense of growth and expansion
Interior imagination: central dinning space and corridor
Glass pipe fixture that connects to the light tunnel, gradually scales down to bring light through
Light tunnels that punched through the ceiling to bring light in
Central double height dining hall
Double tables along light corridor
GROUND FLOOR
OTHER SAMPLE IMAGES
STUDIO WORK
Y2 EASTER TERM - URBAN RIVER
An integrated landscape system intervention of urban corridors and urban acupunctures that manage surface water while providing amenities for both human and wildlife.
A place of production that serves as a mediator between nature and the industrial zone, one that goes beyond traditional factory typology to ensure both overall efficiency and common wellbeing.
Y2 LENT TERM - UPCYCLING WORKSHOP COMPLEX
Y1 MICHAELMAS TERM - HYBRID HOUSE
Hybrid house of Casa Malaparte and Villa Dal'Ava Model Display exploring light, boundaries, treshholds and occupancy
