1 LEARNING FROM THE STREET
GSAPP CORE STUDIO 3 : States of Housing
DISMEMBERED ARCHITECTURE, REMEMBERED 2
GSAPP CORE STUDIO 2 : Damage Control
SHIFTING TO SHAFT 3
ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION : Workplace Reimagined
HUG FOR MANHATTAN BRIDGE GATE 4
GSAPP CORE STUDIO 1 : Fugitive Mobilities
NEWARK MIXED THERAPY CENTER 5
GSAPP Tech 4 : Integrated System
What happens on the Street?
I found the answer in the interplay between people, street elements, and spaces that invited occupation. The street fostered interactions, connecting homes, people, and daily life. Cataloging elements revealed a richness beyond my initial perception, making me wonder: Could the street, more than the house, be the space closest to life itself?
Despite the neighborhood’s vibrancy, this site felt isolated due to elevation differences. To bridge this gap, I integrated a central ramp, seamlessly connecting the site to its surroundings. At its heart, a plaza transforms the passage into a cultural hub, drawing in the community’s energy. Extending further, the ramp and plaza link with ground-floor open spaces and surrounding streets, echoing NYC’s grid. This design blurs the boundary between city and architecture, bringing the dynamic life of the streets into the building—I can already envision its energy coming to life!
Small, compressed screens flutter in the sunlight, reflecting its movement as they shift and distort.
A massive, distorted spherical screen, warping the projected images, reshaping light and perception.
The intersecting and repeating seating arrangements disrupt and break continuity of experience. overlapping, fragmented screens and the continuous, unbroken ramp make contrast and irony.
Every platform surrounding the pavilion is sliced, fragmented, and distorted by a series of diverse geometries, breaking conventional spatial continuity.
In the 1933 film King Kong, a giant beast torments the iconic Empire State Building. This moment marked the beginning of cinema’s long history of exploiting architecture, making it to nothing but a tool for cinematic spectacle. By reassembling film through the techniques that used to manipulate architecture, this project seeks to console what has been broken.
At first glance, all of them appears to be decent screens, yet they serve only to adorn the buildings inside and out, adding layers rather than dictating the image.
placed a grand seating area oriented toward the Empire State Building, the very first victim of cinema’s architectural violence. This structure responds to its urban context while the geometries establishing a direct visual axis with the building. Just as film has dismembered architecture and reduced it to a backdrop, these abstract geometric pavilions dismember the movie watching platform, transforming it into an altar for architecture.
Four pavilions continuously display distorted, unfocused projections, offering no clear image but instead draping the buildings behind them in a shifting veil of light—an act of quiet consolation.
Server rooms constantly generate high levels of heat, reaching around 70°C (158°F). To maintain their operation, various heat exchange systems are required.
Instead of letting this heat go to waste, we chose to recycle it—using it to warm both water and air. As a result, the building is wrapped and intersected by an extensive network of pipes, which may at first appear excessive. These pipes serve as medium for heat transfer, visibly weaving in and out of the structure, ultimately shaping the building’s unique identity.
The office landscape has shifted post-COVID, driven not just by the pandemic but by technological and industrial changes. With individualized work models reducing office demand and AI industries requiring more server space, I reimagined the future office. At its core is the Data Shaft—a vertical structure that supports both load-bearing and waste heat recovery, efficiently redistributing heat from high-temperature servers to enhance energy efficiency while integrating seamlessly into the building’s overall system.
Since traditional office buildings are located in the most accessible areas, integrated office with programs that can be used by broader public. The left section consists of tech spaces and flexible workspaces, forming the core office area. On the opposite side, public spaces actively utilizing heat include a greenhouse, educational facilities, an auditorium, a
and fitness areas. Between these distinct zones, urban gardens weave through the masses, acting as connectors that bring together office functions and communal activities, fostering interaction and engagement.
In contrast, Chinatown was the complete opposite—a neighborhood full of energy and life. Simply crossing the street transported me into a world of diverse people, intricate decorations, and distinct architecture, all of which captivated me.
I could sense the deep attachment to life and identity in a community that had long struggled to preserve its culture in the American landscape. As walked through the neighborhood, I mapped the symbols and ornaments that define its character and atmosphere, later organizing them into a drawing that captured the essence of the place.
After my research, the Manhattan Bridge no longer felt imposing but lonely, its arms outstretched as if waiting for an embrace. A hug shapes space, senses distance, and brings warmth—an intimate interaction of movement and emotion.
To embody this, I used scaffolding as a framework for symbols, ornaments and people, revealing the bridge’s identity and transforming it into a space of connection.
Thank You!
An architect composes walls, voids, and light.
A director shapes movement, space, and time. Both establish intention—yet meaning emerges through experience.
A performance unfolds, an audience interprets.
A building stands, a user inhabits. Neither stage nor architecture is still. Time transforms, reveals, redefines.
Theater frames stories, architecture frames life itself. Both are dialogues—fluid, responsive, complete through interaction.
I seek to build spaces that speak, structures that listen, architecture as an evolving experience— where form and presence meet, and meaning is always becoming.