Yanyin Tang

SELECTED WORKS | 2023-2025

Applying for Architecture and Urbanism MA, MSA

E-mail: iylayytang@163.com

The contemporary world demands architects who can address sustainability crises, societal inequities, and technological evolution through spatial innovation. My ambition is to design spaces that foster resilience, community, and adaptability—a vision I aim to refine through the MA Architecture and Urban Design programme at MSA, where interdisciplinary practice aligns with my goal of harmonizing human needs, environmental stewardship, and technological integration.

Currently, I am in my fifth year of studying architecture at Tsinghua University, where my academic journey has been both enlightening and inspiring, equipping me with valuable lessons and a deeper understanding of the discipline. This portfolio includes my works from 2023 spring semester to 2024 fall semester—spanning adaptive reuse and cross-disciplinary experimentation—to redefine architecture's societal role in the urban context.

TERMINAL SPECTA-CRAFT

History of the old Beijing has precipitated hundreds of years of culture and industrial progress. In the western edge of the Beijing City Wall, the Second Thermal Power Plant is a monument of the industrial age. Right next to it is the TianNing Temple Tower, a Buddhist temple built in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The TianNing Temple Tower and the chimney of the thermal power complex are two symbols of different eras of the city--the traditional and the industrial. What is to be inserted to the complex would be a symbol of the present, or even the future. The Specta-craft creates two systems, which catalyze the longitudinal and the latitudinal structure of the zone respectively. The systems changes when the spacecraft takes flight or anchors.

SKELETONS OF THE CITY --AXIS SYSTEMS, TRACES OF TIME

Engaging individuals into the urban context through eye contact, is one of the approaches to make users of the city to "feel" the space surrounding them. Theatrical arts deliver emotions and connect audiences through showing them lives and stories. Is it possible that we radiate slices of lives from theater to the city? This piece of work is an experiment in regard to this matter.

An urban installation with function is inserted to the industrial park. The Specta-craft not only is a theater itself, but it also changes how other stages are used when the spacecraft lands or hovers. The change in the skeleton of the industrial park is catalyzed by the vertical movement of the Specta-craft. PERFORMANCE VIEWING

(a): Longitudinal--System Entrance

(c): Latitudinal--Monument 1--Power Plant Chimney

AXIS CATALYST --LANDING

FLOATING TOWERS OF SPIRITS' BATHHOUSE

Akihabara is a gaming district in Japan. In spite of its strictly gridded structure, lots of surprises are interspersed in the city. No matter the form, there is always capacity for new elements and changes among the district, such as planes like floating screens and posters, linear threads like the light rail, and also objects like statues and large figures lingering among buildings. The experience is just like venturing into another world, from where you can discover new scenes just around the corner. This reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away, in which chihiro accidentally stepped into a realm of spirits and monsters.

Site:

Time: Sep 2024 - Jan 2025 SITE --BOXES OF SURPRISES

A TOWN WITH BLIND BOX UNITS --POTENTIAL FOR EXCITEMENTS

grid extraction

Akihabara is a bustling district in Tokyo, where anime has been what the city is famous for. Street logos, neon lights, gaming advertisements and animation posters populates the facades of the district. In a few of these buildings, fan products of Spirited Away and other Ghibli movies are sold. Just like

Spirited Away is populated with lights and

is significance correlation between this

and the world of

A new railway is inserted to the complex, cutting through the river of Akihabara.

I: film locus and tower engine

The first tower is composed of two parts, the cloud engine and the spiritual locus, both derived from the spatial movement around the "Yu" bathhouse, the main stage of the film. The cloud engine represented the boiler house, where characters received warmth, care and growth. The spiritual locus tracked different styles of vertical movement in the film, inside and outside the bathhouse.

MIGRATING TOWER ENSEMBLE

II: fragment disjoint

The second tower is a representation of the pop-up stories inside the film. This is derived from the spatial structure of storyboard, where the next box may be unpredictable. Groups of fragments are dismantled from shots of camera movement. In each vertical moving footage, the films are broken into four boxes of fragments. Twelve towers of vertical fragments are created.

The third tower resonates with the grid structure of Akihabara, creating a box-lane complex. Towers from the fragment montage are rejoined to form buidings, just like the architecture in the district. On the other hand, horizontal fragments form linkages, as a representation of the overground railway in both Akihabara and the world in Spirited Away.

TOWERS OF THE SPIRIT WORLD

TOWER OF POP

--TWISTING THE FANTASY FOR THE PAST , OR TOMORROW

Storyboard not only is a visual presentation of a script, but also a vertical structure for scene and space change. In each shot, a main type dominates the frame. Just like the storyboard, camera movement is a way to change space and mood through change in space structure. The shots can be broken down into seperate frames, and the types in each frames are indicated. these moving frames form towers of abtract types. These montages resonates the density of the district of Akihabara.

TOWERS OF DREAMS

--DISMANTLING FRAGMENTS INTO FRAGMENTS

TOWERS OF DREAMS --REJOINING INTO ADVENTURE

CLOUD ENGINE

THE BATHING INDUSTRY WORKS

TOWER OF MOVEMENT --REWEAVING THE

The locus of the central tower weaves all three towers to form a tight complex. From the outside, most of the central tower is hidden from view, what could be seen by the pedestrians is the pop-up blind box facade, and a fragment of the cloud engine. In order to enter the tower complex, people may take the overground railway and stop by the FLOATING TOWER station, and enter through the Cloud Engine elevator.

When walking around the box tower, the locus and the helix could be observed at differtent angles. It represents the heart of the whole tower complex.

The pop-up blind boxes are organised in a 7×7 structure, with vertical camera shot groups the main components, and horizontal ones as supporting components. Thus, when wandering at the same level of the box tower, some boxes are continuous, while some are disconnected. Some parts of the box tower are caverned out to allow the outer real world pierce into the complex, enriching experiences. On the other hand, when cars and pedestrians travel through the bottom of the tower, they could take a slight glance of what is waiting them from the inside.

WUDAOKOU THEATER DESIGN