Yichen_Wei_Portfolio by Yichen Wei

YICHEN WEI

150 Water Street N Cambridge, On, Canada N1R 0B5

Master of Architecture y294wei@uwaterloo.ca +1) 437 215 7136

Role of an Architect VS the Authenticity of Form and Space

An architect is not just a creator of spaces but a weaver of fluidity and order. Curves are not merely a formal choice; they are a language of spatial narrative, capturing movement and freedom. The authenticity of architecture does not stem from the architect’s will alone but emerges naturally through the interaction of materials, light, and human experience. Through architecture, I explore the power of curves, allowing space to flow in perception, resonate with the environment, and engage in a dialogue with time.

2024-2026

EDUCATION

+University of Waterloo School of Architecture

Master of Architectrue

Cambridge

2022-2023

+Temple Univeristy Architecture Department

Bachelor of Science

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

+China Architecture Design&Research Group

Fulltime Architect

Philadlphia

2021-2022

2024 2016-2020

Shanghai

Participated in the International Bidding Competition for the Urban Design of Yuhuan, China

Participated in the pre-bidding, schematic design and design of the expansion and funding phase. After winning the bidding, participated in the later stage and deepened the communication with the construction drawings and curtain wall design regularly. Landmark Building Designer by using Rhino and Grasshopper.

Participated in the International Bidding Competition for the Renovation of the Old Urban Area of Taizhou City, China

Involved in pre-bidding, schematic design and Urban Design, and was responsible for the design of major landmarks.

Participated in a high-rise residential landing project in Shijiazhuang, China

Involved in conceptualization and deepening of the preliminary design.

+Urban Architecture Design

Fulltime Architect

Shanghai

Participated in the bidding of Xiamen TOD commercial Plaza

Participated in pre-bidding, schematic design, and won the bid. Program design stage, according to the government and Clients requirements to deepen.

Participated in Dalian Greenland Residential Landing Project

Mainly responsible for the later expansion of the deepening, as well as with the construction side of the cooperation, regular site visits, and the formation of site inspection report.

+ZIAD

Hangzhou

Intern Architect

Participated in the project of a Concert Hall in Zhejiang Jinhua China

As an model maker by using Rhino (Subd) and grasshoperr and rendering. Cooperate with Zaha Hadid Studio Chinese Firm

SKILLS

Rhino(Subd), Revit, Sketchup, Maya, Adobe Suite, MS ofIIce

3D printing, Grasshopper, Hand drafIng/modeling, one-click CA

Video/Photography, Midjourney, Stablediffusion, Runway

Eye

of Changsha

Year 2021

Location: Changsha, Hunan, China

Theme: A spiritual totem dedicated to Changsha Individual Work

Year 2024

Location: Kitchener, On, Canada

Theme: Community Centre Conmprehensive Design Individual Work

Desert Hyperloop Campus Community Centre

Year 2020

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Theme: Hyperloop Desert Campus Individual Work

Cube Kingdom

Year 2020

Location: Philadelphia, PA, United States

Theme: A place to revive this natural park and provide a place for artists to live and create Individual Work

Concert Hall

Year 2024

Location: Jinhua, Zhejiang, China

Theme: Model making and rendering

EYE OF CHANGSHA

MIXED

SUPER HIGH-RISE BUILDING

WORKING PROJECT OF UA

YEAR: 2021

SITE: CHANG SHA, CHINA

GROUP WORK

SITE CONDITION

SITE INDEX

The nature of the site is commercial land and second-class residential land, with a capacity of 177,000 square meters -238,000 square meters.

DESIGN INDEX

The plot site is 168m*188m, with a 12m setback for multistorey commercial buildings and a 15m setback for high-rise buildings.

Metro Line 1 on the east side of the site, which is about a 2-3 minute walk from the site, and there are bus stops on the north and west sides of the road.

The west side of the parcel is bordered on the north side by major city streets, and motorized entrances and exits are provided on all four sides of the site.

Area A2 of Beichen New River Delta Project (including the connecting bridge in Area A2A1 and the commercial area along the Phoenix Sea (B1E1 Area), the underground passage in the red line of the ground from crossing Qinglan Road to Area A2 on the first floor).

The design content includes super high-rise office buildings (including commercial, apartment, Grade A office, etc.), residential buildings, connecting bridges (passages) and other supporting buildings.

The total height is controlled within 350 meters, considering the spatial relationship with the surrounding plots and the relationship with the skyline.

DESIGN PARAMETER

Towers:

City exhibition center, Penhouse Commercial 10%

High-end apartments 65%

Grade A OFFICE 20%

Ground Floor retail 10%

Tower capacity 177k to 238k ㎡

Boutique Residential 88k ㎡

Corridor Bridge

MASTERPLAN DESIGN CONCEPT

HUNAN PROVINCE

WATER WAVE

ELEMENT EXTRACTION

CHANGSHA CITY BEICHEN DELTA NATURAL

CULTURAL

DESIGN THINKING

DROP

ELEMENT FORM

DROP OF WATER

DESIGN CONCEPT

COUBLE RIVER CONFLUENCE

MANUSCRIPT WATER DROP

WATER WAVE

FLOW DOWN

CONVERGE

FORM GENERATED

SITE LOCATION

TOP RETRACT

BODY LIFT

WATER DROP FORM

ENTRANCE AND LOBBY

TOWER CROWN

FACADE

TOWER CROWN DESIGN FERRIS WHEEL

FERRIS WHEEL

TRUSS CONSTRUCTION

SUPPORT STRUCTURE

CROWN STRUCTURE

FERRIS WHEEL

SKY LOUNGE

The Sky Lounge is located above the City Showroom, on the lower level of the shuttle-shaped volume, and enjoys a 360-degree panoramic view through the frameless panoramic glass façade.

The gallery is spatially integrated with the Sky Lounge and the Ferris Wheel above, forming part of the tower's crown, and is also Changsha's First sky gallery.

It is open to the public to enjoy delicious food at an altitude of nearly 300 meters with a view of the twin rivers.

It is open to the public, offering butler service and fitness and recreational activities at high altitude.

CITY GALLERY

CLOUD RESTAURANT

FERRIS WHEEL

SKY LOUNGE

CITY GALLERY

CLOUD RESAURANT

SITE CONDITION

FACADE DETAIL

Take the plane base contour line as the base line, control the two end points of the arc unchanged center point to expand out 1.0m as the furthest control line of the folding window, control the size of the glass unchanged through the plane subdivision, rotate the angle of the aluminum plate. In order to achieve the effect of gradual change, echoing the gradual rhythm of water waves.

By controlling the upper and lower folding windows of the odd and even layers to be misaligned left and right, it creates the effect of misaligned upper and lower waves. In terms of material selection, the external aluminum plate of the window opener is sprayed with silver fluorocarbon, which can realize the sparkling effect of water waves in the sunlight.

ERTRANCE AND LOBBY DESIGN

OFFICE

CLOUD RESTURANT

LOFT

FERRIS WHEEL

EXHIBITION

CLOUD CLUB

STRUCTURE DESIGN

INTRODUCTION

Changsha Beichen New River Delta Project A2 super high-rise 59 floors above ground, with a building area of about 111,000 m2, the building function is office and condominium.

The building function is office and apartment.

The height of large roof structure is 300m, the height of tower crown is about 50m, and the total height of the building is 350 m. The building plane is close to round, the long axis width of the standard floor plane in the low area is about 62m, and the long axis width is about 35m, and the structural aspect ratio is 8.5; the long axis width of the core cylinder in the low area is about 38m, and the long axis width is about 16m, and the aspect ratio of the core cylinder is 18.5; the structural aspect ratio and the aspect ratio of the core cylinder are both bigger than that stipulated by the specification and the gap between two directions is bigger, therefore, the structural weak axis square is bigger than that stipulated by the specification.

The height-to-width ratio of the structure and the heightto-width ratio of the core are both larger than the specification, and the gap between the two directions is larger, so the design of the lateral resistance system in the direction of the weak axis of the structure needs to be focused on.

Structural system

This project is located in Changsha, the height of the structure is 300m, 6 degree seismic defense, basic wind pressure is 0.35kN/m2, the seismic force and wind load are small, so the superstructure is made of profiled steel and concrete frame, reinforced concrete core, and extended truss system.

The system consists of three parts:

The first part: reinforced concrete core with built-in steel sections in some floors;

The second part: the frame formed by section steel concrete columns and steel girders, strengthened by four ring belt trusses;

The third part: four weak-axis direction extension arm trusses, connecting the frame columns and the core cylinder.

In the above three parts, the core cylinder is the main lateral force-resisting system, and the section steel concrete frame is the secondary lateral force-resisting system, and the extension arm joist connects the frame with the core cylinder, which enhances the contribution of the outer frame columns to the overall lateral forceresisting of the structure. When the building core cylinder is arranged, the cylinder is composed of external wall and multiple internal transverse walls, when the office floor transitions to the apartment floor, combined with the reduction of the number of elevators, the north and south side of the shear wall columns are collected, and the rest of the wall extends upward, and the thickness of the wall is reduced when the apartment floor transitions to the large flat floor, while combined with the functional layout of the building, the internal and external walls are opened to deal with the holes. This kind of core tube collection and division, in the increase of building.

At the same time, it makes the structural stiffness change uniformly in the vertical direction, without excessive sudden changes, and the overall economy of the structure is better. The structural floor system consists of steel beams and combined floor slabs. The steel frame beams are rigidly connected to the peripheral frame columns, the floor steel beams are connected to the frame columns and shear walls at both ends as articulated connections, and the secondary beams are connected to the shear walls as articulated connections. The lateral stiffness of the structure is mainly controlled by the demand under wind load, especially in the direction of the weak axis, the lateral resistance is weak, and the simple frame-core cylinder system cannot meet the displacement requirements. Combined with the results of calculation and analysis, four short-axis direction extension trusses are set up in 20~21F, 29~30F, 28~29F, 58~59F, and ring belt trusses are set up at the same time in conjunction with the refuge floors of the building.

Design of members

The form of frame columns, combined with the structural stress requirements and the building's demand for columns with the smallest possible cross-section, can be used for section steel concrete columns or steel pipe concrete columns. Under the premise of axial stiffness and load bearing capacity are basically the same, from the comprehensive consideration of economy, reliability of node force transmission, construction difficulty, anticorrosion and fire protection treatment, etc., the steel concrete column is selected. Combined with the requirements of the building program, the office floor adopts 1800mm circular cross-section, the apartment floor adopts 1500mm circular cross-section, and the large flat floor receives 1200mm circular cross-section. Core cylinder shear wall, in order to control the wall thickness, increase the wall ductility and bearing capacity, the bottom of the strengthening area core cylinder cylinder outer wall, the use of inserted steel shear wall, shear wall thickness of 1200mm, upward gradual abolition of steel, wall thickness gradually thinning. The outer perimeter frame beams and floor secondary beams, using steel beams, can reduce the overall structural deadweight, reduce the column cross-section, and reduce the cost of foundation. The floor slab adopts steel truss floor bearing plate, and the thickness of the plate is 120mm in order to meet the requirement of fire prevention.

Basement Design

The basement structure is reinforced concrete beam and slab system. The first floor slab transfers the horizontal load to the surrounding basement outer wall and the additional shear wall of the basement room.

The structural calculation is carried out according to the embedded in the basement roof slab.

Foundation Design

Referring to the geological survey data of the neighboring plots, the foundation adopts bored piles + raft slab foundation.

TOWER CROWN DESIGN FERRIS WHEEL

LOWER OFFICE FLOOR PLAN

MID-LOWER OFFICE FLOOR PLAN

MID-HIGHER OFFICE FLOOR PLAN

Computational analysis

LOWER OFFICE 3D MODEL

MID-LOWER OFFICE 3D MODEL

MID-HIGHER OFFICE 3D MODEL

The basic performance of the tower is analyzed using 3D finite element software Karamaba3d. The results of the structural analysis proved that the adopted structural system has good suitability for carrying wind and earthquake loads.

HIGHER OFFICE FLOOR PLAN

TOP BUSINESS FLOOR PLAN

HIGHER OFFICE 3D MODEL

TOP BUSINESS 3D MODEL

20-21F Arm and Ring Band Truss

PROJECT OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

YEAR: 2024

SITE: KITCHENER ON, CANADA

INIDIVIDUAL WORK

CONCEPT&STRATEGY

Located in downtown Kitchener, formerly the Charles Street Terminal, the core design concept was to design a Community Center that shines brightest in the heart of downtown, evoking the collective memory of the community while adapting to modern needs. As cities and buildings become more uniform, the project emphasizes architecture as a part of people's lives that enhances their quality of life.

OVERALL STRUCTURE

Exterior Facade Plate

Interior Space Frame

SPACE FRAME

SHEAR WALL

BRIDGE FOOTING

Shell Panle GRFC 30mm

Roof Membrance Water and Air Barrier EPDM 2mm

Sheathing 2mm FRP

Main Structure Top Chords 50mm

Main Structure Chords Membrance 20mm

Main Structure Bottom Chords 30mm

Aluminate planel 30mm

Insulation PU Form 150mm

Main Hiden Gutter System 350*450mm

Roof Structure Top Chords 75mm

Roof Structure

Chords Membrance 45mm

Low-iron Laminated IGU

Ventailation and Service Trench Shell Panle GRFC 30mm

Ceiling uplight, floor recessed

Main Air Supply Duct

Aluminate planel 30mm

Main Structure Top Chords 50mm

Main Structure

Chords Membrance 30mm

Main Structure Bottom Chords 50mm

Sheathing 1mm

Roof Membrance Water and Air Barrier EPDM 2mm

Shell Panle GRFC 30mm

THE SKELETON

DESERT HYPERLOOP CAMPUS

COMPETITION: YAC-YOUNG ARCHITECTS

YEAR: 2020

SITE: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES INDIVIDUAL WORK

Providing Nature and Water to the Desert

Green spaces and water are necessary for the creation of cities. In addition, the Hyperloop will go global, and new cities can be built on the basis of this new mode of transport for people to live in and continue to work on the technology of the Hyperloop.

Through Hyperloop, water is transferred from the Colorado River

a:Water Loop Rail. b: Water pipe bring water to the bottom. c: Water Retention aims to storge water.

Water Retention: storge water then transfer to the whole campus.

Center under water cycling

Hyperloop Campus

Colorado River

Creating an Oasis for the Campus in Desert

Where there is water, there are cities. Nevada is a desert, a barren environment where water and greenery are hard to find. Therefore, water transported via the Hyperloop will be stored in cisterns, slowly circulating underground before being distributed to specific spaces where it is needed. It could be a cutting-edge and

MUSEUM

ARENA

CUBE KINGDOM

THE BREATHING SANCTUARY OF PRINCIPLE REINFORCED CONCRETE

PROJECT OF UNDERGRDAUATE FINAL PROJECT

YEAR: 2022

SITE: HAWAIIAN, UNITED STATES INDIVIDUAL WORK

Revitalize an abandon national park

Nowadays, we always live in concrete and metal, greenery and fresh air are scarce for people. In this project, we will design a multi-polar centre in Philadelphia's Androw Meadows, which will include a booking centre, an observation deck for people to visit Andros Meadows National Park, and choose an artist to design his personal studio and living space.

high density residence

nearby landscape

Androw Meadow

Let the green nature combine with cubes

Living in symbiosis with nature can be a new breath of fresh air, and we have to admit the tedium of concrete and metal. In addition, it is worth exploring how a modular system can be used to solve this problem completely, and how each module can be defined.

SOLID

GUIDED FOLLOWING PRESENTING SHOWING NETWORK EXPLORING DIVERISTY FINDING

NORMALITY CURIOSITY

Instead of creating an entity that acts as a pavilion, we decided to develop a village-like typology that embraces diversity and uniqueness. A village, a place to live.

1 unit 3m

1 function +1 landscpe

Connected

Starting from 3 meter, a modular system was developed around this unit. By adding more units, the pavilion can be developed in any direction, providing great flexibility to cope with different situations.