Addressing Potential Desertification In The Great Plains
RISD Thesis
Type: Academic / Individual Work
Time: Spring 2022
Tutor: Emily Vogler, Gavin Zeitz, Johanna Barthmaier-Payne
Location: Garden City, Kansas
High Plains Aquifer, also known as Ogallala Aquifer is one of the world’s largest aquifers. Today the High Plains Aquifers support about one-fifth of the agricultural product. It has 55.6% ranch land (USGS). Large-scale extraction for agricultural purposes started after World War II due to center pivot irrigation and to the adaptation of automotive engines to power groundwater wells. Today about 27% of the irrigated land in the entire United States lies over the aquifer, which yields about 30% of the groundwater used for irrigation in the United States. The aquifer is at risk of over-extraction and pollution. Once depleted, the aquifer will take over 6,000 years to replenish naturally through rainfall.
Urban System Studio Type: Academic / Individual Work Time: Spring 2021 Size: 600 Acres (240 ha) Tutor: Prof. Elizabeth Dean Hermann Location: Northend, Newport, RI
For decades, North End has become a place mainly for the people passing by but not for the locals, it has been separated, isolated and inconvenient access. “Knot” is the new linkage thinking in the center to eliminate boundaries and bring all people back together.
Existing Section Condition
Section Proposal
Master Plan
The new planning provides more than 560 new housing units for different families and people.
The highway and its ramp will be buried underground, creating a convenient walkable connection. Being separated by the navy land not able to access the sea, and concerned about the sea level rise and extreme weather conditions, the lower land will recover back into its wetland system, which provides park access and does not cause too much economic damage during a flood.
The whole system is connected by the park system and center complex. In a daily routine, people living nearby can reach their office within walkable distance. After work, it will be easy to go to the grocery do some shopping and take great relaxation walking through the park back home or do some sports exercises. The parks provide a new experience in supplementing the Newport coastal scenery.
Type: Academic / Individual Work Time: Fall 2020 Area: 5.4 Acres Tutor: Michael Blier, Jacob Location: Downtown Providence, RI
The city of Providence has a long history of art. Since the 19th-century textile history and then the 20th-century jewelry. However, even today’s downtown has various wall paintings at different spots, there is not a single place to gather people and able to let them immerse themselves in art. The “artists” zone in the down city is proposing a diverse art activities place for artists, visitors, citizens, and students in providence to fully engage in different forms of art.
In the hundred years of development, the main function of Providence Downtown has changed from the dyeing to the jewelry industry, and now it is mainly occupied by the school. The new concept aims to strengthen the connection between the school and the community and to provide a platform for students’ creativity and ideas. The Boutique and Art street is designed to contain a series of galleries and shops to make and exhibit different types of artwork.
The design proposes to move the original parking lots underground, while actively developing the roof. Connecting the space between the roof and the landscape above ground as much as possible to create multi-level activities space.
The color concept was based on the color of the wall, the painting on the wall, and its ambient. Different spaces are designed with different colors, everyone is able to stay in the space with their favorite color. Walking between the various color space is also watching different exhibitions.
Section A-A
Section B-B
Physical Model
Entrance Plaza
Sunken Garden
Sculpture Garden
Photography Gallery
Art and history are freely open to the public without any doors, so all people can enjoy the art in such various color spaces. The indoor-outdoor space creates the possibility for different kinds of exhibitions and various kinds of art parties.
History Wall
Fountain Garden
The space is static, but a series of walls showing different artwork will be dynamically changed in the period. Visitors will visit the site during times of the year, feeling the artwork and the seasonal changes.
Digital Media Ambient Interface Tools: Firefly, Grasshopper, Arduino Type: Academic / Individual Time: Spring 2021 Tutor: Alejandro Borsani
The landscape is a fine art and a means of personal expression. As a mere respite from everyday life, this decoration device aims to develop a meaningful language in control of the sunlight to create a pleasant ambiance. Each panel here is able to control to a specific degree and automatically rotate according to the sun’s position. Playing with the sunlight creates a space with a different light effect and a moment of different feeling.
City Flower Farm Park Develop Economy With Ecology
Site Ecology Design Studio
Type: Academic / Collaborate with Yu Chen
Time: Feb. 2020 – May. 2020
Size: 30 Acres (13 hm2)
Tutor: Gavin Zeitz
Location: East Providence, Rhode Island, RI
Washburn Wire Company in Rumford East Providence, RI was once a famous factory that produced steel and wire. Today the site is empty with polluted soil. How can we design to make the landscape able to remediate the soil, but also recall the people’s memory of the great industrial? Bringing the economy with ecology value is a great question to think about.
Landscape Grading Idea Changing Parking Lot To Public Space
Constructed Ground Studio Type: Academic / Individual Work Time: JAN. 6, 2020 – Feb. 5, 2020 Size: 0.5 Acres (1,800 m2) Tutor: Courtney Goode Location: 231 South Main St, Providence, RI
This is a parking lot between the building of industry design and architecture. The original site and the slope is a great condition to play with rainwater. My idea is to play with water. In the way the water going down the slope, it can be purified and have fun, finally gathering into a pool and then flow into the river.
Site Location
The site close to the Providence river-front, where people like walking around. Concerning two teaching buildings, the main users will be students of industrial design, landscape architecture, and architecture. The design focus on semi-open gathering and resting space.
Being shield by the building, the site has uneven sunlight and radiation condition. This provides a great environment for a different type of vegetations from heliophiles to sciophytes, from those love dry to the wet. As the rainwater just simply flow out the site. It will be an opportunity to change the slope to create a different humid condition.
Design Concept
Sightseeing Under The Tree: Concerning the whole year’s sunlight hour and radiation condition. To get more sunlight, the east part is designed to slightly lift to get more sun. A tree will create a space for sightseeing.
Gather Around The Pool:
The eastern part of the site will receive strong sunlight and radiation during summer. Therefore a pool will help cool down the temperature and adjust the microclimate.
Concept Model
The rainwater will pass several stages when flowing. The first stage intends to be dry, water will only stay for a short time. The second stage will be a flat slope, vegetations will purify it and the water can penetrate the soil, creating different humidity ambient for vegetations. In the third stage, it will be storage briefly, while when the pool is full the top layer of water will flow out into the fourth stage.
Grading Plan
Water will flow down and gather in rain. The gentle slope of the path extended the experience of walking through the site, different sceneries will be shown in the way you walk, enriching the students’ life for wondering, thinking, sitting, laying down in the lawn, etc.
When the pool is full, the top layer of the water will flow out through a curved path into the Providence River. People will be able to see the water flowing slowly.
This sightseeing place is the highest spot of the whole site, sightly hide the sight in the main street, making people curious. A tree will plant here to receive more sunlight.
Between the little hills bridges will connect the path, rainwater will flow below the bridge.
Most of the rainwater in the site will gather and store in this pool, becoming a source to irrigate the vegetations in the dry time. What’s more, between dry and wet season the water level of this pool will different, when people walking around they would realize the time is different.
This gathering seating place is hidden by a gentle slope with vegetations, which slightly reduce the noice and creating a semi-open talking environment for students to meet with someone, or just take a rest here under the shade of trees.
Course of Material Tests Type: Academic / Individual Work Time: Sept. 2020 – Dec. 2020 Size: 0.5 acre (2000 m2) Tutor: Adrian Fehrmann, Sara Cohen Location: Indian Point Park, Providence, RI
This project is seeking a better way to design not only thinking about the demand of humans, but also the natural environment. These cubes are the thinking to provide a better ecology friendly public waterfront space.
Existing Site Condition Analysis
Due to the hard rock edge, the shore is not easily accessible for people, it lacks maintenance and full of trash. Exotic plants like Tree-of-heaven, Japanese knotweed, and native plants like American pokeweed found their spot and growing well by the edge. This spot is a good spot for sightseeing and kayaking dock, however, the park does not have any place designed for people that able to get close to water.
Design Concept
The design concept comes from the coral interior space where is able to provide space for fishes and crabs to live. The shape of the cube is the concern for transport easily. When the tidal seawater passes through the interior space of the cube, space inside the cube will able to contain sediment which will benefit the growth of vegetation and the home for fishes and crabs.
Concept Iteration
Some of the prototype test using Rhion. In the modeling process also test about how to stack them to create various forms and shape.
Phototype Test
In the phototype test process, I start to think about separating them into two units as it will help simplify the building process. And the two units are able to stack in their own way for more possibilities in the different environments.
Units And Assemblies Refinement
Assemblies Styles For Different Environments
The construction method of these cubes can change according to the landforms and heights.
Plan / Plant Proposal
Render Perspective
The cube will become a platform for people to stop here, providing spaces for tidal vegetation to grow, a resting place for sea birds to dry themself.
Public Art Type: Competition / Individual Duration: Oct. 2018 Size: 13(L) x 7(W) x 3(H) Tutor: Prof. Jun Peng
This is an interactive device. On a tea hill, the huge teapot imitates the motion of serving tea. When people see it can move, they will go and try to push this teapot and play with water, therefore it will create opportunities to meet someone unknown.
Collaborator: Sainan Zhang, Changsheng Wang, Xi Zhang, Yang Lv,
Duration: Mar. 2018– Jun. 2018
Design Area: 5 hm2
Location: Shuangfeng village, Changning, Yibin, Sichuan, China
Shuangfeng village has a population of 2000. Due to illness, inconvenient of traffic, lacking pillar industry, it is also a village in poverty. A road connected to the highway will soon be constructed, therefore great opportunities can change the poor situation. As the highway built the villager those their homes located on the highway are going to move to a newly construct community. In consideration of the local residents’ usage and potential tourists in the future, I designed a sightseeing peach & bamboo corridor for people to enjoy the great landscape there.
Site Existing Condition
The design idea is to utilize the local famous vegetation bamboo and peach, to create a colorful seasonal landscape.
Type: Group work, group leader, from concept to render and model making. Collaborator: Lu Zhang, Xiangping Zhou Duration: Oct. 2016 – Nov. 2016 Size: 2.4 x 2.4 x 2.4m, model scale 1:4 Tutor: Prof. Yi Hou, Wenqing Jin
In this Ergonomics course, we thought about the possibility to compress the living space to the premise of satisfying the basic needs of life. The size of this flat smaller than half of 20’GP container. Multiple functions can be achieved through the liftable bed and movable furniture.
Render Perspective
Scaled Model
The bed is able to lift up when the space of bed is required.
