Huazhong University of Science and Technology Design Studio
Academic, 2018 (Reworked 2020)
Individual Work
Instructors: Yiwa Shen, Elliott Chieh
This is the earliest project included in my portfolio. It originated from a design studio during my time at HUST, and was later revisited and redrawn when I worked on my portfolio. The studio brief was to design a pavilion by East Lake in Wuhan. After visiting the site several times, I gradually came to realize that East Lake is a remarkably valuable and expansive urban park.
Wuhan is a dense city of around 11 million, covering more than 8,000 square kilometers, and home to the largest college student population in China - 1.68 million - with migration still growing. Within this high-density context, East Lake, spanning 33.7 square kilometers, becomes an essential green space.
My design approach is rooted in childhood memories - eating persimmons in the courtyard of my family home, watching the full moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Moments like these, though seemingly ordinary, recur in my mind; I often feel as if I am observing myself from a third-person perspective. Through this pavilion at East Lake, I aim to recreate that kind of experience - strengthening the connection between human and nature, encouraging visitors to slow down, become aware of their surroundings, and find moments of solitude.
Through simple interactions with nature, the design seeks to amplify subtle details: the smell of grass, the sensation of fingertips touching water, the quiet of sitting among the trees.
Axonometric
Rendering Perspectives
Rendering Perspective 1
Rendering Perspective 2
Rendering Perspective 3
Section
The house sits on a gentle slope, with a 0.6-meter rise between its lower and higher points. I sank the concrete foundation 0.9 meters, dropping the interior's vantage point so that inhabitants see their familiar surroundings anew. The sunken floor also sharpens the threshold between inside and outside, fostering a sense of quiet seclusion.