Mavis Zhao and Zephyr Zhu's "Split Domain"

SPLIT DOMAIN

Work by Mavis Zhao and Zephyr Zhu for "NEXT-CYCLE", a two-quarter long Comprehensive Design Studio for second year MArch students, advised by Max Kuo.

PROJECT STATEMENT:

Capitalizing on the existing structure, our aim with this renovation project is to weave a dual narrative, demonstrated through three key design elements: Firstly, the split formal narrative from a static two-dimensional plane to a dynamic three-dimensional space. Secondly, the split journey for the visitors, oscillating between the his torical charm of the old space and the contemporary elegance of the new renovation. Lastly, the split material properties to create a contrast in perception, moving from the solidity and weight of traditional materials to the ethereal lightness of translucency. Through these dichotomous design strategies, we aim to create an architecture that speaks of its past while simultaneously reaching towards the future.

This studio challenged the students to develop a position in engaging an existing building/site and to imagine a highly specific and detailed project for its next cycle towards an alternative future. As we contemplate architectural value for spaces that were made for other needs at other times, for materials that might not be directly conducive to present needs and meanings sought; as we decide what to salvage, what to reappropriate, what to reconfigure, what and how to add to; and as we try to make sensible new tectonics for a culture that evolves rapidly, our framing of the problem begins to shift from the territory of responsible environmental ethics towards the territory of potential emergent aesthetics.