chinese cultural center

Chinese Cultural Center

Chinese Cultural Center

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC2

Emily Lancaster-Vine

Chinese Cultural Center

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

5th Year Cap Proposal

Spring 2009

3Spring 2009

Table of Contents

Premise, Program, and Site 5

Site Information 11

Precedent Study 27

China’s Vernacular Architecture 28

Yung Ho Chang 32

Process 39

First Semester Drawings 47

Final Drawings 61

Bibliography 91

Table of Contents

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC4

“I am trying to look at the industrial landscape as a way of defining who we are and our relationship to the planet. It is the thing that is growing and

it is part of our economy, and it is a part of our politics, and it is part of how we elect our governments. It is a part of everything we do, but it is a big

machine that started rolling and I’m not coming at it to celebrate it or glorify the industry, nor am I trying to damn it. I am just trying to say, ‘Well, this is

what it is.’ So, to show those types of images or those types of places allows the viewer to begin to comprehend the scale. So, it is another landscape.

It is a landscape. It’s a different landscape.” [Manufactured Landscapes]

5Spring 2009

Premise, Program

, and Site

Premise, Program, and Site

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC6

China’s history has been a conglomeration of war time and peace time as power has been transferred through the hands of many

dynasties. Other nations, such as India and the Soviet Union, have been a constant influence on the transformation of China’s

religious beliefs and war tactics since the first century AD. In more recent times, the communist revolution and the growth of Mao

Tse-Tung’s power banned many of the rights of China’s people. The industrial revolution made one of the greatest impacts on

China’s building technology and continues to heighten the growth of change in rural and urban contexts. For example, advances in

building technology led to the construction of the world’s largest dam, initiating the displacement of thousands of people from their

villages. In the cities, more job opportunities are available, which has vastly increased the amount of new housing neighborhoods

within the city.

The rate of growth and change in China is escalating. Original Chinese traditions have been pushed aside. It is rare that traditional

building types are still present within the city. The Forbidden City is an example that lives on in Beijing but now as a tourist

attraction. The palaces and temples that have survived wartime and the growth of industry are places that need to be preserved

and remembered. New buildings are being designed to represent the fast pace of change in modern Chinese society. They are

overshadowing vernacular architecture of the past.

The tense relations between the United States and China have been a critical influence in the recent past. The introduction of

China’s culture and national identity into our nation’s capitol can help inform present and future generations. China’s long history

and its transformation into one of the world’s Superpowers has placed a strain on the preservation its culture. Those who visit the

Chinese Cultural Center in Washington, DC will be exposed to a greater knowledge of China’s original traditions and the escalating

transformation of its cities. Examples of the Cultural Center’s permanent exhibits may include the setbacks and conquests of bloody

wartimes, changes within governmental powers, self-preservation in rural areas, and recent expansion and development in urban

areas. It is important to learn what has influenced the contemporary society of China.

Premise

7Spring 2009

Placed in the center of our nation’s capitol, the Chinese Cultural Center’s site is on H Street. It will reside next to the Chinese

Friendship Arch, the city’s only landmark that marks the small district of Chinatown. Chinatown, a mere 6 blocks, is consumed within

an established commercial district of mid-rise buildings and is close to many points of interest. Buildings adjacent to this area include

the MCI/Verizon Center, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Building Museum. The Chinese Cultural Center is positioned

north of the National Mall, United States Capitol building and the National Galleries. A second east/west axis connects the cultural

center to the White House. The Cultural Museum is across the street from the Gallery Place - Chinatown Metro station entrance,

establishing a further connection with areas outside of Capitol Hill.

The Chinese Cultural Center is in close proximity to many points of interest of the Residents of DC, as well as tourists visiting the

city for the fist time. Its location is easily accessible by foot, metro, or car, and will speculate visitors of all ages. Placing it inside the

small district of Chinatown will strengthen the area’s Chinese culture and educate our nation and those unable to travel to their

native land about the history of China.

Premise, Site, and Program

Site

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC8

9Spring 2009

Premise, Site, and Program

Lobby 700 1 700 sfReception 150 1 150 sfCoat Room 230 1 230 sfRestroom 450 2 900 sfAdministrative Office 450 3 1,300 sfConference Room 640 1 640 sfBookstore 1,600 1 1,600 sf Gallery Exhibition Space 1,800 2 3,600 sfVisual Auditorium (75 seats) 1,200 1 1,200 sfProjection Room / Lighting / Sound 200 1 200 sfCourtyards Tai Chi 900 1 900 sf Teahouse 500 1 500 sf Garden 300 1 300 sf Meditation 150 1 150 sf Bamboo 100 1 100 sf Café 900 1 900 sf Café Patio 950 1 950 sf Kitchen 500 1 500 sfClassrooms Art 450 1 450 sf Computer 325 1 325 sf English as a Second Language [ESL ] 375 1 375 sfResidence Bedroom 275 8 2,200 sf Residence Restroom 450 2 900 sfResidence Balcony 500 2 1,000 sfResidence Patio 800 1 800 sf

Janitor’s Closet 25 2 50 sfTransformer Vault, Room, or Exterior Pad 100 1 100 sf Electrical Room 50 1 50 sfElectrical Closet 25 2 50 sfCommunications Room 50 1 50 sfBoiler, Chiller, & Pump Room 300 1 300 sfFan Room 300 1 300 sfPlumbing Room 50 1 50 sf Total of subconditioned (interior) floor area 21,820 sf Circulation - 20% of subtotal floor area 4,360 sf

Total floor area 26,180 sf

Program

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC10

“The semi-suburbanized and the suburbanized messes we create in this way become despised by their own inhabitants tomorrow. These thin dispersions

lack any reasonable degree of innate vitality, staying power, or inherent usefulness as settlements. Few of them, and these only the most expensive as

a rule, hold their attractions much longer than a generation; then they begin to decay in the pattern of city gray areas. Indeed, an immense amount of

today’s city gray belts was yesterday’s dispersion closer to ‘nature’.” [Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities]

11Spring 2009

Site Information

Site Information

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC12

German immigrants originally populated Chinatown. Chinese immigrants began to populate the area in the 1930s, after being displaced from Washington’s original Chinatown along Pennsylvania Avenue by the development of the Federal Triangle government office complex. After the 1968 riots, the population of Chinatown sharply declined and ethnic Chinese residents, as well as many others, left for suburban areas to escape the city’s rising crime and taxes. The Friendship Archway was dedicated to Washington DC in 1986. It is a traditional Chinese gate in the style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and was designed by a local architect Alfred H. Liu. The arch was built to reinforce the neighborhood’s Chinese character. At this time, the local Metro station was given its present name, Gallery Place-Chinatown, but by then most of the neighborhood’s Chinese population

13Spring 2009

Site Information

had already moved to the suburbs. Large sections of Chinatown’s residential areas were torn town during the construction of the old Washington Convention Center and the MCI Center. In 1982, the city constructed the Wah Luck Housing at 6th and H Street, NW to accommodate the displaced residents. Recently, Chinatown underwent a $200 million renovation, transforming the area into a bustling scene for nightlife, shopping and entertainment. Local laws dictate that new businesses in the Chinatown area must have signs in English and Chinese to preserve local character. Chinatown’s most prominent businesses are the approximately 20 Chinese and Asian restaurants, almost all of which are owned by Asian-American families.

Chinese Friendship Arch, Chinatown

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District of Columbia

Chinatown

Site

Green Space

15Spring 2009

Site Information

MCI / Verizon Center

Portrait Gallery / Smithsonian American Art Museum

Surrounding Chinatown Institutions

National Building Museum

National Academy of Sciences

Army Core of Engineering

Gallery Place - Chinatown Metro Station

Washington Public Library

United States Mint

Convention Center

Metro Center Station

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC16

5 min.

10 min.

15 min.

20 min.

Walking Distances

17Spring 2009

Site Information

1 foot contours site is effectively flat

Chinatown Topography

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Chinatown Landmarks

NYCPhiladelphia andRichmond Chinatown Buses

Chinese Grocery

Chinese Restaurant

Gallery Place CommunityCenter

Gallery Place - ChinatownStation Entrances

Friendship Arch

Starbucks

Chinese Grocery

Wah Luck Housing

Project Site

19Spring 2009

Site Information

Gallery Place CommunityCenter

Mixed Use Commercial FederalPublic

Green Space

Institutional

Low Density Residential

Medium Density Residential

HighDensity Residential

Local Public

Chinatown Zoning

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC20

H Street South Elevation

110 ft

Project Site

(includes demolition of one existing building)

H Street North Elevation

21Spring 2009

Site Information

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC22

Summer: Morning Shadows

Summer: Afternoon Shadows

Summer: Evening Shadows

Winter: Morning Shadows

Winter: Afternoon Shadows

Winter: Evening Shadows

Constant Sun / Shade

Constant Morning Shadows

Constant Evening Shadows

Constant Afternoon Sun

23Spring 2009

Site Information

Strong Southern Wind blocked by Residential Mid - Rise building.

Back of site exposed to strong North Eastern wind.

Strong North Western wind blocked by

Residential Mid-Rise buildings.

Chinatown Wind Forces

Automobile repair shop noise during daytime hours.

Restaurant food delivery noise during daytime hours.

Constant noise from street vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Chinatown Noise

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC24

A

25Spring 2009

Site Information

B

C

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC26

“The once uniform urban landscape is now a metropolitan field that is inundated with skyscrapers and individually expressive architecture with a

disorganized or damaged fabric or simply without.” [Yung Ho Chang, “City of Objects aka City of Desire”]

27Spring 2009

Precedent Study

Precedent Study

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC28

Courtyard Houses [Beijing]

Neighborhood Plan [Beijing]

In Beijing, the courtyard is an element in the traditional Chinese residence. It originated as a ‘walled garden.’ This space was considered a small ‘utopia’ and was intended for individual through and concentration.

Open to the sky above, courtyards filter an abundance of light into the dense development of Beijing’s [hutong] neighborhoods.

29Spring 2009

Precedent Study

Residence Plan [Beijing]

Courtyard [Beijing]

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC30

Residence Section [Sichuan Province]

Courtyard [Sichuan Province]

The courtyard is centrally located in the residence. It is protected from the outside world by the rooms that surround its four sides. Today, this space is celebrated as a place for family activity.

The courtyards may vary in geometry and size, allowing others to be used for small gardens.

31Spring 2009

Precedent Study

Residence Plan [Sichuan Province]

Courtyard [Sichuan Province]

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC32

33Spring 2009

Precedent Study

Yung Ho Chang

Yung Ho Chang was the first Chinese student in Beijing to go abroad and study after China’s Cultural Revolution. He was a student

and became an educator at the University of California at Berkeley and Ball State University. After 10 years in the United States he

decided to go back to Beijing. In 1993, Chang became the first Chinese architect to establish a private firm in China.

Mass development is a challenge affecting China’s cities. Development and construction that cause significant transformations are

realized before planning ever takes place. Urban design concepts are undeveloped. In a consumer society such as China, economic

and commercial concerns replace traditional Chinese social, economical, historic and personal interests. Radical transformations of

cities change historic centers, natural terrain and walking space with Western style skyscrapers, new urban spaces and increased

motorized transportation. Emerging generations of architects must address immediate urban conditions such as high-density, fast

and uneven economic development, chaotic and unplanned settlements, pollution, traffic congestion, and political and cultural

transition in society.

Yung Ho Chang supports the “creation of ‘alternative’ public and private spaces that resist the homogenization of urban space and

social life” (Hanru, 42). He wishes to provide urban inhabitants diverse and meaningful experiences of space and time. While Chang

does not import conventional “global,” “high-tech,” or “virtual” vocabularies as alternatives to traditional styles, he articulates the

excitement and pleasure of urban life in spite of the conditions of high density, speed and chaos.

The courtyard is an element used in traditional Chinese architecture to provide both internal openness and protective closure from

the outside world. The variety of scale in courtyards is seen from palaces to courtyard houses. Chang’s Eastern ideas suggest that

“architecture is secondary to the space it contains” (Lerup 18). The courtyard’s versatility lies in its dynamic multiplication of space.

Courtyards are vital in high-density housing, such as in Hong Kong, to allow for light to enter into rooms that would otherwise

receive no sunlight. In his projects, Yung Ho Chang reinterprets the traditions normally followed by traditional Chinese elements.

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC34

Split House

35Spring 2009

Precedent Study

The Split House is located north of Beijing, in the mountains close to the great Wall of

China. In this project, Yung Ho Chang redefines the traditional Chinese courtyard. One

side of the courtyard is enclosed by mountains while the other side are enclosed by the

walls of the house. Chang blurs the line between natural and man made. The house is

“split” in the middle to bring in the scenery. The angle of the courtyard can be adapted to

fit into the mountain landscape. Chang employs elements and materials that have been

used in the past in new ways. The structure of the house employs wooden beams and

columns that have been laminated to increase their longevity and structural integrity.

The walls of the house are made from rammed-earth, an ancient technique. The earth

formed walls are a good source of insulation and have minimal environmental impact.

Split House for the Commune of the Great Wall [2002]

Construction Photographs

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC36

Hebei Education Publishing House

37Spring 2009

Precedent Study

Hebei Education Publishing House [2002]

The Hebei Education Publishing House is located in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. The space

needed for the publishing house only requires 3 floors. Yung Ho Chang’s mixed-use

building occupies the bottom 9 floors with rental office buildings and retail shops

to compete with China’s lively real estate market. The three different programs

act as relatively independent micro-buildings. A void is created in the spaces

between. The circulation core is a vertical urban garden that is open to the public.

Publishing

Offices

Retail Vert

ical G

arde

n

Structural Model

Building Section

Building Model

Building ElevationSpatial Diagram

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC38

“Preservation is a wonderful concept, which in itself shows the limited way in which the profession of the architect is considered. The architect is by defi-

nition the one who causes change. This role is the motivating thrust of the entire profession. Therefore, we are fundamentally reluctant to participate

in preservation, seeing it very much as the enemy. However, this is an historical flaw. Preservation is not opposed to change; it is a modality of change.

Preservation must be investigated in terms of modernity. This would entail that we have to preserve before we design, or rather, that we will decide

whether we design something that is to be preserved or not.” [Rem Koolhaas, “Found in Translation”]

39Spring 2009

Process

Process

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC40Preliminary Building Models

Chinatown Model

41Spring 2009

Process

Street Model

Section Study

H Street

project site

tour bus drop-off

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC42

Building Model

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Midsemester Ground Floor Plan

43Spring 2009

Process

Midsemester Models

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC44Rough Building Section

Rough Building Section

45Spring 2009

Process

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC46

“The city of the captive globe is devoted to the artificial conception and accelerated birth of theories, interpretation, mental constrictions, proposals and

their infliction to the world. It is the capital of Ego, where science, art poetry and forms of madness compete under ideal conditions to invent, destroy and

restore the world of phenomenal reality. Each science or mania has its own plot. On each plot stands an identical base, built from heavy polished stone to

facilitate and provoke speculative activity, these bases – ideological laboratories – are equipped to suspend unwelcome laws, undeniable truths, to create

non-existent, physical conditions.” [Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York]

47Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

First Semester Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC48 Street-front View

49Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

Final Model

View through Market Alley

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC50

Site Plan

51Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC52Building Section

Building Section through Courtyards

53Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC54Elevation through Alley

H Street Elevation

55Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC56

View through Market Alley

57Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

View of H Street and the Friendship Arch

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC58

H Street South Elevation Project Site

H Street North Elevation

59Spring 2009

First Semester Draw

ings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC60

61Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC62

63Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Site Plan

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC64

Level 1

65Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Level 2

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC66

Level 3

67Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Level 4

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC68

Building Section through Courtyards

69Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC70

Building Section

71Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC72

Building Section

73Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC74

H Street Elevation

75Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC76

Elevation through Alley

77Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC78

79Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Wall Section

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC80

Building Assembly Diagram

81Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC82

Structural Plan

83Spring 2009

Final Drawings

Structural Diagram

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC84

85Spring 2009

Final Drawings

View through Market Alley

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC86

View of H Street

87Spring 2009

Final Drawings

View to the Friendship Arch

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC88

View of H Street

89Spring 2009

Final Drawings

View from Adjacent Building

Ch inese Cu l tu ra l Cente r Wash ington , DC90

“The absence of a theory of bigness – ‘what is the maximum architecture can do’ – is architecture’s most debilitating weakness. Without a theory of

bigness, architects are in the position of Frankenstein’s creators: instigators of a partly successful experiment whose results are running amok and are

therefore discredited. Because there is no theory of bigness, we don’t know what to do with it, we don’t know where to put it, we don’t know when to

use it, we don’t know how to plan it. Big mistakes are our only connection to bigness. But in spite of its dumb name, bigness is a theoretical domain at

this fin de siècle; in a landscape of disarray, disassembly, disassociation, disclamation. The attraction of bigness is its potential to reconstruct the Whole,

resurrect the Real, reinvent the collective, reclaim maximum possibility.” [Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York]

91Spring 2009

Bibliography

Chang, Yung H., Ruan Xing, and Hou Hanru. Atelier Feichang Jianzhu : A Chinese Practice. Chicago: Map Book, 2003.

Chang, Yung H. “City of Objects aka City of Desire.” A+U. December 2003. 70-73.t

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage, 1961.

Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York : A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. New York: Monacelli P, Incorporated, 1997. 495-516.

Koolhaas, Rem. “Found in Translation.” Volume 8: Ubiquitous China. New York: Columbia University

GSAPP / Archis, 2007.

Manufactured Landscapes. Dir. Jennifer Baichwal. DVD. Foundry Films, 2006.

Images

Knapp, Ronald G., A. C. Ong, and Jonathan Spence. Chinese Houses : The Architectural Heritage of a Nation. Grand

Rapids: Tuttle, 2005.

Chang, Yung H., Ruan Xing, and Hou Hanru. Atelier Feichang Jianzhu : A Chinese Practice. Chicago: Map Book, 2003.

Bibliography