Lu Yao Luisa Ji/ PoRTFoLio

an inTRoducTion

I was born and raised in Shenzhen, China, later settled in Mississauga, Canada as an immigrant. Growing up practicing music, my inspirations have been greatly influenced and shaped by the structural and improvisational nature of music. Currently a M. Arch student at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, I will be defending my thesis work Spring 2015. The work undertakes philosophic and rhizomatic approaches to investigate the inherent value of subtraction to architectural practices.

Fortunate to be an active traveler, I have memorable moments, namely backpacking through Germany, a term of exchange studies in Helsinki, Finland, and trips to Chicago and New York City. I have also obtained several internships in China and experiences as a teaching assistant. With which my involvement includes but not limited to urban strategy, residential development, graphics, and event curatorial practices.

QuaLiFicaTion and skiLLs

PubLicaTions

insTaLLaTion

PRoFEssionaL EXPERiEncEsEducaTion

cV:

bachelor of architectural stuies Dean’s List

Honors Degree with High Distinction 2013

Master of architecture (M. arch)Entrance Scholarship, TA-ship

Expected Graduation June 2015

Carleton University , Ottawa , CanadaAzrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism

Master of architecture (Exchange)Winter Term 2014

Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

• Currentstudiesfocusoninterdisciplinaryarchitectural practices, and social, political, and economic factors in relation to the evolution of architectural and urban realities

• Mindmappinganddynamic thinking• organized and highly motivated team player in

collaborative work environment• bright and tenacious individual determined to

accept and resolve challenges• nuanced interpersonal skills and engagement in

public events• Firmskillsinautocad, adobe creative suite,

and Rhinoceros with Grasshopper; previous training in BIM with Revit

• Experiencedinrapidprototyping:CNC,Laser-cut,3D printing

• ProficientwrittenandspokenEnglish and chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) with excellent communication skills and professional vocabulary; expected to obtain intermediate French upon graduation in 2015

building 22 12th Issue “Open Stage - Blues Institute”

The Phoney island of the Mind Vol.2 Maladis of the Architectural Soul

by Roger Connah BookdesignVertigoPress2014

Resonant currents ProjectinitiatedbyArchitectManuelBaezmanifesting and reflecting the inherent dynamic energy of Impact Hub Ottawa

assistant architect/Researcher2014

UrbanusShenzhen

• Research focused on topics of Tulou Culture in Fujian, Rammed-Earth Construction in Chinese Vernacular Architecture, and Heritage Preservation of Tulou in Rural Fujian under Urbanus Research Bureau(URB)

• Involvedinprojectstargetingheritagepreservationissues and rural urbanization in China

• Assisted URB to curate Tulou Project Research WorkshopinPingheCounty,Zhangzhou,Fujian,and lead a team of 20 professionals to survey unprotected tulou and study locally sourced material including wood, bamboo, and raw earth in Fujian

• TookresponsibilitiesinPR,publications,anddocumentations of the Tulou Project Research Workshop

assistant architect20112013

AUBE Conception D’architectureShenzhen

• Assisted senior architects and urban designers• TookpartsinprojectsofSanya Vanke Sports Park

Residential Development(2011), and Tangshan Bay Yacht Club Hotel (2011), and Kunming Pan-Asia Technology District Development Plan (2013)

• Applied technical competency in drafting, diagrams, and 2D/3D representations

Workshop Teaching assistant2012

• First-yearcurriculum: MultimediaandPhotography

Laser-cutting Technician20132014

design studio Teaching assistantPresent

• Undergraduate Design Studio II

Carleton UniversityOttawa

Phone:1(613)878-8155E-Mail:luisa.lyji@gmail.com

projects

artwork

words

Resonant currents

InstallationHub Ottawa

The Hive

Graduate Studies: “Gateway” Studio 2013Sprott School of Business, Carleton University

open stage

Undergraduate Studies: Studio 2011First Baptist Church, Ottawa

internship Works

Waterfront and Residential DevelopmentTangshan Bay Yacht Club

MasterplanningFanya Hi-tech Park

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Traveling Façades

Digital media 2014

untitled Half/Half

Pinhole Photography 2013

on upheaval

Excerpt from Master’s Thesis Colloquium 2014

RESONANT CURRENTS

Azrieli School of Architecture x Hub Ottawa

Resonant Currents is a ceiling installation to HUB Ottawa, a collaborative workspace to harvest local intelligence. The installation not only creates a cozy atmosphere to the event space with its sculptural form, but also

drastically improved the acoustic qualities in the main room where different events such as Creative Morning, Brown Bag Lunch, and Pecha Kucha Night are hosted in on regular basis. Initiated by Prof. Manuel Baez, the project

team explored the potential of repeated modules made of 3mm plywood. The weaved modules fills the entire event space with a central node at the main gathering space and three axis extended into the sub-spaces.

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The module of the installation works with the flexibility of 3mm plywood. The bending of the plywood strips gives form to the individual unit resembling the shape of a standing wave. The unit is mirrored and bolted at the nodes to form the base

module, and later multiplied and manipulated to fill the ceiling of the event space. The propagation of the modules is based on three projections sharing a common centroid at the dinning/meeting table. The waves extend into a large open studio space which

dual functions as a lecture room on event days. Due to the materiality and the number of surfaces resulted from the multiplication of modules, the acoustic quality is drastically improved towards lecturing, speech, and audio system performance.

projectteam

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Free Triangle Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/triangle/

T HEHIVE

Azrieli School of Architecture x Sprott School Of Business

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Free Triangle Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/triangle/

Sprott School of Business nurtures growth, collaboration, and intelligence. While the school is in rapid expansion, the Dunton Tower is no longer a place to foster an upcoming institution at the nation’s Capital. In its need of a new image, the HIVE settles itself upon the Sprott philosophy generating a new school for the students and faculties.

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context

PaRliament Hill

The proposed site for Sprott School of Business sits at the threshold of the Bronson avenue Gateway, connecting arrivals from the airport to the city centre of the Nation’s Capital. In proximity to Dow’s Lake’s natural scenery, the site is advantaged to foster growth on an urban scope.

Dow’s lake

designapproach

site

BronSon Ave. Yow

The Dunton Tower is the current home to Sprott School of Business. Although a landmark for its height, the vertical form casts great difficulties in building a well connected, collaborative workspace. The strategy is to tame the vertical programs into a map of networks.

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The project inherited a hexagonal system. While the rational aspect of the system enhances the structural integrity and the formal gesture, the organic packing of a non-hierarchical geometry resembles one of nature’s most collaborative workspace --beehives.

The goal is to dissolve the existing vertical tower into tightly bonded collaborative spaces propagating the site horizontally. As the hex-grid vanishes into the landscape leaving the beautiful Dow’s Lake uninterrupted, the accent of the hex-grid reveals from within the functional programs.

design

site strategy

programs

Rational oRGaniC

Sunken garden, individual study space

Classrooms ( 30 persons capacity)Convertible individual study space

Offices, meeting rooms, auditorium

Hospitality, campus food services

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landscaping

By draping a soft carpet of greenery on top of the functional programs, the rooftop became part of the landscape, visually connected to Dow’s lake, and at the same time providing the students and faculty members points of gatherings and interaction. The landscaping also acts as a buffer to the heavy traffic of Bronson Avenue, lowering the noise level affecting the interior spaces of the school embedded under the green carpet.

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landmark An icosahedron crystal at the upper entrance to access the Sprott School of Business from the landscaped roof is marking the school’s location at the threshold entering Ottawa’s city centre. The north-eastern facade of perforated Corten sheets allows the morning sun to cast into the sunken garden while veiling the busy traffic of Bronson Avenue from distracting the students. This particular facade is rather protective than revealing as a reaction to its adjacency to heavy traffic, contrasting greatly from the welcoming, soft southern facade facing the main Carleton campus.

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+9900 mm

rooftop + view from Carleton

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plug-in modules

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+6600 mm

Free Triangle Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/triangle/

gridsystem

The armature runs on a 9 metre hex-grid of steel-frame, setting up a frame work for the classroom modules to be plugged in with considerations of further expansions in the school’s carrying capacity.

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studypods

sunkengarden

The project not only emphasizes on the importance of collaborative workspace, the aspect of private workspace is also being considered for the students to focus on their subjects independently.

The garden is a buffer to the noise and heavy traffic from Bronson Avenue. The deep cut into the ground also sends natural light all the way to the floors below grade, drastically reducing the use of artificial lighting.

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- 3300mm

0 mm

+3300

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OPENSTAGE

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There is room for sound.

This is an old church.

designapproach

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The First Baptist Church situated at the vibrant corner of Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue Downtown Ottawa is being transformed into an institution for Blues. Inspired by the origin of Blues music, the space is given back to the public, and to the aspiring musicians trying to establish a name in the music

scene. The truss support marks a protected concert space, with room on the stage for musicians to park their vehicles and unload equipments in preparation for their big show. The truss support also houses the sound, and lighting systems essential to a concert space. Adjacent to the stage

area, the pull-apart reusing the 1980s office addition to the church structure, is re-defined as a temporary “home” to the touring musicians, as well for those who traveled to Ottawa for a unique experience. Still, the original 1920s First Baptist Church, remains a church to serve the city of Ottawa as it has always been.

Corner of Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue, accessible by pedestrians and vehicles

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sitestrategy

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accessibility

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from Laurier Avenue looking into the stage and the hostel

modelPortfolio/ p26

illustrating the typical units of guest house (top), and the main stage area (bottom).

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plans

Tangshan Bayyacht club

INTERNSHIPWORKS

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AUBE Conception D’architectureIUA Team 2011

Project Director: Michel Perisse, Yves Feng

Project Location: Tangshan, China

Fanya hi-tech park

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AUBE Conception D’architectureIUA Team 2013

Project Director: Michel Perisse, Yves Feng

Project Location: Kunming, China

travelingfaçades

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Balconies, windows, and receivers: looking at, breathing in, and listening to the lives of the others. They sit there quietly, watching the others constantly flowing in transit. They paint their dull lives with other people’s hues.

In heart, they travel.

ART-WORK

half/half

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The world seen by the camera is an image: an imaginary space. The lines and planes diverge and converge, reconstructing another world with vaguely recognizable features of the physical world. Railings, stairs, pavements, windows...and much more to be traced. On paper, they are mere footages of the sun’s wanderlust heart trapped in an imaginary space. It is an image. Only half real, and only half fake.

WORDS

Raised from a personal connection with the fascinating advancement of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), the observation is heightened with the outbreak of the upheavals in Kashgar during its transformation from the historic silk-road trading hub to the newly destined economic frontier of China.

The sudden disturbance brings the previously unspoken dilemma of SEZ under the spotlight: an interesting phenomenon regarding violent disturbance in social conditions. An upheaval is a child to the social, political, and economic condition. It is neither a leader nor a follower. It is a different “culture” that coexists with the larger cultural context, which re-examines the conditions it is situated in and generates new culture. Perhaps reconsider the leading culture of architecture: instead of saving the glory of the past, embracing the past through subtraction can generate an alternative future. Can architecture take form of an upheaval, a radical break that sparks agony,

on upheaval

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attention, and undercurrents? Can architecture generate a temporary discord that disrupts the clean cut between the definite contradictions of values? Wolf D. Prix’s fascination of a leaping whale exemplified the amazement brought by disruption. As he said, “I was in a boat and the water is very calm but I could feel that there was something moving under the surface. All of a sudden the animal emerged and jumped 15 meters high. You have to imagine it: a 30-tonne, floating, flying object.” The figure of heaviness transitions from one medium to another. As from water to air through its power to defeat the confinement of gravity, the leaping whale disrupts the tranquility of both water and air as it flies.

Will upheaval be the emancipator to architecture?

The text is excerpted from the Master’s Thesis of Luisa Ji, presented in December colloquium.

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thank you.

Lu YaoLuisa

Jisincerely,