MingJing Zhang

About

MingJing is a Chinese architectural designer. Graduated with honourable mention from Bachelor of Architecture degree (RIBA Part I) from University of Liverpool. The undergraduate project won a best interior design prize at Liverpool2017. Before came to RCA, she works for Vector Architects, Beijing and RSAA Beijing office. She mainly interested in residential design, small scale public projects, old building renovation and interior design. 

Contact

Degree Details

Statement

The building is designed for the external population in big cities, especially women. In China, Shanghai is the city with the highest percentage of new residents coming from other towns and cities, and it's still increasing. For those young people coming to big cities for a new life, what they need is not just a place to sleep but also a place they are encouraged to communicate with others, which helps them to integrate into the city. Besides, young people nowadays are likely to move more often, as their life-styles are in a mode of constant change, so the project tries to suit its ‘guest’ as a temporary condition.

In Shanghai, the conventional Li-long living takes the role of blending people around the city. In this housing type, streets work as a big living room where people do laundry, chat and play. A vivid community is created. However, in time these conventional houses for collective living are demolished. Although more and more people flow into big cities, they just become more isolated in the metropolis. The project tries to bring the vivid street life and community life to the high rise. It aims at creating an island for people being together, an urban temple to shelter those women who are tired of moving around the city. 

Monumental Intimacy: A high rise for collective living

Atlas 01
Atlas 01 — Resurrection Chapel, Sigurd Lewerentz
Atlas 02
Atlas 02 — North House in Hanayama, Shinohara Kazuo
Sketch
Sketch — Structure can not only support the building but also works as a key element contributes to its spacial quality.

“Our experience of scale reflects the tendency of the mind to categorise the objects around us according to their size. The size of architectural elements in relation to our bodies can create an intimate or monumental sense of scale.”   Luca Pacioli

When we go to a temple or a chapel, people feel monumentality, an overwhelming sense exists in the architecture form. Correspondingly, some spaces (normally residences) bring people distinct feelings, which are more intimate and private. The project is interested in the exploration of a building that combines these two contrasting qualities: monumentality and intimacy, and believes that generosity exists in between this contrast. Moreover, the project values the idea that architecture can be a gift to its surroundings. This contribution needn’t be expensive, indulgent or overwrought. Rather generosity comes from the design of real things simply expressed, the interrelation of exterior and interior spaces, the gesture of a building, a structural or constructional idea, a proportion, the relationship of materials, textures and colours.

Physical Model

Model: Exterior View 01
Model: Exterior View 01 — Monumentality can be found in the overall tower.
Model: Interior View 01
Model: Interior View 01 — Structural Columns are placed in a centralised space as an identity of the space
Model: Interior View 02
Model: Interior View 02 — Some massive columns are redundant to bring monumentality
Model: Exterior View 02
Model: Exterior View 02
Model: Interior View 03
Model: Interior View 03 — Intimate moments are remained in the big structure through the dividing walls.

1:20 Testing Model

Project Research

Shang-hai Li-long Life
Shang-hai Li-long Life — In Shanghai, there is a conventional way of collective living. In this case, individual houses were set in row with a small courtyard in the front, and street works as a big living room. Through main lane to side lane then to the courtyard, it creates layers from public to private. People can Laundry, chatting and playing in the street while cooking together and serving guests in the courtyard.
Li-Long Community Drawing
Li-Long Community Drawing — Although living in dense, people didn’t bother others too much. Instead, the diverse activities happening in the public space helped with building a vivid community. Nowadays this type of house decreasing rapidly due to the low efficiency on land using. So the project tries to bring such a community life to the high rise.
Camping Infrastructure: Water Tap 01
Camping Infrastructure: Water Tap 01 — Learning from camping, we can see that a lot of daily activities happens around sinks and water taps, like cooking and washing.
Camping Infrastructure: Water Tap 02
Camping Infrastructure: Water Tap 02 — Water points normally become the gathering space for people living around.

The researches mainly divided into two parts: Collective living and Inhabitation: camping.

Tour of the Building

South Facade
South Facade — In the morning, guest wakes up in the sunlight and starts the day.
Corridor 01
Corridor 01 — She can have a quick food and make up in the generous space provided in between the bed and the corridor. For Shanghai women, all these different activities can be solved through some simple pieces of furnitures, a stool and a table, like what we do when camping. The corridor sometimes works as an extend of her personal space. Stores both her things and things for sharing.
Corridor 02
Corridor 02 — At the end of corridor is a communal bathroom. Lights come in through some small narrow windows bring this space a special atmosphere. People can enjoy the moment bathing and chatting with others.
Communal Space 01
Communal Space 01 — Then go down to the communal space, sinks are not just for washing but also where people spending time make up and chat. Ceiling lights and standing lights bring this monumental space some intimate moments.
Communal Space 02
Communal Space 02 — In communal space, due to the relationship of spaces is compact, people can have dinner while looking at someone working on the table at a distance. Guests can have a sense of what others are doing when they are within this area.
Private Room
Private Room — In the evening, when people back from work, she can enjoy the moment of being alone. Lying on the bed while listening sounds from the communal space if the door is open. It gives her a sense that she is within a community. The hierarchy of space is achieved through rather dividing wall but small level changes here.
Balcony: the ‘Street’
Balcony: the ‘Street’ — In contrast, people can feel a certain sense of monumentality when they are at the balcony. When people laundry, spending time in the sunlight of afternoon, the special quality makes the moment more impressive.
West Facade
West Facade

The building is designed for the external population in big cities, especially women. In China, Shanghai is the city with the highest percentage of new residents coming from other towns and cities, and it's still increasing. For those young people coming to big cities for a new life, what they need is not just a place to sleep but also a place they are encouraged to communicate with others, which helps them to integrate into the city. Besides, young people nowadays are likely to move more often, as their life-styles are in a mode of constant change, so the project tries to suit its ‘guest’ as a temporary condition.

In Shanghai, the conventional Li-long living takes the role of blending people around the city. In this housing type, streets work as a big living room where people do laundry, chat and play. A vivid community is created. However, in time these conventional houses for collective living are demolished. Although more and more people flow into big cities, they just become more isolated in the metropolis. The project tries to bring the vivid street life and community life to the high rise. It aims at creating an island for people being together, an urban temple to shelter those women who are tired of moving around the city.

Plan & Detail

Plan
Plan
Balcony, Detail Drawing
Balcony, Detail Drawing