转自：Studio Alpha
"Looking at architecture from the interaction, gratitude has won the favor of GSD"
tree
NYU Shanghai
Interactive Media Arts
+ Computer Science 双专业
GPA: 3.89/4.0
TOEFL 113
GOES 325
About Yourself:
See the light in the darkness
He has participated in SA Thematic Courses:
SA OpenProject 250 | 在适应的运动2.0
SA OpenProject 239 | 水中重生 3.0
SA OpenProject 218 | 神圣几何
Recent SA Related Courses:
Interactive/CD-Tech
Exhibited at IDS Vancouver | 3D Concrete Printing (Anytime Departure)
Interactive Materials: Arduino-based Prototyping (Ready to Go)
Refactoring Redundancy - Machine Learning as an Aid (Registration)
Epic in the Road: Draw a long scroll of the street with AIGC tools (departing at any time)
Manufacturing Robotic Arm VS Robotic Arm Manufacturing (Coming Soon)
Drone Programming & Spatial Light Drawing (Coming Soon)
Exhibited at IDS Vancouver | 3D Furniture Printing - Growth Impression (Coming Soon)
参展温哥华IDS | 做光互动装置（即将开课）
Interactive/CD-UIUX
UX Design Award - Making Sustainable Interactive Products (Anytime Departure)
Chatbots in the Era of Generative AI (Anytime Departure)
Interactive/CD-Media
Touchdesigner - Space Instruments 2.0 (Ready to go)
UE+ Game Scene | Body Container 3.0 (ready to go)
Admission results
As of today:
Harvard GSD, Harvard University
MDes Mediums
MArch I
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT
Media Lab waitlist
UC Berkeley
MDes 奖$13,500
康奈尔大学 Cornell
MArch I 奖$15,000/y
哥伦比亚大学 Columbia
MArch I
Southern California Institute of Architecture SCI-Arc
MArch I 奖$87,500
University of Toronto UToronto
MArch I 奖CAD15,000/y
University College London UCL
MArch Design for Performance and Interaction
The University of Hong Kong (HKU).
MArch (Design)
Tutors
Boyuan
Columbia,MArch
Master of Architecture from Columbia University, New York, and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Architecture) from Chinese University of Hong Kong (First Class Honours). His works have won the GSAPP Honor Award for Excellence in Design, Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize, Paul Katz Fellowship and other awards, and have been published in exhibitions and media such as Shenzhen-Hong Kong Urbanism\Architecture Biennale, Times Architecture, KooZA/rch, Gude, Shanghai Urban Design Festival, etc. He has worked in research institutions and design firms such as Asia Megacities Lab in New York, SHoP, WORKac, ODA, ROCCO in Hong Kong, and OPEN in Beijing.
Yiqing
MIT，MArch
Enrolled in MIT's MArch program as a teaching assistant in the MIT School of Architecture, graduating in the spring of 2024. He graduated from Tongji with a bachelor's degree in architecture and participated in the exchange of the National University of Singapore (NUS). Worked at the West Saperi Studio, Jeans. He has studied art since childhood, and is good at painting, architectural design, scheme development, structural analysis and optimization, materials and construction. Her projects involve socio-humanistic, narrative and expression, sustainable materials and structures, construction and automation, urban renewal and transformation, digital installation, animation and multimedia expression. For teaching, she focuses on the completeness and depth of the portfolio proposal, the integration of research and design, and the architectural space itself. We hope to help students with or without foundation to truly understand architecture and design, and discover their own methods and interests.
Michelle Jiang
Harvard，MDes ADPD
Artist, interactive installation designer. Harvard School of Design, Master of Art, Design and Public Sphere (ADPD), Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University. He has won many awards such as Outstanding Graduation Project and Harvard Art First. He has worked in many well-known firms in Tokyo, New York, China and Berlin. His research interests include complex geometry, computational design, and interactive installations. He has participated in the design and production of large-scale art installation projects in New York, Zurich, Chicago, Daejeon and other places. His works have been exhibited at Harvard University, Tsinghua University, Berlin, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places.
Duke
Harvard,March
He studied at Tongji University and obtained his MArch 2 degree from GSD from 2016 to 2018. He worked at SOM and KPF in New York. He is good at architectural design and drawing expression, and is interested in the spirituality, typology, and construction of architecture.
Jenson Chen
ETH，MSc in Architecture
He graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and studied with French architect Alexandre Theriot (BTRUTHER) and Professor Phillipe Block. He has worked at Aedas Beijing, PENDA Beijing, and was a teaching assistant to the renowned Swiss landscape architect Günther Vogt and a professor assistant to the BUK chair in architectural architecture. He used to work in the construction department of Shanghai Dajie Robot, engaged in digital design.
What do you think are the connections between interaction, CS and architecture?
I think the future of architecture lies in how to combine it with interaction. Static architectural design is a bit out of step with the times in the 21st century, and I think the closest way to integrate with the current CS and AI trends is through interaction. As mentioned earlier, a lot of the directions I do are to explore how architectural structures can become interactive, or how human-computer interfaces can be applied to buildings or human settlements, and these things are probably the connection between these disciplines.
How did GSD feel when it got dual enrollment?
The group said that he was on the phone with his family when the list was released, and he couldn't open the nervous letter. I must have been overjoyed to see Harvard's admission, and MArch's letter didn't understand that it was a simultaneous admission at first, but after asking around, I found out that it was a dual enrollment (Concurrent Degree). It took a while to get used to this reality, and it's still exciting to look back on.
What is the compatibility with MIT Media Lab?
I only chose the Tangible Media group, which is equivalent to Bai Yueguang for me, and Media Lab is a lottery within a lottery, because the people who can get in are too good, so I didn't think I could get in. Now waitlist is also a very unexpected result.
MIT Media Lab has several research groups or lab projects to choose from. Tangible Media is a group led by Professor Hiroshi Ishii who studies bridging the gap between the digital and real worlds by creating interactive dynamic interfaces that allow digital information to be manipulated and experienced in a tangible form.
I chose this group mainly because my projects are basically Tangible Interaction, and their projects are difficult to circumvent as reference cases, and many of them are like the originators. My HCI project can be said to be specially prepared, and as mentioned earlier, it actually refers to their project. From the entire pre-research and conception to the later visual design, there are references to their ideas and expressions. I think a similar project might have caught their attention.
Also, letters of recommendation must be important. Having good referees will definitely give a big boost to the application. It is recommended that the younger students reach out more, and there will definitely be a better opportunity.
What is the face of many projects such as MIT and Berkeley?
If you feel that there is a face scripture, prepare an answer according to the shared face scripture, but don't write it down and read it, it's probably thinking about how to answer and then play specifically, so that all aspects should be natural. If you don't have a face, it's easier to use it as a chat, and it will be easier to play well.
I think the most important thing is to be deep and clear enough about the projects you have done and about yourself, so that you don't get overwhelmed by some unprepared questions. At this point, it may be no problem if you write the essay more carefully.
In addition, every project must be prepared with some good questions to ask him, which will basically be asked.
About those custom instruments
Projects in schools such as GSD and MIT have customized essay questions, after writing so many special project essays, which project essay do you like the most?
Maybe it's MIT, but I think it's probably because I wrote it first, and it's more impressive hahaha. Through this essay, I have deeply summarized my own characteristics and strengths, my life experience and internship, research experience and consistent (philosophical) thinking behind my project, etc., I think this process has given me a clearer understanding of myself, which is not only useful in the whole application process, but also has a certain role in life and future planning.
SA journey from 21 years
My entire application timeline is as follows, and I really started preparing from a very early stage
●2021 Case
Sign up for SA~ officially joined
● 2022 Summer
Received the school's Dean's Undergraduate Research Fund to start researching and producing HCI projects
● 2022 Case
Participated in several SA Open Projects: Sacred Geometry, Rebirth in Water, and Materials of Adaptation, which was the prototype of three projects in addition to the HCI project, and joined NYU's Research Lab at the same time.
● 2023 Spring~Summer
The HCI project was made from scratch at NYU, and the completion was relatively good
● 2023 Case
Although there is a foundation, I feel too bad about myself, so other projects except HCI are basically remade from September '23. I haven't seen much of the layout of the portfolio before, and I started to do it in October, so the whole time is quite tight. In addition, the two majors of the school have had quite a painful semester, so it is recommended not to study, and it is recommended to start the portfolio layout early hahaha. The entire collection was completed in early December, and then changed to early January, almost final. The paperwork was written from mid-December, and most of the applications were submitted after the DDL correction of each project.
The main theme of the portfolio: an interactive view of architecture
The main theme is "Architecture from an Interactive Perspective", and my four works present an even distribution from interaction to architecture: HCI interface, kinetic structure, computational design and architectural design. On the one hand, this distribution helps to present my ability and understanding in various directions in the field of interaction and architecture, and on the other hand, it also highlights the characteristics of my interdisciplinary (Art + Science), and this combination with interaction is a major prospect of architecture at present.
Specifically, the first project is a human-computer interface, which is a project done in the form of research. Inspired by projects such as media lab's inFORM, the structure of this project resembles a plane capable of changing its own shape, which can be applied at the level from the smart home to the architectural scale.
The second project is a movable structure design derived from the study of traditional Chinese timber architecture, which will be described in more detail below.
The third project is the design of an imaginary space community. Because of the disappearance of gravity, the directional distribution of architectural space can be arbitrary, which challenges the traditional architectural design ideas. This project uses grasshopper to generate a series of living communities that resemble the chaotic spaces in Escher's paintings.
The fourth project is the architectural design of a linear narrative space, with the theme of Qu Yuan's memorial hall. It is roughly through the design of the space to tell Qu Yuan's life, and to convey his emotions at each stage of life with the atmosphere of the space.
Space Community Project
The most satisfying is the ancient Chinese construction project!
My second project was the most satisfying for me, and I found it very interesting to study the dougongs and beams of ancient Chinese architecture. I was very interested in ancient architecture, and when I studied the section of the Foguang Temple, I found a diamond-shaped structure similar to the proportional division, which is similar to the golden ratio of the Parthenon. I transformed this diamond-shaped structure into a modular movable structure, allowing people to use only a few simple wooden blocks to make some roof structures similar to bucket arches like building blocks, and extend and compress them according to their needs. The overall image is like a giant wooden structure that can breathe, criss-crossing wooden beams form a kind of changing harmony, and the lives and spaces of people under the eaves are intertwined. I guess I have poured some of my understanding of Chinese architecture into this. I made my own model for this project, and although the whole process was tiring and stressful, I personally liked the final result.
How do you feel about participating in multiple SA OPs?
Michelle Jiang of Sacred Geometry is very good, will give a lot of specific examples as reference and inspiration, technical support is also very serious and responsible, participating in this OP learned a lot of Grasshopper hardcore knowledge.
Water Rebirth especially liked the theme, and the final experience was good. Mr. Tsan G gave me a lot of suggestions in the early stage of the project and the whole design idea, and Mr. Herzog also provided a lot of good suggestions when it came to the later iteration of the design.
The feedback of Mr. Yiqing in the materials he adapts to is very critical, and the control of the direction of the work is very sharp, and what kind of work will give the review teacher what kind of impression will be very clear.
In addition, I would like to mention that the two teachers who helped me a lot in the later stage of the portfolio layout, Mr. Jenson and Mr. Boyuan, really helped me design the typesetting almost from scratch, which brought great help to the output of the portfolio.
i. Person's application for mediation
The last semester was so busy that I didn't even have time to engage in hobbies (wry smile), and I felt that there was no complete day to rest in the semester.
If I adjust my mood, I will find a small corner by myself when I am emo, trying to meditate and empty myself. Maybe exercising can also improve the effect, I mainly found that the brain is faster after exercising, and it is more efficient to do things. Sometimes the psychological pressure is very high, and I will talk to my parents, teachers and friends, which I feel is also very useful.
If you usually have more time, you will listen to music and watch movies or something~ When you have time, the game especially likes to play "Minecraft" hahaha, and I have been playing for more than ten years since elementary school (I like to be able to live in a building built by myself)
Application experience: Your own ideas are important
I feel like a lot of times my ideas are important, for example, when I decided to remake a few projects in September '23, it definitely raised the level of my portfolio. At that time, I thought that if I couldn't pass this level, I would regret it if I was not satisfied with the result, so I decided to go all out and do it again. Including when writing essays later, when analyzing what you do and what you want to do in the future, you will figure out some things. I had a project that was partial to education, and I couldn't write the essay, and I found that I didn't like the program at all, so I finally gave up and applied hahahaha
Words to the younger students
I also heard the idea from a senior: the last paragraph will be more painful for everyone, but it's good to get through it. Although similar words have been heard since childhood, this time it is quite true, at least the period from the admission notice to graduation will be the most stress-free period of life. So work hard until then!
Final thanks
I am very grateful to my parents for their encouragement and advice along the way, as well as to all the teachers at Tsukuto for their technical and emotional support. I would say I wouldn't have gotten this far without them.
My plants
willow