Hi, I’m Jen Chenyu Zhang, an interdisciplinary designer/architect/storyteller. 
I design interactive experiences, using multi-medium platforms,  from a user-centered and empathetic perspective. 



Architectural
architectural, user-driven
architectural, humanitarian
architectural, tectonic
architectural, research
architectural, design
architectural, photomodel
research, analysis
urban design
fabrication

Multi-Media
video storytelling
interactive wearable design35mm
An Architect’s Handbook
The Invisible Cities
Boats In A Floating World
film photography
editorial
editorial
graphic



All visualsare original

unless otherwise indicated
Reconstructing The Grid 
Redesigning Berlin Free University
Rhode Island School of Design 
Collaborator: Kunyue Qi
2021



Research and Design Goal:
This research and design exercise looks into Berlin Free University. With its columns following a strict grid system, supporting a series of steel beams and pre-fabricated concrete slabs, the construction of the Berlin Free University showed a clear structural system. The one-week redesign exercise learns from the structural construction and programmatic distribution, translating the pre-fabricated concrete and steel system to a mass timber paneling construction system. Below are first research analysis of the existing structure and circulation. 

Circulation
Ground Floor Solid and Void Relationship
Courtyard and Terraces


Worms-eye view drawing of the Berlin Free University, showing its concrete pre-fab construction


Design Logic:
The changing material allows a gradient shift from the first level to the fourth (top) level. First-ground open courtyards consist of only glue-laminated columns. The second floor begins to utilize CLT walls as spatial divisions. The party walls are offset from the column grid, allowing a more flexible scheme for program configuration. The third floor begins to transition from column-as-structure to wall-as-structure. The fourth floor completes this transition, dividing spaces and distributing loads entirely on CLT walls.  

Redesign Proposal: Ground Floor
Column-Based
Redesign Proposal: 2nd Floor
CLT Wall + Column Hybrid
Redesign Proposal: 3rd Floor
CLT Wall + Column Hybrid
Redesign Proposal: 4th Floor
CLT Wall