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
The Distant Towers (Design)
re-establishing architectural precedents in the Global South 
Rhode Island School of Design 
Individual Work
2021



Background and Design Goal:
In the essay “Radical Thought”, Vittoria Di Palma argues for the value in studying the faraway in time and place to de-familiarize our pre-conceptional preconceptions of architectural precedent. Rather than seek historical corollaries in the relatively recent and familiar past, Di Palma calls for a fundamentally destabilizing presence of history in design. Through the studies of the design potential of a catalog of underrepresented historical architectural towers in the Global South, the studio is primarily concerned with the under-explored design potentials of underrepresented history, especially as they bear on questions of the tall building in an “alien” of modern metropolis such as New York City today. 

Part TWO Design :
Geometrical and spatial fragments were taken from each ancient tower study to form the overall hybrid office tower proposal. A series of actions are taken combining the elements from three towers into one hybrid proposal: 1) geometric abstraction, 2) extension and rotation, and 3) rotating vertical movements. 



The office program and the rotating multi-level spaces are utilized as galleries and showrooms. The gallery and showrooms perform a continuous narrative upward, creating a juxtaposition of public & private narratives throughout the experience. The tower’s podium is elevated through the presence of water ponds, creating a contract between the heaviness of the tall structure and the lightness of the water. The hybrid programs allow the gallery and showroom spaces to have higher celling heights, connecting multiple floors of the office area.