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 (Research)
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 ONE: Design Research:
Design inspiration rises in extra-canonical examples from geographic locations that are historically undervalued in design studio pedagogy. Within the framework, the project proposes new modes of office distribution as related to the precedent’s formal and organizational traits. Through studying the design potential of ancient tall structures from the global south, such as Konark Sun Temple in India, Madrasa Tower in Fez, and Tikal Temple 1 in Guatemala, the relationship between an “alternate canon” and the specificities of the site unfolds in the design of hybrid office and gallery tower among the Manhanttan east skyline, along the FDR Driveway. 


                                 Madrasa Tower in Fez



Konark Sun Temple in India



Tikal Temple 1 in Guatemala


Part TWO: Design