Siyuan Xi

奚思远
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI 2022

Harvard Graduate School of Design

Master in Architecture

BoYaXiYuan 16-2-202
Haidian, Beijing, China 100193
Tel: +86 156 5249 9694 (CN)
E-Mail: xisyust@gmail.com
 ACADEMIC WORKS PROFESSIONAL WORKS

HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? A MUSIC SCHOOL HOUSING IN DTLA ARANYA ART AND COMMERCIAL MOUNTAINTOP THEATRE
COMPLEX

Harvard Graduate School of Design Harvard Graduate School of Design Harvard Graduate School of Design Work at Vector Architects Work at Vector Architects
Spring 2019 Option Studio Architecture Core Studio 3 Architecture Core Studio 4 Project Type: Art and Commercial Project Type: Theatre
"An artist commune rethinking Co-living base on "A performing art center engaging the public in art creation" "A high-density residential reinventing Main Program: Gallery, cafeteria, shop, restaurant Main Program: Theatre, restaurant, VIP suite, public park
the theory of Roland Barth" Instructor: John May free plan to cultivate diversified living." Location: Guangzhou, China Location: Beijing, China
Instructor: Inaki Abalos Project site: Boston, MA, US Instructor: Jeannette Kuo Responsibility: Led a team of 4 to conduct PD, SD, and Responsibility: As a team, conducted PD, SD, and interior
Project site: North Easton, MA. US Project site: Los Angeles, CA, USA DD. Coordinated with LDI on CD and BP. The project is design.
currently under construction.
PROFESSIONAL WORKS

FUZHOU BRIDGE RESTAURANT QUZHOU SPORTS CAMPUS SHENZHEN BAY SQUARE CHENGDU YIPIN TWIN TOWER HYPERLOOP DESERT CAMPUS

Work at Vector Archtiects Work at MAD Architect Work at MAD Architects - Competition Work at MAD Architect Independent work - Competition
Project Type: Restaurant Project Type: Sports campus Project Type: Masterplan Project Type: Tower Project Type: Research campus
Main Program: Restaurant Main Program: Sports and recreational facilities Main Program: museum, Residential, retail, education, Main Program: Residential, retail, hotel, leisure Main Program: Laboratory, office, museum, visiting center,
Location: Fuzhou China Location: Quzhou, China office, leisure, public space Location: Chengdu, China residential, public space, restaurant, school
Responsibility: Led a team of 4 to conduct PD, SD, Responsibility: Working as a core team member on Location: Shenzhen, China Responsibility: Schematic design, modeling, rendering, Location: Las Vegas, NV
and CD. schematic design and presentation. Responsibility: Working as a core team member on all presentation Responsibility: Working in a team of two on all phases of
phases of schematic design and presentation. schematic design and presentation.

INSTALLATIONS DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES

PIAGET INSTALLATION IN A CAST OF THINGS DIGITAL DESIGN (BIM)

WATCHES & WONDERS
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI TABLE OF CONTENT

Work at Dorell. Ghotmeh. Tane Architect Work at The LADG Work at WeWork VDC Team
Project Type: Exhibition Project Type: Exhibition Project Type: Office, retail
Location: Hong Kong, China Location: Chicago, IL Location: US, Canada, Israel
Working period: May. 2015 - July. 2015 Responsibility: Model making Responsibility: BIM management for projects in US region.
Responsibility: Research, mockup building, fabricating Developed automation tools on Revit.

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PROFESSIONAL WORK
 ARANYA ART AND
COMMERCIAL COMPLEX
WORK AT VECTOR
ARCHITECTS
LOCATION: GUANGZHOU, CHINA
PROGRAM: GALLEY, RESTAURANT, RETAIL,CANTEEN

ROLE: PROJECT ARCHITECT (PD,SD,DD,CD,BP)

The project was a part of a large-scale plan to revitalize the

Jiulonghu area in North Guangzhou. Centering the beautifully
maintained resort area, the project integrates an art gallery,
a refectory, and a series of retail spaces to serve as the
“civic center” of the region.

The site was originally occupied by extensive local

plantations. The layout of the design conforms with the
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — ARANYA ART AND COMMERCIAL COMPLEX

plant layout to the maximum extent. Trees above a certain

size are preserved. Others are transplanted through a
careful adaptation process and then relocated within the
project. The goal is to maintain the endemic vegetation
of the area, and, at the same time, incorporate it with the
architectural experience.

A continuous canopy connects the gallery and the refectory,

which provides shading and rain protection. A series of
retail modules are carefully arranged in the middle to create
a series of gray spaces, open pockets, and courtyards so
that each area is unique and connected with the preserved
green. Red brick facade, with occasional openings and steel
details, creates a sense of fuzziness, responding to the
casualness of the local personality. Reflective glass bricks
are used for the gallery to elevate the artistic side of the
project, picturing a tranquil vibe.

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6
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — ARANYA ART AND COMMERCIAL COMPLEX
 BRIDGE RESTAURANT
WORK AT VECTOR
ARCHITECTS
LOCATION: FUZHOU, CHINA
PROGRAM: RESTAURANT

ROLE: PROJECT ARCHITECT (PD,SD,CD,BP)

Across a waterfall connected to the Dengyun Reservoir

of Fuzhou, the Bridge restaurant is both an object in the
“picturesque painting” dialoguing with the lake and the
mountain, and a promenade for the public to immerse in the
extraordinary nature of the surrounding landscape.

The interior of the restaurant takes the form of a courtyard

that echoes local tradition. The restaurant is a long, flexible
space. An intimate atmosphere is created with the dimmed
light filtered by the metal mesh curtain. Seating with built-in
benches and tables occupy the long side of the room with a
framed view of the lake and the mountain.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — BRIDGE RESTAURANT

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8
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — BRIDGE RESTAURANT
 MOUNTAINTOP THEATRE
WORK AT VECTOR
ARCHITECTS
LOCATION: BEIJING, CHINA
PROGRAM: THEATRE, RESTAURANT, VIP SUITE, PUBLIC PARK
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MOUNTAINTOP THEATRE

On a slope of the Yanshan Mountains in northern China,

at one end of the east-west axis that crosses Beijing, the
theater rises as a material symbol of the contrast between
the sinuous natural landscape and the vast open urban
setting of the city.

The ‘penetration’ done on the terrain – executed along

the axis to fit the building onto the site – simultaneously
resolve the spatial functionality of the theater and the visual
connection between both directions, east and west, on a
human scale.

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 PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MOUNTAINTOP THEATRE

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 QUZHOU SPORTS CAMPUS
WORK AT MAD
ARCHITECTS
LOCATION: QUZHOU, CHINA
PROJECT TYPE: SPORTS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
SITE AREA: 699,040 SQM
BUILDING AREA: 337,500 SQM

ROLE: WORKED IN THE SD PHASE. TASKS INCLUDE 3D MODELING

IN RHINO AND MAYA, DIAGRAM DRAWING, RENDERING.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — PROJECT QUZHOU SPORTS CAMPUS

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 SHENZHEN BAY SQUARE
COMPETITION
WORK AT MAD
ARCHITECTS
SITE: SHENZHEN, CHINA
PROGRAM: MASTER PLAN, MUSEUM, RESIDENTIAL, RETAIL,
EDUCATION, OFFICE, LEISURE
SITE AREA : APPROX. 51,000 SQUARE METERS
BUILDING AREA : 182,000 SQUARE METERS

ROLE: WORKED IN THE COMPETITION PHASE. TASKS INCLUDE 3D

MODELING IN RHINO, RENDERING, SECTION DRAWING, DIAGRAM
DRAWING.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — SHENZHEN BAY SQUARE MASTERPLAN

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 PIAGET INSTALLATION IN
WATCHES & WONDERS
WORK AT DGT
ARCHITECTS
LOCATION: HONG KONG, CHINA
PROGRAM: INSTALLATION, EXHIBITION, RETAIL

The booth for Piaget at Watches & Wonders was recently

unveiled at the HKCEC. Invited by Piaget, we conceived
their booth at the bi-annual event as an inverted night sky,
with a sea of chains creating a sparkling and textured
ceiling, focusing on suspended diamond showcases with
their latest special collection watches in the center.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — PIAGET INSTALLATION IN WATCHES & WONDERS

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 Existing condition model

DIGITAL DESIGN (BIM)

WORKS AT WEWORK VDC
TEAM
ROLE: PROVIDING BIM SUPPORT FOR PROJECTS IN US, CANADA
AND ISRAEL. TASKS INCLUDE DUE DILIGENCE WALK, REVIT
MODELING REVIT MODEL COORDINATION, CLASH DETECTION IN
NAVISWORKS, DATA HARVESTING AND MANAGING REVIT FAMILIES.
DEVELOPED AUTOMATION TOOLS ON REVIT FOR TASKS SUCH AS
ROOM TAGGING AND CREATING STOREFRONT DETAILS.
Due diligence 360° photo Interior rendering (in Revit).

Clash detection
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — DIGITAL DESIGN (BIM)

Point cloud coordination Layout plan and tagging.

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ACADEMIC WORK
 ‘‘ROOMS’’
HOUSING IN DTLA
GSD ARCHITECTURE CORE STUDIO 4, 2018 SPRING
INSTRUCTOR: JEANETTE KUO
COLLABORATE WITH JONATHAN YEUNG
SITE: DTLA ART DISTRICT

The project, ‘rooms’, focuses on addressing the

compatibility between high-density collective living and
the needs for flexibility and individuality in downtown LA.
Embedded in the lifestyle and materialized through the
building configuration, this duality further reshapes the
urban form and the experience of the project.

The housing plan draws its roots from a system of rooms.

Space is pixelated to an organization of octagons and
rectangles units. The relationships among rooms are
deliberately homogenized to mitigate inherent hierarchy
among spaces but allow for a soft hierarchy of various
spatial conditions through its building depth and geometrical
organization. Facilities such as restrooms, kitchens,
storages are put in the rectangular rooms as service
space while living spaces are in the octagon rooms. The
freedom of movement given by the geometrical connection
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

of corners and the ambiguous boundary of units provide

opportunities for spatial variation within each unit when
adapting to change in spatial needs.

Locating at the Art District in downtown Los Angeles,

the project is a response to the mega block of its urban
context, where massive buildings with large footprints
create enormous and inaccessible urban poche. ‘room’
offers a porous understanding and public space and
programs. On the ground floor, the facade is opened up for
public access with programs inserted. The columns landing
on the ground also create a poetic and porous landscape
that suggests a new possibility of big-block typology within
DTLA.

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 PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

17
 PRECEDENT SCHEME STUDY

A FREE PLAN A MODULAR PLAN

The Factory of Andy Warhol Communal housing in the USSR

Section - a 1 bedroom unit

- homogeneous - modular
- loose - dense
- communal - private
- flexible... - repetitive...

Visual continuity among events Instrument of viewing

Sample unit - a 1 bedroom’s layout Plan - a 1 bedroom unit

SCHEME ALTERNATION
“A MODULAR FREE PLAN”

‘rooms’ plan prototype

Section - a duplex unit
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

3-way corner - non-sequential movements among units

Sample unit - a duplex layout Plan - a duplex unit

View - event intermittency
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 Initial model exploration to
create different types of
apartment units through
aggregation.

1.circulation core
2.double-height rooms unit
3.semi-duplex unit
4.meandering unit
5.duplex unit 6
6.complete aggregation
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

1 2 3 4 5

The massing model reinforces the

units’ aggregation, avoiding typical
large & perfect geometries. The
aggregation provides a smaller
scale of reference for the otherwise
oversized housing complex.

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 Insert vegetated public space among mega urban structures. Integrate building massing and program with the public space.

The room-to-room system helps generate

a massing that responds naturally to the
triangular site. Pockets of urban space are
also created on the ground level, allowing
pedestrians through traffic and social
gatherings. The axonometric drawing
demonstrates how the designed complex
disrupts the big building block typology that
is prevalent in DTLA, and providing a more
pedestrian-friendly experience.

A field of columns as the building’s structure system creates a porous landscape. Mountain-like roofscape allows public access creating an elevated park.

Terrace pockets accommodate common spaces in the community, which also facilitate
air circulation in the building. Outdoor living with panorama view of DTLA.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

Hollywood
City Center Skyline

Ocean View

Mountain View
East LA

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 N 0 5 10m N 0 5 10m

Plan - ground floor with retail programs Plan - lower density floor with roof scape
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

N 0 5 10m

Plan - high density typical floor 18 different units on the typical floor

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 Section - homogeneous room-to-room relationship
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

22 Section - room’s continuity within a unit

PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — “ROOMS” - HOUSING IN DTLA

Left: Subtle section changes reinforce

the spatial entity of a room without
sacrificing connectivity between
rooms. The photo shows a direct
view across 3-4 rooms in a unit.
Above: The designed apartment
allows viewing from 1 room into 2-3
rooms at the same time. The photo
shows the view from the balcony into
the bathroom and the bedroom.

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 MASS, MASS, MASS
A PERFORMING ART
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MASS, MASS, MASS - A PERFORMING ART CENTER FOR BERKLEE MUSIC COLLEGE

CENTER FOR BERKLEE

MUSIC COLLEGE
GSD ARCHITECTURE CORE STUDIO 3, 2017 FALL
INSTRUCTOR: JOHN MAY
SITE: BOSTON, MA

Commissioned by Berklee College of Music and Boston

Conservatory, this project proposes a new type of
performing art center marrying the legacy of professional
performance and the emergence of self-media.

In the era of web 2.0, digital production software has made

music production unprecedentedly accessible to everyone.
Before, most people consume content produced by a small
exclusive group of professionals. Now, a greater number of
non-professionals have got involved in content production.
Our time and culture has shifted from mass consumption of
content to mass production of content.

The performing art center is composed of two parts. A

cylinder containing traditional performing art programs
intersects with a cuboid tower containing generic digital
production spaces. Two parts of the building have different
relationships in the plan on different floors, altering the
relationship between the public and the art spaces. Users
are engaged as both audiences and producers.
Provocation: A hall of movement, connecting public/amateur music creation with academic/professional art performance.
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PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MASS, MASS, MASS - A PERFORMING ART CENTER FOR BERKLEE MUSIC COLLEGE

OPERA HOUSE CIRCULATION STUDY - GENERIC PROGRAM RECONFIGURATION CIRCULATION RECONFIGURATION

Mechanical Circulation

housing

Public Program Internal Program school

retail

black box

opera

Program reshuffle New organization Adding support Public Internal

(by use type) (professional | public programs for
engaging | independent) public creators Non-mechanical Circulation

Program layout in section Public Internal

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 Recording
Digital lab
Library

School

Detachment

Rehearsal
Room
Black Box
BOH

Studio

Parallel

8
Exhibition
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MASS, MASS, MASS - A PERFORMING ART CENTER FOR BERKLEE MUSIC COLLEGE

Public Sky Lobby

Devouring 6

Opera House
5
4
Convertible
BOH

Auditorium

Intrusion 1 2 3

Loading Dock
Retail Fabrication
School
Lobby

Opera Lobby

1. Opera house lobby 6. Fly tower

Pinwheel 2. Fabrication shop 7. Sky lobby
3. Loading area 8. Black box theatre
4. Main stage 9. Berklee school of music
5. Auditorium

Different structure systems are used at different level of the building to accommodate heterogeneous plan configura- Section
tions, facilitating an altering relationship between public creative infrastructure and professional art space.

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 OPERA HOUSE LOBBY

1. Main auditorium
2. Stage
3. Side auditorium
4. Main BOH
5. Side BOH
OPERA HOUSE 6. Grand staircase
3

2 5
1

3 2

1. Opera house lobby 4

2. School lobby
N 0 10 20m 3. Loading area 1
6
4. Retail space
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MASS, MASS, MASS - A PERFORMING ART CENTER FOR BERKLEE MUSIC COLLEGE

N 0 10 20m

6 4

N 0 10 20m

1. Amphitheater
PUBLIC SKY LOBBY 2. Cafeteria
3. Exhibition space
4. Fly tower
5. Gathering space
6. Lookout

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 BLACK BOX THEATERS

5 1

1. Black box theatre 1

2. Black box theatre 2
3. Experiment performing room
4. Back of house N 0 10 20m
5. Group rehearsal rooms
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MASS, MASS, MASS - A PERFORMING ART CENTER FOR BERKLEE MUSIC COLLEGE

5 6

N 0 10 20m

1. Auditorium
2. Classrooms SCHOOL 1
3. School sky lobby
4. Common rooms 5

5. Recording rooms
6. Digital editing rooms

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 PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — MASS, MASS, MASS - A PERFORMING ART CENTER FOR BERKLEE MUSIC COLLEGE

29
1. Office

3. Library
N 0

5. Light well
2. Classrooms

4. Media rooms
10
3

20m
4

2
5
1

SCHOOL 2
 HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER?
AN ART COMMUNE
GSD OPTION STUDIO, 2019 SPRING
ADVISOR: IÑAKI ÁBALOS
SITE: NORTH EASTON, MA

Can we attend to our societies and their unexpected

transformations by working on the form of a collaborative
common drawing on inherited bourgeois spaces? In a
moment when public and private spaces have no reality and
our hyper-connected societies fight against solitude and
isolation…what are we willing to share?

This project explores the question of living together through

the design of a group of modest houses for artists. The
intention is to inspire an alternative commune, a co-living
form of revising and updating the idea of a collective
palace.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? AN ART COMMUNE

This project works on Roland Barthes’ book “Comment

vivre ensemble, Simulations romanesques de quelques
espaces quotidiens”, which collects notes of his courses
and seminars at the Collège de France, 1976-1977, where
monasteries are used as primary references.

The design emphasizes the mutual dependencies of

seemingly contradictory binaries and accommodates both
through careful calibrations of thresholds and sights. Those
important binaries are:

Public — Private

Idiorrhythmic — Communal

Self — Otherness

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 REFERENCE PRECEDENT

9 palaces

How to Live Together: Novelistic

Simulations of Some Everyday
Spaces

By Roland Barthes 9 palaces

- space of suspension
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? AN ART COMMUNE

31
 GARDENS

Gardens of different sizes

S form in the empty spaces
M between buildings and
L inside artists’ residencies. ISLANDS OF ARTIFACT
M They are shared spaces and
S Buildings are like scattered
also thresholds between:
islands floating in the sea
L
M of trees. Looking beyond
S L. The public and the
the hardscape of the beer
S private (artists)
M garden, one can always
M S see the wild wood on the
M. One artist and another
M other side.
M
S
S S S. Living and working for 13 12
M M M
S the individual

1 Returning to the nature

Losing in the nature

11 OPEN BOUNDARY

Joy of disengagement
There is no clear boundary
1 between the commune and
the nature surrounding. One
A cigarette break from work
can stand on the patio and
look into wood surrounding
with infinite depth.
3 10

Discovering a secret
4
6

CLOSED LOOP

5 The pathways are close

loops so visitors will not end
up anywhere designated.
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? AN ART COMMUNE

But the views into different

7 8 spaces in the commune
6
are unfolded along the way
so visitors can follow their
curiosity to explore.

Meandering of curiosity

GARDENS BELONG TO
NO ONE

There are no openings such

as doors or windows on
1-9 Artists residencies
10 Shared Workshop the building facade facing
11 Brewery the gardens. So one does
12 Communal Kitchen not need to feel sorry for
13 Restaurant interrupting. Gardens are
14 Gallery
connected by corners.
15 Beer Garden
16 Retreat Center (A getaway) Visitors can explore freely
to encounter artists’ work.

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 PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? AN ART COMMUNE

33
Communal

Idiorrhythmic

ABSTRACT
Light well leads the natural
light into the workshop.
It diffuses the light to the
soft gradient in the working
space, creating an abstract
ambient for art creation.
REFLECT
Light casts on the building
exterior and bounces into
the interior of the living
space through the slit,
creating a moment of
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? AN ART COMMUNE
reflection.
34
LEAD
The light at the end of the
workshop leads people
to move forward. Passing
through a small kitchenette
with a lower ceiling, one
ends up in the patio and
immerses in nature again.
FRAME
The Bathroom stands
between the exterior
patio and the interior
living space. The large
opening makes it a viewing
instrument, framing the
pictorial view of the outside
for residents on the inside.
 REFERENCES

La Grande Chartreuse floor plan by Viollet-la-Duc,

Clermont France, Carthusian monk’s cell.

A A’
1 4

Santa Catalina Monastery, Arequipa Peru

B 2 3 B’

1 - Artist Studio
2 - Kitchen & Dining
3 - Outdoor Patio
4 - Bedroom
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER? AN ART COMMUNE

Ground floor plan

1 - Artist Studio 1 2 1 - Kitchen & Dining

1 2
2 - Living Space 2 - Outdoor Patio
3 - Bedroom

Section A-A’ Section B-B’

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 A CAST OF THINGS
WORK AT THE LADG
PROJECT TYPE: INSTALLATION
EXHIBITED AT CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL 2017

“A Cast of Things” is a model of a church in Osterhofen,

Germany. The model shows only the upper part of the
church, where the vaulted ceilings above the congregation
are covered in frescoes that depict a heavenly city filled
with people and life, as though entire habitable worlds
are stacked atop the real space of the interior below. At
one edge, it is cut in half to show the line where the real
material of the vaults meets the fantastical space depicted
in painting. Along the other edge, the outer walls and barn-
PORTFOLIO SIYUAN XI — A CAST OF THINGS

like shed roof of church form a loose, unadorned enclosure

that belies the form of the interior.

The real vaults of the church are modeled in cast plaster. It

is solid and homogeneous. The worlds of the frescos above
are cast too, but cast out of a promiscuous aggregate.
Imagine a bucketful of things poured into a mold, as though
clouds, bodies, drapery, and foliage were used instead of
plaster. And now imagine this aggregate is not so passive
as to be simply “poured” into position without resistance. It
has a structure, even an infrastructure: networks of pipes
and tubes; figures ascending heavenward; caves filled with
piles of raw material.
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