Circular Wonderland
My portfolio is made up of two parts and in contents I use ‘Phase Ⅰ‘ and ‘ Phase Ⅱ’ to tell the difference.
‘Phase Ⅰ‘ is mainly about the process of designing the masterplan for the Gaswork site in Grangetown. So in this part I initially focus on a larger scale——Grangetown. The analysis of Grangetown, shown as ‘Chapter Ⅰ‘ in portfolio, has two steps—— description analysis and exploration analysis. In terms of description analysis, I choose four prospective——place, site, people and prosperity to describe the basic information about Grangetown. Then in exploration analysis, I try to focus on the social and environmental problems existing in our site and propose solutions to them.
Next to the analysis part is my design brief and case study, corresponding to ‘Chapter Ⅱ’ in my portfolio. My design brief has three elements——problems and motivation, principles of circular economy and detailed solutions. The logic among these three points is very simple—— I use those detailed solutions which are affected by abstract principles to solve those problems. Then next part, case study, gives me some inspiration on how to solve those problems from different levels and aspects
Finally, the last two parts which are ‘Chapter Ⅲ’ and ‘Chapter Ⅳ’ in portfolio are the outcomes of ‘Phase Ⅰ’ and ‘Phase Ⅱ’. In ‘Chapter Ⅲ’, my main concern is on the masterplan of Gaswork site and think about how to connect my site with its surroundings, which can be regarded as the application of circular economy principle in urban level. However, in ‘Chapter Ⅳ’, apart from redesigning the masterplan of a chosen area inside Gaswork site and considering its connection with its environment in a larger scale, I pay more attention to the application of circular economy principles in building level, which can be mainly shown on the community centre design transformed from the existing gasholder framework. For example, in terms of spatial level, I create several spaces which can hold different activities to realise ‘Keep materials in use’ in this community. In addition, in the perspective of technology, I adopt some strategies from Passivhaus to reduce energy consumption and achieve ‘Design out waste and pollution’ in this building.
Contact: yez15@cardiff.ac.uk