Juchen Zhang
Juchen Zhang is a master’s student in the History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art (HTC) program at MIT, whose research examines ethnic enclaves in American cities during postwar urban renewal, using public housing development in Chinatowns as a key entry point into these broader questions. His ongoing investigation of inhabitant agency in mass housing is evident in his publication in PLAT journal, which proposes a revisionist view of East German prefabricated communities, and his M.Arch. thesis on the impact of rapid urbanization on rural living in his hometown, Hefei, China. Juchen has engaged in professional practice, teaching, and exhibition work, with degrees in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and Rice University.
Projects
Towers of Skywell: Restoring The Historical Lineage Of Collective Living For Displaced Rural Communities In Hefei
Rapid urbanization in China has often come at the expense of rural communities. One such case is a lakefront master plan in Hefei, Anhui, which transformed agricultural land and villages into dense zones for housing, commercial use, and recreation. Although displacement was formally addressed through the resettlement of families into high-rise housing blocks erected in the place of their former communities, residents were nonetheless forced to navigate fundamental shifts to the financial and social structures of their lives.
“Towers of Skywells” proposes to repurpose incomplete office towers--part of the same development, later abandoned due to legal, economic, and political complications--as a new form of hybrid dwelling for displaced farming families. The project operates on two levels. In terms of design, it extrapolates historic regional housing typologies to spatially reconstruct the familial and communal networks fragmented by high-rise living. It then situates this architectural intervention within a speculative-ground-up economic model of acquisition and collective ownership, envisioning a potential return to forms of rural living within a post-urbanization landscape.
“Towers of Skywells” proposes to repurpose incomplete office towers--part of the same development, later abandoned due to legal, economic, and political complications--as a new form of hybrid dwelling for displaced farming families. The project operates on two levels. In terms of design, it extrapolates historic regional housing typologies to spatially reconstruct the familial and communal networks fragmented by high-rise living. It then situates this architectural intervention within a speculative-ground-up economic model of acquisition and collective ownership, envisioning a potential return to forms of rural living within a post-urbanization landscape.
Flexible Stability: Adaptive Housing for a Wetter Future
This proposal for a housing project in Brooklyn, NY speculates living in a climatic future, where environmental forces play an active role in shaping the living environment.
By 2070, increasing precipitation will have displaced a large population from low-lying neighborhoods as the city “tropicalizes.” Thus, the building has a system of change based on how water can help organize living in a denser, wetter future. A “wet wall” consolidates the wet programs into a continuous band that runs alongside the slab building, allowing them to become communal when the organization of housing shifts to create a dense co-living environment. By doing so, the building also facilitates a return to a collective culture around water, where the wet programs become a space of socialization.
By 2070, increasing precipitation will have displaced a large population from low-lying neighborhoods as the city “tropicalizes.” Thus, the building has a system of change based on how water can help organize living in a denser, wetter future. A “wet wall” consolidates the wet programs into a continuous band that runs alongside the slab building, allowing them to become communal when the organization of housing shifts to create a dense co-living environment. By doing so, the building also facilitates a return to a collective culture around water, where the wet programs become a space of socialization.
Domestic Infrastructure: Connecting Supportive Housing through Transit
The fourth most populous city in the U.S., Houston is facing rising income disparities as its population grows, where the wages at the bottom cannot match the rising cost of living. Furthermore, access to jobs is limited due to the city’s dependence on automobiles. This issue is epitomized in Midtown, a historic neighborhood that’s been going through rapid gentrification, where new apartment complexes and commercial developments are driving up rent, pushing out former residents, resulting in a growing homeless population. To address this challenge, this proposal for a collective housing in Midtown is two-fold. The master plan seeks to negate the fragmentation caused by early infrastructural development, improving safety and access to transit. Then, a new housing typology, a building with single rooms constructed with pre-fabricated modules is introduced, providing shelter and long-term care.
Publications
