It became a practical idea that studying abroad in U.S. around 2012. The reason is complicated and personal, generally speaking I wished to see the world while I’m still young.

在国外遇到了什么让你印象最深刻的事情？
Is there anything happened impressed you the most abroad?

我在学校期间一位老师令我印象深刻。她是我刚到圣路易斯时第一学期教我设计课程的，年轻时候在纽约闯荡，后来搬家来到圣路易斯，是经历过美国70年代文化变革的人，相对于建筑师她更像个艺术家，到目前为止建成作品好像只有一个养马棚。深刻幽默有趣味，上课会给我们放《潜行者》《柏林的苍穹下》这样的电影。一次课间几个男生在楼下抽烟，她看到走过来说：“你们应该戒烟了，像我在你们这个年纪的时候，当我25岁时，我告诉自己，这是我抽的最后一根了，我就这样一直告诉自己直到现在，现在我已经55岁了，已经戒不掉了”。说完她就找男生们讨了一根烟一起抽。后来在毕业典礼那天，她看到我，就过来和我拥抱，然后对我说，“现在你已经毕业，希望你以后成为一个好人（be a good human），除此之外我想不到还能希望你成为什么了。” 我当时很感动。

The most impressive thing happened to me would be an amazing professor who I’ve met when I just came into WashU. She was my first semester’s studio instructor and had a lot of humor and wisdom. When she was young she made a living in New York City. I saw her more as an artist than architect because it seems the only completed work of her is a horse ranch. She used to show film like “Stalker” and “Wings of Desire” during the lecture. Once we were smoking outside of the studio, she saw us and came to say: “You should quit smoking, when I was at your age, when I was 25, I told myself this is my last cigarette, I kept telling myself until now, and I’m 55 now.” After this she asked us if we can spare one because she just run out of cigarettes. Two years later at the graduation ceremony I met her, she hugged me and said: “Now you are graduated, I wish you to be a good human, except that I can’t think about anything else I wish you to be, you are not a student anymore.” I was so moved.

最想念祖国的什么？
What do you miss the most about China?

一切的人和事。其实相对于不同的地域或者城市，最想念的还是某些时光。

Everything I’ve been through there. To me it’s not the specific place to be missed, but some memorable time I’ve experienced and some people in my life.

你会回国吗？为什么？
Will you come back? Why?

不知道，生活本身就无法确定。

I don’t know yet, life is like a box of chocolate.

出国后在不同的背景下再看中国是否看得更清晰，有哪些感触？
Is it more distinct to view China in a different environment after going abroad? Any thought?

不，出国后看得更模糊了。其实我所处的环境有一些尴尬，中国在飞速的变化，而我读书的地方是一个典型的美国中部城市，在城市发展上已经停滞不前了几十年。在文化上还是很难融入到传统的美国中西部生活，而对于国内这些年的变化，又仅仅只能从新闻上了解只言片语，期间短暂的回国，已经有疏离陌生的感觉。这就像你没有在美国的土地上生活过，那么你看再多的林达，林语堂也无法完全体会，对于中国也是一样，这两年没有在国内生活过，我也失去了一部分对当下中国的感知，这是必然的。另外一个感触是，现在中国的社会阶层分化超过了以往任何的时代，一个人很难跳出自己所处的环境去看待所有问题，“中国”这样的语境太笼统而抽象。

No, to me it’s even more difficult to see China while I’m not living there. China is changing dramatically every day, while St. Louis is a typical American Midwest middle city which has been recession for decades. You can’t get the true opinion without living there. That’s the reason I’ve already lost some of the incise perception of contemporary society of China today.

你的学校有哪些教育特点？
What are the educational characteristics of your school?

圣路易斯华盛顿大学是个很传统的美国大学，他的建筑系是在艺术学院下，教学方式相对传统但扎实，课业繁重，强调设计理论和实践，同时也在努力拥抱新的事物。

但我认为华盛顿大学最大的特点是圣路易斯，圣路易斯这个城市的血脉深深根植在华盛顿大学之中，他远远不只是校名中区别于其他“华盛顿大学”的后缀。这座城市，曾经繁盛一时，现在持续衰退，举办过奥运会和世博会，美国犯罪率最高的城市之一，美国种族问题最严重的城市之一，美国西进的大门。有太多的标签在个城市上，在这里学习，圣路易斯的影响会很深，它促使你思考不一样的问题，感受不一的生活。

另外对我自己来说，因为地理原因和学校传统，相对来说没有东西海岸的建筑学院之名，这里更像个世外桃源，我很享受在这里学习的时光。

Washington University in St. Louis, usually been called WashU, situated in St. Louis. School of Architecture is under the Sam Fox School of Design and Art. On one hand it’s a good architecture school where you are trained to become a qualified architectural designer with one of the strict architectural program in U.S. On the other hand, you cannot discuss it without mention St. Louis. This city is not only the distinction tag of the school’s name, but also makes this school today. Not like New York or Los Angeles, here is more like a Richard Linklater’s movie, a typical Midwest American lifestyle. It’s a little bit contradiction that a globalization focused school located in one of the most traditional area in US. St. Louis has a lot of labels on it: once the 3rd largest city in America, once the gateway of west movement, has been recession for decades, once hold the Olympic Game and World Expo at the same year, one of the most dangerous city in U.S., one of the most segregated city in U.S…. Every WashU will be influenced by this city. Education here would let you rethink about your life and the world in a different way.

To myself, though it may not be famous as architecture school in east or west coast of America, I I enjoy the unique characteristic of WashU, I missed the city a lot when I left St. Louis.

你现在工作公司的特色和有趣的地方？
Can you discuss the characteristics of the company you are working for?

我现在Gensler 洛杉矶分部Mixed Use小组，Gensler 60年代做室内起家，现在是个大型建筑综合设计服务咨询公司，基本符合一切现代商业企业的特质。Gensler是个体量巨大的建筑设计公司。LA Office有600+的员工，但管理层非常扁平，公司类似一台高速运转的精密机器一般，内部又像一个小型社会一样，有各种组织，活动和内部团体。甚至有人制作独立的gYelp来记录公司周围的美食地图。

I worked at Gensler Los Angeles Office in mixed use group. It’s really a giant design firm, if that counts a characteristic. I worked at Gensler Los Angeles Office in mixed use group. It’s really a giant design firm with a lot of sub-organizations and sub-groups. We even have our owner gYelp map to record good restaurants around firm.

Zhuoran Liu during presentation

建筑师转行是当下讨论的十分热烈的话题，对此你有什么样的看法，你是如何规划自己的职业道路的？
What is your opinion about the hot issue “architects switch their majors”， and what is your career planning ?

建筑行业本身就和经济周期密切相关，遇到经济下行时就会出现行业大规模裁员，市场竞争加剧的情况，近几年建筑从业人员快速增长，必然出现供大于求的情况，因此转行成为当下圈内持续关注的内容。我们有时候过分关注成功转型或者创业的例子，但这些人要么自身有足够的能力，要么拥有远多于常人的资源，对于他们来说即使继续从事建筑行业，多半也会成为行业中的佼佼者。年轻人在社会分配中比例越来越小是客观事实，建筑师转行是典型的围城，我认为对于我们每个人来说，大家都是成年人，不论追求什么样的生活，都应该努力生活。另一方面我觉得职业选择和专业所学本身就没有必然联系，所谓转型不过是画地为牢，在能经济独立的情况下多去尝试也很好。对于我自己来说，短期内我应该还是会从事相关工作，毕竟我每个月还有房租要付。

Architecture business is close related to economic operation cycle. During the recession the architecture business will go down dramatically. This is why “switch major” is widely discussed nowadays. However it’s an objective fact that the young generation get less in social distribution, no matter which business they are in. This question is like two sides of a coin. To me, it’s not which major you choose as your career that matters most, it’s how you’re going to live your life that matters. For myself I probably will stay in this field for a while.

最喜欢的艺术家（绘画音乐电影等广泛范围）是谁？给你创作带来了什么影响？
Who is your favorite artist (in wider range such as art, music, movie)? What is the influence?

对于建筑设计学习来说的话有很多，我以前看米拉莱斯，后来喜欢上一些日本的建筑师，但新的学习并不是否定过去，而是不断修正理解，经历，平台和视野都会使人不断内省，不断修正对这门学科的理解和认识，同时也会让我不停找到有共鸣的建筑师和作品，从某种角度来说，在这个领域的好处之一是你永远不会觉得“孤独”。对于个人来说，我现在喜欢听国内的民谣和九十年代摇滚，看有印迹的香港电影，通俗小说和影视作品。这些爱好，潜移默化的影响我，我的人格和观念。作品都是人创作的，我被这些作品影响，那么我的创作也就被这些作品影响了。

To architecture design, many architects influenced me. I used to learn from Enric Miralles, SANNA， and Junya Ishigami and many other architects and their works. One of the good thing about being in this field is that you are always influenced, criticized by others, which means you will never be alone. To myself, I like domestic rock and folk music, especially in 90s, Hong Kong movies and popular novels, my personality was largely influenced by these works, so were my works.

觉得自己的作品集有哪些迷人的特质？
What amazing character do your works have?

我认为艺术家的境界也可以用“见自己，见天地，见众生”来形容，我以前认为好的作品是需要具有私人属性的，是一种自我表达和实现，但现在渐渐发现是自己境界太低，所以我觉得自己的作品集迷人应该谈不上，这本作品集是一件很私人的事，如果一定要说特质的话，那就是私心。我还在“见自己”的过程之中，不论是设计本身还是表达方式上，都是很表象的事情，所有的作品都是学生作品，模仿学习痕迹很重，谈不上风格或者特点。尽管如此，我还是认为一个作品集对于建筑师来说，类似于一本小说对于作者，创作的手法，表达的主题会因为外在的条件改变，贯穿始终的，是作者个人的私心。我也很喜欢私人特质较重的作品，他有真实感在里面，就像我会从喜欢的电影中窥探导演的童年和经历一样。我把作品集当作一种记录，我总觉得时间流逝，没有什么能留下，这算是一份记忆。

Portfolio is a very private thing to me. If there’s idiosyncrasy in this portfolio, that would be privacy. The design or the expression are all superficial to judge a portfolio. Of course works can be good or bad, portfolio can be impression or vulgar, technically. All the works here are my academic works, trace of imitation and reference can be found everywhere. But to me, portfolio to a designer is like a novel to a writer, the ways they create their works or the views they convey from their works can be various depends on external conditions, However it’s the creator’s personality that stays throughout all works. This portfolio is a record of period of my life.

什么时候开始看谷德网的？欢迎你提出建议哦，谢谢。
When did you start to follow gooood? Any suggestions?

2013在一个朋友推荐下看的，这几年陆陆续续看下来我清楚的感受到谷德从一个初创建筑媒体的成长轨迹。首先我非常希望看到谷德能在商业化上成功。谷德能做出基于文化差异的尝试，我认为是很成功的，我最喜欢的就是专辑类里面的各种访谈，讨论和学生作品，以及基于中国本土化的内容，希望这部分内容能坚持做下去。

I started to look gooood since 2013. First of all I wish goood to be successful in commercialization. Second, I think the advantage of goood is the differentiate content based on cultural context, for this reason the “Album” is my most favorite column, I wish gooood could stick on it.

WORK

01
混合社区 / MIX
Urban Housing Complexity for Mixed Lifestyle
Sam Fox School Degree Project
Instructor: Adrian Luchini
Spring 2016

城市的本质反映的是人的欲望。在美国中西部像圣路易斯这样的城市随处可见，下城区作为经济中心，郊区则是大量中产阶级的住所，高速公路作为流水线的传送带一样为城市这个机器运转不断运输，沿途则串联了主要商业功能区块。高速运转了一百年之后，随着互联网时代的到来和旧工业的瓦解，新的欲望需要新的城市，新的城市需要新的建筑。人们的生活方式在不断的去中心化，越来越多的人将不再朝九晚五地生活，年轻人需要公寓和街道生活，而不是沉闷无趣的郊区草坪。一个新的社区，反映的是新的生活方式，交融，交流，功能混合是这个新社区的主题。作为学生时代最后的作品，我试图找寻建筑设计的一些本质意义，尝试探讨一种建筑反映生活方式的可能，最终希望达到的，是对生活这个形而上的概念有一种敬畏和表达。

St. Louis has been recession for decades, while a new opportunity occurred to regenerate this city as US economy transformed from manufactory industrial into technological and creative industrial. Cortex district in St. Louis is among several new emerging urban districts in US where leading-edge anchor institutions and companies cluster and connect with start-ups, business incubators and accelerators. These newly urban areas were usually transformed from old city blocks and given name as “innovation district”.

My Degree Project is going to discuss and explore a new urban lifestyle which could coordinate with these newly emerged industrial and youth who grew up with Internet. A lifestyle which is different from traditional 9 to 5 work and suburban living life, a lifestyle which is mixed and interacted with different people and programs, a lifestyle which is messy while energetic. In these thesis architecture is not only about creating a building, beyond form, space or construction I’m more interested in the possibilities the design could bring to youth’s daily life. Through simplicity comes complexity, through repetition creates variation, through constrain liberates freedom.

The site is located at east side of Cortex district adjacent to IKEA and St. Louis University, The Programs will be mixed used apartments, studios, startup businesses as well as urban activities.

02
非常快速机场 / VERY FAST AIRPORT
St. Louis Downtown Airport Design
Sam Fox School Option Studio
Instructor: Nanako Umemoto / Jessy Reisser / Hillary Simon
Fall 2015

飞机作为大规模交通工具发展于上世纪60年代，随着二战结束大量战机改装成民航机场，大量战时基地变成民用机场。随之形成的是大规模，集成化的航空港基础设施。然而近30年来新型的小型支线机场兴起，作为大型航空港的支线机场以及大型城市圈的多线机场，小型化，低成本，快速轻型化成为发展特征。这些机场大大缩短了候机中转时间，故而称为非常快速机场。通过塑料模型的拼接和纸张模型的模拟，建筑形态所展现出反映非常快速机场概念的特质。功能，形态和结构的关系变得更加微妙。

The dawn of mass travel by jet in the early 1960’s corresponded to the wholesale re-organization of airport infrastructure. In competition with the more common Central Hub model for such agglomerations, an alternate organizational model for the airport terminal has arisen within the last 30 years. Developed for the demands of Low-Cost Carrier airlines, this model makes use of an extended network of smaller secondary airports and metropolitan multi-airport systems rather than singular point destinations. Layover times are reduced dramatically by this mode of operation–these are fast airports. This studio seeks to create an architecture for these terminals. Consequently, the architectural experience must be correspondingly short and intense.

Through the compound of plastic bottles and development of paper model from it, multiple layers, different surfaces as well as volumes and spaces were created. This kind of placeless form made me rethinking what the meaning of airport today and what it could be tomorrow. From the hub – where transferring people from ground to the aircraft – it seems today, it could be anything – probably a virtual house where you can experience everything that you don’t have to fly to another place – tomorrow.

03
象征性广场 / BLUR
Community Center and Public Square Design
Sam Fox School Option Studio
Instructor: Javier Maroto
Spring 2015

圣路易斯是美国最分裂的城市之一，由于长时间各方面复杂的原因形成了圣路易斯如今种族分裂，暴力犯罪频发的局面。作为一个外来者，我们应该怎样看待这个问题？作为一个建筑师，有没有可能在设计的过程和作品中表达出价值观？建筑从来就不是纯粹艺术的存在，在表达权力和欲望的同时，建筑自身有没有可能传达出对社会问题的思考？

本设计是一个综合社区中心和公民广场的设计，地址选在了具有象征意义的Delmar大街，Delmar是这个城市在现实地理上黑人社区和白人社区的分界线，功能选择包括了原地址上的政府服务部门，并加入了公共活动功能。概念源自广场，广场除了聚会和表达诉求之外，本身就是个象征意义非常强烈的存在。在本次设计中我试图将一些概念和纪念性元素融入到方案和表达中，希望能在功能实现之外多一些象征性的传达。

St. Louis is a divided city. Delmar blvd is one of the implicit line separating the region. In responding to the segregation in St. Louis, the site and design is trying to reflect current situation, creating blurred space experience while mixing different public as well as civic programs. The square, which is the most important symbolic intention in this design, is the combination of several metaphors and meanings. Besides providing a public space for different events and urban life activities, the square itself reflects a social and public desire of equality.

04
消逝的河流 / LOST RIVER
Mapping and Re-thinking of River Des Peres
Sam Fox School Option Studio
Instructor: Gia Daskalakis
Fall 2014

Des Peres 河流位于圣路易斯市和圣路易斯县的交界处，它的历史是美国从19世纪末开始大规模工业革命和城市发展的缩影和参照：它起初是个完全自然的河流，两岸形成了宝贵的农业土地，随着圣路易斯城市扩张，以及连年的洪水泛滥，人们开始构筑水泥河堤对自然河流进行人工干预，随之而来的是大段河流被巨大的混凝土管埋入地下，现如今Des Peres河已经几乎完全干涸，河两岸现如今是相对消极的城市空间。

Region along the River Des peres’s morphology is largely affected by the river itself. With the widening spatial gap caused by the river, St. Louis is separated by the river side as St. Louis city and St. Louis County. The river served several different function historically as agriculture farming, sewage system, and flood storage. However, with low water level nowadays, the river side become a negative space for urban activity. This design is aim to pull the two isolate urban space together.

第一个阶段，是对Des Peres河流进行总体性的研究，包括历史变迁，自然环境，周边的功能，桥梁，交汇处等等，随之提出一些可能的假想桥梁点。

Step 1 is the mapping of the whole river, which includes the history, natural condition, programs, existing bridges and connections. Through these mappings I’m trying to find the potential spot for the proposal bridge.

第二个阶段，是根据之前选取的地点和规划设计一座桥梁。地点选在了河流中游，河流两边有大量现存绿地和体育设施，未来桥梁计划将他们联系起来，桥梁自身也成为城市绿道路/自行车道的一部分。

Step 2 is designing the bridge based on the previous study. I’m choosing the mid river as my site where my bridge could connect the existing sport programs along two sides of river together. The bridge itself could also become part of the city’s green way system.

When: 2014 – Current
Where: USA
Name: Zhuoran Liu 刘卓然
From: Sichuan
School: Washington University in St. Louis
Contact: Zhuoran_Liu@outlook.com