The Lung
Project collaborators: Han Kuo, Zhanhao Fan
Critic: Bernard Tschumi
Site: Pier i, New York, NY
Fall 2021 / Columbia GSAPP
The Lung is a factory, museum, and purifier of air. Facing various underlying urban disasters, The Lung prepares the city for potential air catastrophes while healing the damage. Spatializing natural and technological processes, the museum demonstrates the cleaning and making of ‘air.’ The visitor is invited to obtain sensitivity to the so-called ‘void’ or ‘invisible’ through the air. The island prioritizes the invisible as the most crucial and blends the infrastructure abstraction to everyday experience.
The Lung acts as a factory for oxygen pre-catastrophe and as an oxygen distribution center during catastrophe time. The air is first compressed and purified during inhaling; then is liquefied to distill oxygen out during absorbing. Finally, the liquid oxygen goes into the reservoir and is ready to be vaporized for later use during exhaling. Three different mechanisms is organized in a circular layout to collect air coming from all directions. Based on all the features of programs, spaces are arranged from outer layer toward the central part.
Mechanism Diagram for Oxygen Production
Spatial Organization and Concept
Site Plan, Adjacent to Pier i and Proximity to CityMD and Northwell Urgent Care
Plan, The Lung
Isometric Drawing, The Lung
The Lung, Layers of Inhaling, Absorbtion and Exhaling and Structure
Exploded Axonometric Drawing
Expandable Oxygen Reservoir, Structural Detail
Aerial View Rendering, The Lung
Renderings