In dialogue withJian 間
Architecture, read through its thresholds.
I’m Yanzhi Yang, a PhD researcher studying how transitional spaces shape movement, sight and pauses between one space and the next.
Enter the researchPassage · Enfilade 齊廊
Enfilade aligns a sequence of openings so that the eye can travel across several spaces. Here, four openings and three equal intervals establish a continuous line of sight. The route follows this alignment, linking seeing with moving forward.
© yanzhiyang, 2026
u is a relative model unit: the equal spacing in Passage is 1.00 u. These are designed proportions, not metres or measurements of a historical building. Values are rounded to two decimals.
| State | Portals | Opening | Plane spacing | Max. span |
|---|
The base remains 3.00 × 3.96 u; each portal plane is 2.44 u wide and each opening is 1.76 u high. In Pause, the rear two openings shift by −0.24 u and a side seat is added. The view slider rotates the projection without changing any dimensions.
Enfilade: V&A, Inside the Baroque palace ↗
Classical reference
「山水有可行者、有可望者、有可遊者、有可居者。」
Guo Xi, compiled by Guo Si, Linquan Gaozhi Ji, ‘Shanshui xun’ (Song dynasty). Read the source ↗
This passage discusses landscape painting. It is introduced here as a reference for moving, looking and dwelling.
「深奧曲折，通前達後，全在斯半間中，生出幻境也。」
Ji Cheng, Yuanye, vol. 1, ‘Liji’ (Laying out foundations), ‘Tingtang ji’ (Hall foundations), Ming dynasty. Read the source ↗
In his discussion of hall foundations, Ji Cheng describes how a half-bay can connect front and back through depth and turns. The passage offers a way to consider the scale, routes and connections of transitional spaces.
Passage, Pause and Room are the contemporary model’s three labels. Their sequence and numerical proportions are designed for this drawing and are not taken from either classical text.
My research examines thresholds through spatial analysis and architectural phenomenology. Through writing and drawing, I read European and Chinese architectural cases together, focusing on human experience to study the connections between spaces.
A doorway, a change in level, a covered edge: each can shape the experience of moving between spaces. The doctoral project asks how these transitions are organised and understood.
Doctoral project at KU Leuven ↗The classical Chinese spatial concept jian opens another line of enquiry. How can a spatial concept travel between languages? The research examines its relationship with threshold, while attending to differences in meaning and use.
Read the research presentation ↗Drawing makes spatial relationships available for comparison. Alongside writing, it offers a way to follow openings, routes, enclosures and the intervals between them.
Return to the interactive drawing ↑2024–present · KU Leuven
Revisiting the Architectural Threshold through Spatial Analysis and Architectural Phenomenology
A research presentation on spatial transitions, bodily perception and the relationship between threshold and jian. Published on Zenodo on 11 May 2026.
2021–2023 · Politecnico di Milano
Exhibition, housing, construction and the reuse of existing places. Five projects from the 2023 portfolio.
2023 · Group work
Piranesi Prix de Rome
An installation for archaeological fragments and an event setting at Villa Adriana. Plans, sections and atmospheric studies connect the thermal baths with the Canopus.
Credits: Maierna Alessia; Bodiya Baduge Amasha; Chen Yining; Locatelli Elisa; Paglinawan Kathrina Mae; Wang Yutong; Yang Yanzhi.
Portfolio extract · 11 pages ↗
2022.11 · Group work
Castello Sforzesco · Milan
A museum study at Castello Sforzesco. Exhibition spaces are explored through optics, metaphor and the relationship between the building and its surroundings.
Credits: Yanzhi Yang; Xiwen Chen; Shaghayegh Mahmoudi.
Portfolio extract · 5 pages ↗
2022.07 · Group work
Construction · Reuse
A proposal for an ice hockey arena and housing. Structural models, exploded drawings and details examine construction and the site’s use after the Olympic event.
Credits: Yanzhi Yang; Emre Sonmez; Zuchen Yu; Xiwen Chen.
Portfolio extract · 7 pages ↗
2022.07 · Group work
San Siro · Milan
An adaptive housing study in San Siro. Extended balconies and shared spaces offer ways to reconsider light, domestic arrangements and collective living.
Credits: Yanzhi Yang; Maira Morozzo della Rocca.
Portfolio extract · 9 pages ↗
2022.02 · Group work
Ensemble · City Symphony
A film museum proposal developed from an urban context study. The drawings examine the relationship between existing fabric, new construction and a sequence of exhibition spaces.
Credits: Yanzhi Yang; Lianping Xia; Xingzheng Yang.
Portfolio extract · 5 pages ↗2015–2020 · Xiamen University
Early work on urban form, enclosure and interior space.
2020.04 · Group work
Urban design · Symbolization
An undergraduate urban design project presented through site analysis, models, drawings and spatial studies.
Credits: Yanzhi Yang; Zhiyuan Zhang; Yanan Zhou.
Portfolio extract · 3 pages ↗
2017–2018 · Individual work
Box Motif · Metonymy
An individual design study of enclosure and interior atmosphere. Physical models, plans and sections trace the relationship between a box-like volume, light and movement.
Credits: Yanzhi Yang.
Portfolio extract · 3 pages ↗Original project pages and team credits are retained. These are student design proposals; the selection excludes the old biography and portrait pages.
PhD researcher at KU Leuven. My work examines architectural thresholds through spatial analysis, phenomenology, writing and drawing.
PhD in Architecture. Supervisor: Caroline Voet. Co-supervisor: Paulo Providência.
Master of Architecture · Built Environment Interiors.
Bachelor of Architecture · School of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
Columns, walls, openings and circulation: how transitions are organised, represented and experienced.
Courtyard space, climate, enclosure and movement, studied through texts, drawings and case comparisons.
Architectural terminology and the relationship between text and drawing.
Architectural internship.
Teaching assistant and research collaborator in Caroline Voet’s master’s design studio, Gentle Radicality. Contributions to seminars and workshops on drawing, spatial sequence and Dom Hans van der Laan’s design methods.
China Scholarship Council doctoral fellowship.
Mandarin Chinese: native. English: academic working language.
For research conversations and academic exchange, find my institutional contact details at KU Leuven.