No Image

Hubei Danyang Qinglong River Landscape Pavilion / F.O.G. Architecture + Huazhong University of Science and Technology

June 14, 2023 Collin Chen 0

Qionglong River Landscape Pavilion is located on the side of the Gonghe waterworks factory and is connected to a natural village. The project covers an area of 1820 square meters and a building area of 316 square meters.It is a supporting water quality monitoring and outdoor landscape project for Gonghe Water Plant. By transforming the private courtyard of the waterworks factory into public, the site provides a shared place for villagers.

No Image

LI City Study / Greater Dog Architects

June 12, 2023 Collin Chen 0

“Demolishing is a decision of easiness and short term,”said Anne Lacaton. “It is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history.” The sense of life in architecture lies in the duration of time, which is closely related to the usage scenario. However, buildings also have their own life cycle, whether it is the decline of the building’s own functions, changes in social demands, or new requirements by local policies, all of which become opportunities for old buildings to be rejuvenated.

No Image

O·POWER Culture & Arts Centre / Shenzhen Huahui Design

June 10, 2023 Collin Chen 0

The Huazhong Power Plant is located in the northern part of the Overseas Chinese Town area in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. In 1989, during the rapid economic development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, the power supply in the Overseas Chinese Town area faced a shortage, leading to a situation of power supply for three days and a blackout for four days. To alleviate this situation, the Huazhong Power Plant provided electricity to the entire Overseas Chinese Town area through heavy oil power generation. In 2006, it was officially retired due to urban development and environmental protection requirements. As an industrial relic and a testament to the rapid development of Shenzhen’s history, the Huazhong Power Plant holds the memories of many old residents of the Overseas Chinese Town and embodies the collective spirit of the era. The process of the Huazhong Power Plant renovation project differs from previous renovation projects. At the beginning of the project, the theme and color scheme of the park’s landscape had already been determined. Therefore, throughout the entire redesign process, the focus was on how to excavate and recreate the spirit of the place on the existing foundation, how to balance the constraints of the site’s environment with the practical functional requirements, and how to coordinate and integrate with the landscape elements.

No Image

Shenzhen Middle School / Huayi Design

June 10, 2023 Collin Chen 0

Background – Education is the foundation of a century-long plan. Shenzhen is fully promoting the high-quality development of basic education, striving to achieve “good education for young children and excellent education for learning” by “providing education that satisfies the people”, and creating a benchmark for people’s happiness. For this reason, Shenzhen has carried out new renovation and expansion projects for multiple primary and secondary schools, including the junior high school department of Shenzhen Middle School. As a shining business card of Shenzhen education, Shenzhen Middle School shoulders the responsibility of benchmarking world-class middle schools. The demolition and expansion project of the junior high school department of Shenzhen Middle School aims to expand the scale of education, optimize the teaching environment, and provide teachers and students with a distinctive, open, innovative, and ecologically friendly vibrant campus!

Challenge – The project has tight land, a high plot ratio, and a 4-meter elevation difference within the site, resulting in complex terrain. The original reserved building is located in the center of the site, which has a significant impact on campus planning, and the sports field needs to occupy half of the site, resulting in a lack of public activity space. At the same time, the road level on Baili South Road on the west side of the site is relatively low, and there is a lot of traffic during the commuting period, which will increase the traffic pressure for parents to pick up and drop off.

No Image

Interior Design of Boatyard Hotel Interiors / WJ STUDIO

June 8, 2023 Collin Chen 0

In the village of Shanwan in Wujiang District, Suzhou, the tranquillity of the idyllic town, the quiet expanse of the river and the historical culture blend. The Boatyard Hotel is located in this languid spatial landscape. WJ STUDIO is to give its indoor space rhyme and spatio-temporal experience. When people come to this place longing for the idyllic scenery of the water village, they do not know that they have already become a member of this scenery. A three-dimensional space embraces things growing, evolving, and intersecting while time moves forward like a river. The images one captures in each moment are instantaneous landscapes – nature, fields, light and artificial design meet at the intersection of space and time.

No Image

Regeneration of Yumin Village / Ingameoffice

June 7, 2023 Collin Chen 0

Yumin Village, one of the earliest “ten-thousand yuan households” villages in Shenzhen, played a significant role in the city’s reform and opening up. In 2019, as part of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Shenzhen’s reform and opening up, the Luohu District sought to contribute to the occasion by showcasing projects that highlight the achievements of this transformative era. Our team was given the opportunity to undertake the renovation and optimization of Yumin Village.

No Image

Nanjing Jiangbei Civic Center / MENG Architects

June 7, 2023 Collin Chen 0

Nanjing, renowned as the ancient capital of six dynasties, has seen urbanization mainly on the south bank of the Yangtze River. In 2015, in order to give full play to the city’s leading role in innovation-driven development and new urbanization, and promote the development of south Jiangsu and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the State Council officially approved the establishment of the nearly 788 km2 Jiangbei New District, kicking off large-scale urban development of the city on the north bank of the river. The Central Business and Social District, located in the core of the New District with the Yangtze River as the boundary and Laoshan Mountain as the background, is the kick-off area of the New District. In addition to infrastructure construction, the New District government intends to accelerate the development of the Central Business and Social Area by launching a series of public cultural building projects, and the Civic Center is one of the first key projects. The Project is sited in the open urban space at the intersection of Central Avenue (now called Dingshan Street) and Binjiang Avenue. Rising at the gateway to the New District and backed by the super high-rise cluster of the Central Business and Social Area, the Project overlooks the main urban area of Nanjing across the river. As the starting point of the north-south urban spatial corridor of the district, the site boasts a unique urban and natural landscape. The total site area is about 5.5 hm2 and the originally planned GFA was about 53,000 m2 (later increased to about 75,600 m2 subject to functional adjustment).

No Image

Zhejiang University “Two Institutes” in Quzhou / Architecture-Studio

June 6, 2023 Collin Chen 0

Zhejiang University “Two Institutes” in Quzhou (Zhejiang University Quzhou Research Institute and the Quzhou Branch of the College of Engineering) are in the education town of Quzhou, Zhejiang Province. Architecture studio (in association with China Shanghai Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd) won the international competition in 2019 and is responsible for the whole design work and overall control of the project. The campus officially opened on 18 June 2022. The studio has explored the proper planning between the waterfront landscape and the urban education complex, creating an ecological campus. The borderless layout aims to create a more vivid interaction between the campus and its surroundings. Eventually, the campus will be the place to work, communicate and live, providing more space to exchange ideas, express emotions and inspire innovation. The process is like planting a tree, giving the temperature, moisture, and fresh air; providing enough energy and space to take root and grow upwards.

No Image

DoBe WE @Shanghai Book City / Wutopia Lab

June 5, 2023 Collin Chen 0

Iron Rain – This time, I want to bring back the heavy rain. We used 500 white aluminum plates of three different widths (160, 320, and 480) to create a randomized pattern based on my sketches, and simulated a downpour on the facade. The plates were perforated with randomly generated dots and dashes in Morse code, forming a message that awaits deciphering. To achieve the thickness of a real downpour, the aluminum plates were designed with three layers, cascading like a waterfall, and the outermost layer hides a canopy that maintains functionality while preserving visual integrity. Upon entering the lobby through the rain, the downpour continues. I also designed the steel bookshelves in the shape of raindrops, extending the visual vocabulary from the facade to the interior, creating a sense of continuity. To simplify matters, I used the term “steel” to refer to both perforated aluminum plates and steel bookshelves, hence the name “Iron Rain.”