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Architects: Epiphany Architects
- Area: 64 m²
- Year: 2023
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Lead Architects: Zhuoxin Fang, Qianqian Xu
A "Petal" Landing in an Oasis. Epiphany Architects transforms the installation into a petal, gracefully descending amid the lush greenery of the city. It adds a touch of romantic ambiance to the sylvan commercial atmosphere. The petal's edges are soft and smooth, and its form is graceful and agile. Through interaction with the surrounding environment, it flexibly adjusts its shape to present itself in the most suitable way. Located at the entrance of the commercial area in Block B of Chengdu Luxelakes·Lufang, this petal welcomes every resident and visitor with open arms.
Interaction with the Environment and People. In the center of the site, a beautiful water feature enhances the entire installation with dynamism and romance, imbuing it with fluidity. The reflective effect of the water surface mirrors the form of the installation's base, complementing the petal's posture. The interior design of the installation maintains a uniform height, creating a comfortable social space. The external undulating interfaces provide a more free, lively, and dynamic environment, offering outward-facing social interfaces that provide more opportunities for interaction. Different heights of undulation lead to diverse activities, allowing people to sit, lie, lean, and rest on the petal, with the addition of children bringing more interesting ways to engage with it.
Design Process. 01 Composition of the Installation. 02 "Disappearance" of structures. Supporting the petal are six mirror bases cleverly designed to align with six points where the petal "falls." This design integrates the bases visually with the petal, echoing the petal's overall image of lightness and buoyancy. In addition to the bases, the installation utilizes curved steel trusses to support the entire form. These trusses are connected to the lightbox using a snap-fit method, ensuring the overall structure's stability while effectively concealing the trusses between the wood and stainless steel lightboxes.
Parametric Design and CNC Fabrication. This unique petal is meticulously composed of 300 wooden elements of varying lengths and stainless steel light boxes. Each stainless steel lightbox has a different angle of connection with the trusses, resulting in 600 different forms of connectors. In the production process, the sequence of node design, data output, data organization, CNC machine input and output, and overall assembly showcases the perfect integration of technology and art.
