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Architects: AD ARCHITECTURE
- Area: 200 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Ouyang Yun
Text description provided by the architects. The project is located in the Shenzhen OCT-Loft Creative Culture Park. Shenzhen is a city full of possibilities, and the Creative Culture Park is a gathering of people with creative output. The Park is surrounded by a cultural and artistic atmosphere, with all kinds of renovated factories, lush greenery, and old trees. All these inspired the design team to think about how to create an impact and impression for the bar, attract customers and empower its commercial operation. AD ARCHITECTURE hoped to create a new sense of tension in the artistic side, to achieve a new breakthrough by thinking in the opposite direction, and to bring out the uniqueness of the space with a "radical" approach.
Exploration - Every designer faces various challenges in their work. Especially in commercial design, designers have to gain insight into business models and consumer trends and translate them into space design. In a fast-evolving situation like business, the frequency of challenges will be more frequent. In this project, AD ARCHITECTURE tries to create the possibility of serendipity and the unknown to make breakthroughs. In previous design practices, AD ARCHITECTURE has always pushed itself to risky options, to break the rules and create a perceptible and never-before-seen design in space. This time, the design team incorporated an out-of-the-box perspective while staying grounded in market and business logic. This must be about creating something unique in the city. This kind of fun and exploration of the city is a spur to make breakthroughs and find uniqueness.
Purity｜Complexity - By amplifying existing forms, AD ARCHITECTURE created a complicated spatial realm full of visual variations. This is the first time the team has presented space in such a radical way. Although confident throughout the design process, the team was still nervous about the new territory they had never set foot on before. The pure design approach connects complex design elements, creating a surrealistic vibe in a realistic space.
Storytelling｜Psychedelic Imagery - The project creates storytelling scenes with a strong sense of experience. The story is composed of transient images. The chief designer, Xie Peihe, wants the space to be enriched by user participation, as the effect of instantaneous fragmentation. Although these images can make people feel the story, they are indefinable, or in the designer’s words, they are "psychedelic images". These fragmented images constantly emerge and fade, creating experiences full of surprises. The design team enjoys this process.
Radicality｜Moderate Restlessness - The entire space is internally free and can function in different scenarios. The sense of fluidity in the space creates a dialogue with people and forms a dynamic scene. The form of the space is full of imagination: it can be a cave, a space capsule, or a neuron... It can flexibly switch between the leisure of a cafe during the day and the excitement of a whiskey bar at night.
Review - In this project, AD ARCHITECTURE thought about the design of the space from a strategic perspective. Behind this seemingly risky solution are the design team’s years of design experience and keen insight into the market. The designers saw a change in the market that the client had not, and used their professional design skills to create a branded space for high-net-worth consumers. "The twisted space is like exploring the logic of the law in freedom, which becomes a means of connecting the space to business, all with the purpose of gaining new energy, which is the meaning of an 'unknown script'." AD ARCHITECTURE explained.
