Hongkan Lingshijun Pulin Type-C Villa Villa by Yi Chen & Muchen Zhang

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

YC&MZ : By naturallyblending contemporary elements with traditional culture, the design aims at creating an architectural space with traditional aesthetics for the taste of modern people. We intended to reach a Zen-like state where subtlety and vacancy is to be felt both culturally and spiritually. The architecture uses contemporary modeling design to explore the origin for the continuation of traditional Chinese cultures.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

YC&MZ : We intended to reach a Zen-like state where subtlety and vacancy is to be felt both culturally and spiritually. Zen is a spiritual stateand also an attitude towards life; the stateis the natural revelation of the oriental temperament. At the heart of this design work is its intention tosymbolize the continuation of cultural heritage and spiritual temperament. "The poetic state is the overtones and the implications, permeating every corner of the space and touching sensory organs of the people experiencing the space.The real challenge lies in creating anethereal state. Therefore everydetail of the space, including shape, proportion, light, texture and color, are precisely craftedforthe creation of the ethereal state.The subtle correlation between ethereality and realitymust be under strict control." Through the ultimate design technique of creating of the "ethereal state", we had infused all our understanding of Zen in the space, spreading it all over the place.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

YC&MZ : We’d like an opportunity to design another work that promotes harmony between the architecture, its indoor space, and its surroundings. The idea of designing a church also occurred to us

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

YC&MZ : Three months.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

YC&MZ : Actually, we’re not as bound by the project owner’s design specifications as by their practical and functional requirements. We have decided on, pursued, and implemented the style out of a strong desire to uphold our philosophy “Spiritual Design, Poetic Expression”. We are driven by culture in each space work designed, attempting to discovering man’s spiritual needs behind the space.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

YC&MZ : We have such plans

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

YC&MZ : We have decided on, pursued, and implemented the style out of a strong desire to uphold our philosophy “Spiritual Design, Poetic Expression”. Themodern design is actually a spiritual return based on our thorough understanding of traditional Chinese cultures.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

YC&MZ : Yes, we worked as a team. Muchen Zhang and I were responsible for working out plans, with others tasked to flesh out and follow through them.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

YC&MZ : Potential house buyers.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

YC&MZ : The etherealityis constructed on the basis of the reality, yet the reality is reflected in the domination of the ethereality. The juxtaposition of the duo is a unique structured discourse of this project, distinguishing it from other similar space designs.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

YC&MZ : It’s named after the community.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

YC&MZ : It is a modern interpretation and application of the Geping (partition), the iconic symbol of traditional Chinese interiordesign.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

YC&MZ : Both the emphasis on the creation of the "etherealstate" andthe pursuit of "Spiritual Design and Poetic Expression" arethe most unique aspects of our design.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

YC&MZ : Muchen Zhang and I were responsible for working out plans, with others tasked to flesh out and follow through them. We discussed details on techniques and specialized skills with the constructor during the construction process.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

YC&MZ : The traditional Chinese crafting technique of wooden partitions adds more oriental artistry and Zen atmosphere.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

YC&MZ : We’re not influenced by data or analytical research. Research on the poetic state unique to the oriental traditions, however, did have an impact on our design.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

YC&MZ : The greatest challenge was to communicate our concept to the client and convince them during design planning.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

YC&MZ : A’ Design Award is a prestigious prize in international design field. Being part of it would allow more people, either laymen or professionals, from other countries to know about our work. And we expect it to bring in more opportunities for professional exchanges and real projects.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

YC&MZ : We honed our design technique and stripped our design language. A purified search for cultural and spiritual values resulted.