Hasta La Ideas

Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has announced its plans to renovate a deteriorating concrete building in Shenzhen, China, to create the If Factory offices and a maze-like roof garden.

Located in the historic district of Nantou, the 11,000-square-metre disused factory will be transformed into rentable workspaces for creative companies and a home for the Urban Research Institute of property developer Vanke.

Rather than demolishing the factory, MVRDV‘s priority for the scheme is to preserve its history by restoring its original concrete frame, which has become exposed as the building has deteriorated.

The studio will then reconfigure its interior layout and insert a giant central staircase, before adding a rooftop garden called The Green House.

Once complete, If Factory will be enveloped by the original building’s existing grid-like frame, which will be treated to resist ageing and punctured by large windows.

“This preserves the traces of the building’s history, keeping the concrete frame that is now exposed due to the building’s dilapidated state – in line with principles of sustainability and the circular economy,” explained the studio.

Inside, the office spaces will be set back from the concrete exterior to make space for balconies and circulation around the building’s perimeter.

This excludes the main staircase that MVRDV will build at the heart of the building to connect the ground floor to the rooftop.

Described by MVRDV as the “most notable new addition” to the building, the central staircase will protrude from the facade on the fourth floor and be clad in wood to contrast with the concrete-dominated material palette.

It will also be lined with windows that provide views into the office spaces and filled with neon signage to pay homage to Shenzhen.

“Windows built into the staircase provide glimpses into the work being done in the offices, ensuring that this creative hub acts with transparency and remains connected to the community life of Nantou,” explained MVRDV.

“Inside the staircase, mirrored glass and vibrant neon signage offer an aesthetic reminder of the early days of Shenzhen’s urbanisation.”

Another key part of the If Factory is The Green House, a rooftop garden that will be lined with greenery and bamboo arranged like a maze.

Nestled within the network of paths and hedges will be The Green Rooms, a series of spaces for visitors to relax that are each focused on a different activity – ranging from dancing and exercising to reading, dining and gathering.

An expected completion date is yet to be disclosed, but construction work has begun and a temporary canvas facade by MVRDV will remain in place until its opening.

This fabric facade is an image of “how the building will look once complete”, disrupted by a large zipper graphic that opens to a ground floor entrance where there is currently an exhibition. Following the building’s completion, the canvas will be recycled into tote bags.

According to MVRDV, If Factory forms a part of a wider masterplan and ambition to transform Nantou into a cultural and creative hub.

It also marks the second time MVRDV has carried out a project within the factory, following its Vertical Villages exhibit at the 2017 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture.

“Nantou is a special and fascinating place,” said MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “It’s really rewarding to return to this building after we exhibited here during the Shenzhen Biennale in 2017 with our ‘Vertical Villages’ and ideas for the future of cities,” he continued.

“Our proposal draws on that ambition to make this part of Shenzhen a creative force, but it also remains in touch with the people of Nantou, their needs, and the history of the place.”

If Factory was commissioned by the Shenzhen Nanshan District Bureau of Public Works and Chinese property developer Vanke. MVRDV has collaborated with the Urban Research Institute of Vanke, vaLue Design, and the Shenzhen Bowan Architecture Design Institute on its design.

It is one of a number of renovation projects proposed by Vanke in the city, which will all be developed by local and internationally renowned architects.

MVRDV is an architecture studio based in Rotterdam, founded in 1991 by Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries.

Elsewhere in Shenzhen, the studio is also developing an “urban living room” called Shenzhen Terraces as well as a 250-metre-tall skyscraper that was also commissioned by Vanke.

Visuals are courtesy of MVRDV and photography is by Gao Yu.

Project credits

Architect: MVRDV
Founding partner in charge: Winy Maas
Partner: Wenchian Shi
Design team: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Guang Ruey Tan, Peter Chang, Cai Zheli, Echo Zhai, Pim Bangert, Elien Deceuninck, Daehee Suk, Monika Wiecha, Alberto Menozzi, Alexis Lode, Anamarija Vrzina, Enrica Perrot, Luca Beltrame, Michele Tavola and Hengwei Ji
Visualisations: Antonio Coco and Pavlos Ventouris
Director MVRDV Asia: Steven Smit
Strategy and development: Jammy Zhu
Project planning and design management: Urban Research Institute of China Vanke; vaLue Design
Co-architect: Shenzhen Bowan Architecture Design Institute
Landscape architect: Yuanye Landscape Design
Lighting designer: GD-Lighting Design
Facade consultant: PAG
Local interior architect: Biaogao Design

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Brisbane, Australia-based Sycco (aka Sasha McLeod) returns with her fifth release “Dribble,” a pop tune that the 18-year-old wrote with producer Ed Quinn. She says in a statement, “Ed and I were tired and hungover, which maybe explains why it sounds a little dark. The guitar synth was added at the last minute but I can’t imagine the song without it now.” Inspired by trying to make sense of somebody talking in their sleep, the song blends synth-pop, neo-soul, rock and pop elements to conjure up a satisfying listen.

Sailing and nautical aesthetics informed CL3’s interiors for the Intercontinental hotel in the Raffles City Chongqing complex in China, which includes guest rooms that draw on the design of yacht cabins.

Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City is located in the Raffles City Chongqing development, which features a “horizontal skyscraper,” the Crystal skybridge that connects four 250-metre tall skyscrapers.

The hotel’s location in the city’s Chaotianmen area, where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet, was the starting point for the designers.

“The project has a geographical and historical significance by being where the ancient emperor sent his fleet to meet the people,” CL3  said.

This nautical past not only informed the design of the eight streamlined skyscrapers that make up the Raffles City Chongqing complex, which features sail-like screens, it was also carried through into the interior design.

CL3 was approached to create the interiors after working with architect Moshdie Safdie of Safdie Architects on the Marina Bay Sands project, and designed the interiors of the hotel’s main areas as well as the residential lobby and common areas for five of the towers.

The studio was also responsible for the design of the residential clubhouse inside the signature Crystal skybridge that connects four of the towers.

Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City’s grand reception is located on level 42 at the skybridge and nods to the sailing theme with a reception desk shaped like the hull of a ship, complemented by lighting in the same shape.

“The shape design echoes the water reflection during sailing in the river,” the studio said. The link bridge reception area was also decorated with marine-themed Chinese motifs and crafts.

In the arrival lobby area, CL3 added stylised drawings of traditional ships to the mirrored walls of the elevators.

The lobby lounge was designed to create a “mountain landscape in the sky” and filled with green plants under an arc-shaped dome.

It features views of the skybridge that stretches across the skyscrapers, which visitors can enjoy from enveloping seats in pale wood with an undulating, wave-like shape.

For the interior of the hotel rooms, the studio used pale wood combined with beige and cream colours and softly curved walls.

“The inspiration from the timeless ultra-luxury of contemporary sailing vessels is reflected in the ambience, furniture selections, finishes and guest rooms, ” CL3 said.

The nautical theme is less apparent in the Jing restaurant, which has a dark stone floor and peacock blue detailing.

The distinctive bar, where guests can sit and enjoy a meal, has been decked out in pale blue, bright blue and white stripes that pick up the blue hues in rest of the room.

CL3 was also behind some of the residential areas in the complex, including the residential clubhouse inside the Crystal skybridge itself which has a swimming pool, gym and a spa, as well as private function rooms.

Rattan lounge chairs with blue upholstery surround the pool, whose “modern shape and light colours reflect the rhythm of urban life,” the studio said.

CL3 was founded in 1992. The studio is based in Hong Kong but also has offices in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai.

As well as the Raffles City Chongqing complex, Safdie Architects also designed a housing development in the city, Eling Hill, consisting of a set of stepped homes on a hill overlooking the Yangtze River.

Photography is by Feng Shao.

Project credits:

Client: Capitaland
Project name: Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City
Project location: No. 2 Changjiang Binjiang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, China 400010
Completion time: 2020
Interior design firm: CL3 Architects
Interior design team: William Lim, Jane Arnett, Simon Ho, Jun Tse, Katerin Theys
Architecture design firm: Safdie Architects

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Central Saint Martins student Jiyong Kim has used sunlight, rather than traditional printing or dying processes, to create the organic, flowing patterns that grace his graduate menswear collection.

All eight looks in the Daylight Matters project were made from reclaimed vintage garments, textile industry offcuts and antique fabrics such as curtains and parasols. Kim chose the used materials as a way to address the 92 million tons of textile waste generated by the fashion industry every year.

“Textile and garment manufacturing causes environmental pollution and printing wastes a lot of water, only for the garments to eventually be discarded and cause more damage to the environment,” Kim told Dezeen.

“That’s why I decided to make every constituent element of a garment including the fabric, buttons and zips from reclaimed materials,” the designer continued. “Just over half of the garments also use a square cutting pattern to minimise waste.”

The finished garments were then placed on mannequins and left out in the sun for up to five months to fade naturally, while also cutting out the large amounts of water and harmful chemicals used in standard dyeing and production methods.

Kim intends the collection to be a rallying cry against throwaway culture and hopes to create a new kind of appreciation for the process of sun fading through clothes which, much like wine, increase in value as time progresses.

That’s because, over the course of several months, Kim’s method creates permanent patterns, which respond to the unique materiality and shape of an item. As long as a piece is left out in the sun, any exposed areas are bleached to a lighter shade while the nooks and crevices that are naturally left in the shadows maintain their original darker colouring.

“Rain promotes sun fading and wind moves the garment little by little,” said Kim. “Such small movements create gradations and create a visual depth that could never be created with printing.”

To amplify this effect, the clothes themselves draw heavily on the kind of draped, loose silhouettes often worn in warmer climates, as these offer plenty of dimensions for the sun to play with.

A dark blue trench coat was exposed to the sun while tied with a belt and with several embellishments pinned to the front, which left ghostly impressions of themselves behind.

Kim used antique velvet curtains to fashion a long jacket reminiscent of a bathrobe, which over the course of three months faded from midnight to pale baby blue.

Meanwhile, an orange velvet bomber jacket was displayed with the sleeves rolled up, bleaching it to a light peach colour everywhere except for the creases on the arms.

This is paired with a set of two-toned trousers, fashioned from fabric offcuts that were sourced from a local garment factory.

“Present-day fabrics have more chemicals in them than vintage ones, so they fade a lot slower,” said Kim. “The trousers had to be left out for five months for part of the leg to fade from deep black to light grey.”

Kim, who was born in South Korea, has previously designed for French label Lemaire as well as working as a design assistant at Louis Vuitton under Virgil Abloh.

Other notable collections from this year’s CSM graduates have incorporated drapery and chair frames as well as beanbag attachments to create unconventional garments.

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As part of CR’s series exploring what creatives would change about their industries following this enforced period of lockdown, Shangri-La creative director Kaye Dunnings reflects on the future of events

The post What Would I Change: Kaye Dunnings, Shangri-La appeared first on Creative Review.