We were commissioned by Doozy Access gallery to reshape an industry warehouse located next to Longwu Road in Shanghai.
This is a warehouse renovation project with an area of 500 square meters. The existing warehouse used to be a glass production factory with two massive concrete beam rows sitting along the building internally. Similar to most of the factories pursuing spatial efficiency and economy, the facade of the building reflects its internal rhythm by repeating window frames in each bay. In this project, however, we attempt to disturb such rhythm by weaving completely different spatial language into it and make the facade fragmentally, incompletely and bizarrely.
Three spatial objects （Snout lens，Volumes of Perspective paths，Off-axis stacked volume）are designed to insert into the existing facade. We deliberately make the language of these objects inconsistent but spatially connected in narrative with the internal stage (exhibition hall) and ‘black curtain’ .
The grand hall space is imagined as a performance theater, the front stage is the exhibition hall, whereas the office and photography space becomes the backstage, in between the black curtain is the division.
Originally a colourful black curtain was designed to be made of various fragments of black fabric materials and textures such as cotton cloth, PVC cloth etc. But the idea of fabric curtain was suspended when the curtain structure was erected. The structure with the curving edges is strong enough to imply the relationship between front and back spaces. Meanwhile, the existence of the structure triggers the provisionality and flexibility of space use, which is much more meaningful compared to merely curtain division.
During the construction, Martin Goya Business (artist group) conducted an experimental art practice by painting graffiti on the entire internal incomplete surface (wall, floor, column etc) with graffiti. After the exhibition all graffiti was washed out completely and all surfaces were painted back to the white. The entire process became an extraordinary performance art.
What were the key challenges?
How to bright a creative face to this industrial warehouse
What materials did you choose and why?
Textural paint and steel frame, mainly because of the budget
Team:
Yingyun Wu, Yang Yang, Qiyu Chen
Material Used:
1. Facade cladding: Textural paint
2. Doors: Textural paint
