Articles by Collin Chen

New Wave by Da Vittorio restaurant in the UCCA Edge museum in Shanghai is a coming together of disparate elements; a family-run Italian restaurant from the foothills of Bergamo in Shanghai and a fine dining experience within the realm of an art gallery.

HAYDON SHANGHAI is a multi-brand cosmetics store. Approaching the project, Various Associates extracted distinctive Shanghai-style elements and interpreted them through modern methods. Elements that carry the memory of Shanghai’s exotic old houses, such as reliefs, patterned tiles, wood with a classical tone, pale gold medal, and dark green hue, are combined in a contemporary, creative manner, which stimulates the recollection of past glorious days.

The original frame of Begonia Inn is next to a terrace field south side facing the lake, which is in fact, the house owner made use of half of the terrace to build the ‘house’. Houses like this are common in the village. The subtle relationship could be read between the buildings, the terraces, and the village. The architectural frame is divided into X-axis and Y-axis from east to west and south to north, representing public and private rooms respectively. Surroundings by the building would be described by such terms as terraces, lakes, trees, parks, etc. Besides the terms, on the X-axis, the limited landscape is segmented by almost total transparent public spaces including the villagers’ houses, unfiltered, and revealing their different natures, in this way, village atmosphere both indoors and outdoors could be felt by living in an urban hotel and experiencing the rural.

Project Background. This is a bookstore reconstruction project located on the west side of Zhongguancun Street in Beijing. The owner of Sheyu World bookstore entrusted us with the reconstructing design of its first floor on the basis of the original two-story building. Besides, the teahouse function is added except for the bookstore function. The site is situated inside the city block and surrounded by urban buildings. There is only an eastern side opening towards the front public courtyard. We try to find the relationship both inside and outside from here, aiming to build a block facade facing outside and an inward courtyard facing inside. Green cloud house is the name of this courtyard. A half misty pond, a winding bridge, three cloud walls, seven pavilions, and several mountain terraces are the places built in this garden. You can enjoy reading or tea parties here, which are sooner upcoming.

An Avant-garde Retail Space that Incorporates China Chic. Consumption in the market today is greatly driven by the young generation’s values and preferences, and toy collection stores targeted at young consumers are becoming an increasingly visible part of China’s retail market. With strong malleability and spirituality, toys meet Generation Z’s personalized, diversified consumption demands, and play an essential role in enriching their spiritual life.

Driving from Beijing, all the way to southwest, passing through tunnels, you can see mountains on the left, such as a screen, plains on the right and a village at the foot of the mountain. The village is called Zhengjiazhuang, which is also the location of the project. As a typical northern village, Zhengjiazhuang is built by red brick, gray tile and broken clay. Villagers tend to chat under a big tree in the central square. As a boutique homestay, the project is located in the southeast corner of the village, and acts as the first shot of Zhengjiazhuang’s revitalization.