Articles by Collin Chen

A boat brimming with autumn hues,
Ten miles of lake glitter spread wide.
The water deity halts me to behold,
Sunlight in waves shimmer and unfold.
——ZHANG Xiaoxiang, “Hindered by Wind Below Peak”

Project origin – Xialapu Village administratively subordinates to Wama Township, Longyang District, Baoshan City, Yunnan Province. The local government has always hoped to build an amalgamated dwelling to improve and solve the housing needs of the lonely elderly in the village. At the same time, it can also rent spare rooms to the families of left-behind children who have a long way to go to school at a low price, so as to make it more convenient for them to go to and from school. These rental fees can be used as daily maintenance and related expenses for amalgamated dwellings. According to the local government, the construction cost of this conglomerate must be low, and it must have the function of 22 living rooms. Xialapu Village responded to the national poverty alleviation and relocation policy in 2018, The scattered people are concentrated here, and a new village is being planned and built. The pattern of the new village has changed from random growth to deliberately planned fan-shaped belt layout, and its architecture has also changed from traditional soil-based houses to modern frame commercial and residential buildings, which is a “standard” modern new rural style. The amalgamated dwelling is located in the east corner of the new village. Seeing that the existing new countryside is surrounded by white walls and tiles, we plan to design an “earthen” house with local materials and continue the local traditional architectural style, so as to preserve the collective memory of the villagers. In addition, we also invited the “One Specialized Village” team as a design cooperation agency to participate in the project.

The Yangtze River Crossing Campaign Memorial Park is located in the lower parts of the Yangtze River in Nanjing, on the opposite side of Qixia Mountain, in the estuary of the Hua-Zikou River, on the riverfront of Longpao New City. On April 21, 1949, the Yangtze River Crossing campaign began here. The People’s Liberation Army’s 34th Army fought, crossed the river, and successfully landed in Qixia from the Hua-Zikou River. As a result, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2020, the Longpao administration began construction of the project to commemorate The Yangtze River Crossing Campaign and serve the inhabitants of the new city.

At the Dongshankou area in Guangzhou, a rendezvous for stylish young people, an old Western-style house marked with the year “1931” magically resonated with the vintage DNA of MASONPRINCE as if under the influence of an irreversible universal power, and thus became the location of the brand’s first brick-and-mortar store. The vintage sports style of MASONPRINCE starkly contrasts with the futuristic style of THE GOD PRACTICE, which meanwhile creates a special visual sense. How to present such a fashion philosophy in the store space was a key consideration of the project. TOMO Design worked with MASONPRINCE to bring new experiences by creating a narrative with an interrupted timeline, incorporating a design language that “transcends the present”, and building a work scenario of “MP Studio” in the space. With an avant-garde perspective and via a unique medium, the design creates a dialogue between the past and the future. It connects the brand’s classless concept with space, brings out unbounded dynamics, and showcases a multi-dimensional time-space realm of the MASONPRINCE universe. Blurring the boundaries of time, it is related to the past, the plausible realm of the future. 1931 on the reversed timeline represents the urban location where the MP store sits, while 2023 on the forward timeline indicates a contrast of the same urban location at a different time point. The design presents the urban interface of the same place at both time points.

Amid The Paddies: To Encounter, To Gather. The site is amid paddy fields. In 2019, there held a land art festival where artworks were scattered throughout the venue to attract visitors; the art pieces were far apart, and there was no place to stay and take a break in the paddy fields. Therefore, the client hoped to utilize an existing platform amid the fields to build a 7-day pop-up bubble tea shop during the National Day holiday, which could also be a permanent pavilion for local villagers. We hoped to create a pavilion where people could rest, enjoy the cool and enjoy the view –  a place for people to encounter new friends and meet up with old.