Fred 李继琛

Ba (Hons) Interior & Environment Design - 2019 Cohort

My Design Philosophy

My design philosophy and field of interest are mainly to integrate natural elements into life and architecture and to explore and create new communities and architectural forms under green and sustainable development. My most enormous vision for design is that people can experience and feel profound humanistic care through the architecture or landscape forms I design, which can awaken people's ancient memory of history and handle the completely different designs and life forms in the past, present and future, let people enjoy it, to drive the change of the surrounding environment, to achieve a green and sustainable circular development system.

Honours Project - Community Integration

Project Brief

Semi-open theme park

  • Issues to be addressed - Analysis of social problems

  • Potentials/resources from the site - Site and current situation analysis

  • Design scheme - Design concept and strategy

  • Structural - Design, application and implementation

  • The final goal(s)/ achievement - Design effect presentation

Idea Generation & Design Process

Rebirth

Solidarity

Transformation

The Rebirth

Rebirth

Solidarity

Transformation

The Rebirth

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The core concept of this project is "rebirth"

The core concept of this project is "rebirth", through the use of renewable materials, the use of cultural symbols and the planning of circular patterns, the concept of "rebirth" is highlighted, and the important cultural value, historical value, ecological value and so on are constantly explored.

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The structure also represents the spirit

The use of woven bricks accentuates the theme of "rebirth", the structure also represents the spirit of solidarity before and after the global pandemic. In addition, the curve elements extracted from wine aroma are regarded as an important condition to drive the sustainable development of "bearings", namely, economic and cultural life, and integrated into the design.

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Transform this abandoned factory in the community

After the end of the epidemic era, people may be in an old community without any entertainment places and cultural inheritance. I hope to transform this abandoned factory in the community. It not only reawakens people's historical memory of the culture of the area, but also creates a new semi-open community park, which is presented to people through different design techniques, so that people can resonate in their hearts.

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The circle itself represents rebirth

The circle itself represents rebirth, highlighting the theme of transformation. In wine culture, the aroma of wine as the driving force of design means "chain" and also represents spiritual bond. Each dot represents a large and small community, just like a large and small bearing, they together constitute a large community. To maintain the sustainable development of the entire community. The "chain", as the spiritual link throughout.

Step 1 of 4

Final Design Scheme

Semi-open theme park

The theme of this project is "Rebirth", which aims to transform the abandoned factory into a new semi-open theme park. Through the use of circular elements and sustainable materials, it creates a multi-functional, diversified and sustainable space form, which can not only provide people with leisure and entertainment but also enrich people's spiritual world. After the end of the epidemic era, the design aims to pass on culture and convey the spirit of unity and upward movement through the circular element.

Final Design Proposal

The design embraces spatial narrative, ensuring a smooth spatial transition that tells a compelling story. Sustainability is woven into the fabric of the design, utilizing eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient systems. Together, these elements create an immersive experience that not only delights users but also promotes a harmonious coexistence with the environment.

General Views

This is a multi-functional semi-open theme park with two entrances for people to enter. Here, people can enter different circular Spaces to experience different things. In addition, people can find and enrich their own diverse spiritual world here.

Context, Site analysis, Design Narratives and Concept

Get to know the thorough design development from the stages listed below.

Community Project - Participant’s Installation

Design Narrative

The concept of the art installation is rebirth. The overall frame is a complete rectangular frame, measuring 2.5m * 2.5m * 2.5m. The five faces of the rectangular frame are surrounded by a dense square lattice system made of transparent acrylic plates. The design is an extension of the mask, which we know protects against viruses while remaining breathable. When zoomed in, the mask reveals its dense crevices and gaps. The square frame wrapped around it serves as a metaphor for the community living under the shadow of the pandemic. The spherical object attached to the frame symbolizes the novel coronavirus. The radioactive column represents the state of people's struggle and their mental resilience against the novel coronavirus. Several photos from the pandemic era are inserted into the interior of the square device and can be viewed through the gaps. These photos highlight the spirit of people fighting the virus during the pandemic era. When people touch the square grid with their hands, the lights on the grid will go out, symbolising breaking free and experiencing rebirth. When people release their hands, the lights on the squares illuminate once again. Through visual and tactile experiences, the entire art installation aims to create spiritual resonance between individuals, between individuals and the installation itself. It intends to evoke a sense of hope for rebirth after the epidemic era. The art installation expresses the desire of people in the epidemic era to come together as one and rebuild their lives. It conveys the spirit of facing life with a positive attitude and without fear of external threats. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve sustainable development both materially and spiritually.

Honours Project - Site Research and Representation

Part I: Research and Analysis

Baoding Wine Industry Co. Ltd was established in 1945. In January 1998, it officially began operations and the factory is located at No. 390 Dongfeng East Road, Baoding, Hebei. The company mainly sells wine products and has a history of 77 years. In 2021, the company moved to a new factory elsewhere, leaving the old factory located in the downtown area of Baoding surrounded by many schools and a large flow of people. Through the analysis of its greening, traffic lines, and surrounding buildings, it is known that the area has relatively little greenery, developed traffic, and a large flow of people. The site is located at the intersection of the downtown area and is abandoned, which makes it valuable for utilization and transformation. With the introduction of government policies, the site selection will have unlimited development potential and bright prospects. It is suggested that the old factory in this area be transformed into a new ecological park that integrates culture and business.

Part II: Site Representation

Through the investigation of the site, I selected an object in the abandoned workshop and carried out a certain study on it. As the main material of this object, red brick has rich experimental value. This experiment explores the structure of the red brick itself and destroys the red brick to a certain extent by means of breaking and soaking to study the internal structure of red brick and a series of possibilities of applying red brick fragments to architecture after being destroyed into powder. Through the analysis and experiment of materials, I have learned about the various forms of material changes. The beauty of deformable materials lies in its contingency and uncontrollable creation process, so the final results may be unexpected. Sometimes the results are terrible, sometimes the results are wonderful, all of which need trial and error. The clay in this experiment is one of the raw materials of the extracted bricks, and the results obtained through a large number of experiments are also diverse. I think these ideas can be used in future design to achieve the purpose I mentioned on the previous page, which is to reduce the damage of construction waste to the environment and realize the regeneration and secondary recycling of resources.

Honours Project

Theoretical Underpinning

Part I: Generation Z and Self Identification

'The big Internet era has subtly influenced everything around it and constantly incubated a variety of individual spirits.'

Break through

 Generation Z(1990-2010) is the new cohort of young, digitally-native and hyper cognitive folks. They pursue free personality in character, constantly break through themselves, constantly innovate, and do not stick to traditional ideas. In the whole work, the big bubble balls represent the big Internet era, while the small paper balls represent the wireless individual thoughts born and extended in the environment. The big Internet era has subtly influenced everything around it and constantly incubated a variety of individual spirits. To some extent, those colored balls also symbolize those people in the Z era who break free from the shackles of strings, break through themselves and reveal different personalities.These foam balls are stacked together, and many sticks are interspersed at the bottom of the work, which is intended to represent the personality of people in the age of Z. The disorder of the work precisely reflects the sense of freedom and disorder that people in the age of Z, and also expresses the courage of people in the age of Z to break through constraints and the spirit of self-breakthrough and constantly innovate.

Part II:  Pre-generation Z and Self Identification

'......intended to express people's yearning for a better life and constantly break the shackles of traditional ideas.'

Disintegration

Generation Y(1981-1996)(or Millennials for short)refer to the generation born between the 1980s and the mid-1990s.They millennials have a flexible mind, and tend to challenge traditional norms. In the whole work, English newspapers represent ideological dogmatism. The broken pieces of plastic cover inserted on the colored ball and the four corners of English newspapers are cracked to express the spirit of people in Y era who dare to break traditional dogma and create new ideas. The colorful balls in the inner area represent the aesthetic design whimsy of people in the Y era, which is more like the explosion of countless new ideas. In the central part of the work, the paper balls under the oval plastic cover break out of their shells, representing the dogmatism that will be assimilated by new ideas. These colorful balls subtly guide these traditional ideas out of the state of isolation, so as to move towards innovation and recovery. The whole work is intended to express people's yearning for a better life and constantly break the shackles of traditional ideas.

Part III: Generations and Community

'....the characteristics of the people of the Z era and the people of the Y era are more or less integrated together and virtually establish a seemingly incompatible but closely connected spiritual bond.'

Rebirth

Under the impetus of The Times, the characteristics of the people of the Z era and the people of the Y era are more or less integrated together and virtually establish a seemingly incompatible but closely connected spiritual bond. In the whole work, the white balls represent dogmatism under formalism, while the continuously emerging colored balls represent a variety of thoughts and emotional styles created by the common progress of the Y and Z ages,the white ball object is gradually submerged by the continuously emerging colored ball, which symbolizes the decline and demise of dogmatism in the current era, and also confirms that the traditional values of the past have received a huge impact. The work represent the positive and optimistic life attitude and self-breakthrough spirit of people in the Z era, and the spirit of people in the Y era who dare to break the traditional shackles and pursue a better life. This collage is intended to constantly inspire people in the Z and Y eras to face life positively, to break through themselves, to develop together and make progress together.

To Explore, Discover, & Regenerate