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    Dezeen Awards China 2023 Designers of the Year shortlist revealed

    Dezeen has announced the Designers of the Year shortlist for the inaugural Dezeen Awards China, which includes Mario Tsai, OPEN Architecture and Ziin Life.

    The Designers of the Year award rewards the best emerging and established talent or studio across architecture, interiors and design, and recognises those whose innovative work has made a notable impact on the design, interiors and architecture industry in China.
    18 studios shortlisted across six categories
    The 18 shortlisted names, which are in the running for awards in six different Designers of the Year categories, include Beijing-based Vector Architects, shortlisted for architect of the year, Chengdu-based MUDA Architects, shortlisted for emerging interior designer of the year and Shanghai-based Studio Kae shortlisted for emerging designer of the year.
    Other shortlisted studios have designed projects such as a cultural centre with sweeping white-concrete geometries, a modular lighting system informed by scaffolding and a playful fashion boutique which references tailoring motifs.

    All Dezeen Awards China 2023 shortlisted projects revealed
    The Designers of the Year were nominated and shortlisted by Dezeen Awards China judges and Dezeen’s editorial team.
    This is the first edition of Dezeen Awards China, which is in partnership with Bentley Motors. This is the final shortlist revealed this week. The architecture, interiors and design shortlists were unveiled earlier this week.
    Above: Vector Architects Studio by Vector Architects. Photo by Vector Architects. Top: Shenzhen Fuqiang Elementary School by People’s Architecture Office. Photo by People’s Architecture OfficeAll shortlisted Designers of the Year are listed below, each with a link to a dedicated page on the Dezeen Awards China website where you can find an image and more information about the designer.
    The winner of each category will be announced at a party in Shanghai in December.
    Read on for the full Designers of the Year shortlist:
    Shanfeng Academy by OPEN Architecture. Photo by Jonathan LeijonhufvudArchitect of the year
    › OPEN Architecture› People’s Architecture Office› Vector Architects
    Haikou Xixiu Park Visitor Center by MUDA Architects. Photo by Arch-Exist and Archi-translatorEmerging architect of the year
    › HCCH Studio› MUDA Architects› Roarc Renew Architects
    Ravine by A Work of Substance. Photo by A Work of SubstanceInterior designer of the year
    › AIM Architecture› A Work of Substance› Vermilion Zhou Design Group
    Som Land Hostel by RooMoo Design Studio. Photo by RooMoo Design StudioEmerging interior designer of the year
    › FOG Architecture› Office AIO› Roomoo Design Studio
    Building within building series by Ziin Life. Photo by Ziin LifeDesigner of the year
    › Mario Tsai› U+› Ziin Life
    DONG Series by Restudio. Photo by RestudioEmerging designer of the year
    › MMR Studio› Restudio› Studio KAE
    Dezeen Awards China 2023
    Dezeen Awards China is the first regional edition of Dezeen Awards, to celebrate the best architecture, interiors and design in China. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent in China.

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    Dezeen Awards China 2023 interiors shortlist revealed

    Dezeen has announced the 28-strong interiors shortlist for the inaugural Dezeen Awards China, which includes projects by FOG Architecture, UNStudio and Atelier d’More.

    The shortlisted projects, which are in the running for awards in six different interiors project categories, represent the most striking interiors recently created in the country.
    Among the projects, which are located in 14 different cities across China, is a Spanish restaurant in a former prison, a hostel on Shanghai’s Chongming Island that integrates local materials and an office space with mottled concrete walls and exposed steel frames.
    The shortlist also features a library with a sweeping wooden bookshelf and a clothing store informed by local markets.
    Dezeen Awards China 2023 shortlists revealed this week

    The shortlisted projects were scored by our interior jury which includes interior architect André Fu, Hong Kong-based Alex Mok, US interior designer Kelly Wearstler, Studioilse founder Ilse Crawford and Li Xiang of X+Living.
    This is the first edition of Dezeen Awards China, which is in partnership with Bentley Motors. The architecture shortlist was published on Monday and following the interiors shortlist, the projects shortlisted in the design and China designers of the year categories will be unveiled tomorrow and Thursday respectively.
    Above: An office building in Shenzhen’s Kexing Science and Technology Park is one of the shortlisted projects. Photo by Schran Images. Top: Other shortlisted projects include an eye hospital in Taiyuan, China.All shortlisted interiors are listed below, each with a link to a dedicated page on the Dezeen Awards China website, where you can find more information about the project.
    The winner of each interiors project category will be announced at a party in Shanghai in December, with the six winners competing for the title of Chinese interiors project of the year, which is sponsored by Gaggenau.
    Read on for the full interiors shortlist:
    Light House by 323 Studio. Photo by 323 StudioHome interior
    › Light House, Zhengzhou, by 323 Studio› Illumined Freedom: An Artistic Home, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, by More Design Office› Z&S House, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, by Outlooker Design› Beijing West Road Private Residence, Shanghai, by Slow Studio› Muzi House, Shanghai, by Wuy Architects
    This is Zack! by Guò Bàn Ér. Photo by Boris ShiuWorkplace interior
    › NCDA Studio, Hong Kong, by NC Design & Architecture› Yeahka Headquarters Office, Shenzhen, by JSPA Design› Phantom Rings: S-Game Office, Beijing, by LYCS Architecture› Diningr:um, Shanghai, by Pronounced Design› This is Zack!, Beijing, by Guò Bàn Ér
    Book Mountain Store by Ray&Emilio Studio. Photo by Ray&Emilio StudioRetail interior
    › To Summer Beijing Flagship Store, Beijing, by FOG Architecture› FREITAG Store Shanghai, Shanghai, by Kooo Architects› ZUCZUG Bazaar, Xiamen, by Sò Studio› Book Mountain Bookstore, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, by Ray&Emilio Studio
    Self Revealing by Studio X4. Photo courtesy of Studio X4Health and wellbeing interior
    › FlySolo Rehabilitation Medical Centre, Beijing, by UNStudio› Self Revealing, Taipei, by StudioX4› Big Eyes Panda Eye Hospital, Taiyuan, by Karv One Design› BoF hair salon, Zhengzhou, by Name Lab
    Twosome Inn by Atelier d’More. Photo by Atelier d’MoreHotel and short-stay interior
    › Cloud Retreat Hotel, Ganzhou, by Shanghai Cocoon Studio› Sunac Mogan Valley Zhulinli Demonstration Area, Deqing, Yunnan, by WJ Studio› The Tree and Villa, Dali, Yunnan, by Fusion Design & Architecture› Som Land Hostel, Chongming Island, Shanghai, by RooMoo Design Studio› Twosome Inn, Beijing, by Atelier d’More
    B3 by RooMoo Design Studio. Photo by RooMoo Design StudioRestaurant and bar interior
    › B3, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, by RooMoo Design Studio› Lai Zhou Bar, Shanghai, by RooMoo Design Studio› Artifact Bar, Hong Kong, by NC Design & Architecture› Agora, Hong Kong, by Collective› Biiird Yakitori, Guangdong, by Biger Club Design
    Dezeen Awards China 2023
    Dezeen Awards China is the first regional edition of Dezeen Awards, to celebrate the best architecture, interiors and design in China. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent in China.

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    FOG Architecture adds playful tailoring motifs to Xiaozhuo boutique in Shanghai

    Chinese architecture studio FOG Architecture has completed a shop for local fashion boutique Xiaozhuo on Julu Road in central Shanghai that features oversized buttons and zippers.

    The 300-square-metre shop features tactile surfaces and playful motifs that reference the process of tailoring.
    The fashion boutique is located in central ShanghaiFOG Architecture used a glazed facade to open up the front of the shop, allowing plenty of natural daylight into the space while blurring the line between the interiors and the street to create a transitional waiting area.
    Beams from an original building on the site were kept and painted red. These support a roof installation comprised of a series of puffy pillows, arranged next to one another and covered in a canvas-like material to create a soft texture.
    A pavilion-like facade was designed to blur the interior and exterior”The result is an exterior of the shop that looks like a ‘small pavilion’,” explained FOG Architecture. “The red columns, the flat roof resembling overlapping tiles, and the antique style stone seats all contribute to this spatial image.”

    “Retail display is the project’s preset function but the pavilion-like exterior challenges it and adds the possibility for leisure, entertainment and social,” the studio added.
    “The front space not only serves as the connection between the shop and the street, but also creates an experimental space that allows contrasting events happen.”
    The entrance of the shop features a grid wallThe entrance of the shop also features a symmetrical gridded wall. Its design was informed by a skylight in the site’s original building, and creates a light-and-shadow effect that adds animation to the wall.
    Square tiles were selected as the main material of the floor and wall in the waiting area, while graphic striplights were installed between the gaps in the ceiling to match the straight lines of the gridded wall.
    Tailoring elements were used as furnishing throughout the shopFollowing the waiting area visitors enter the main area of the shop, where product display and fitting area are arranged on the west side. Packaging, inventory and other supporting functions are located on the east side.
    FOG Architecture decided to use the tools and accessories commonly used in tailoring as the main design narrative of the shop, in response to the fashion brand’s identity.

    FOG Architecture transforms Beijing courtyard house into fragrance store

    These include red seams, oversized buttons and zipper motifs, and sinuous metallic clothing racks designed to look like sewing thread that add a sense of fun and surprise to the off-white backdrop.
    “The waiting area and the product display area are in sharp contrast in terms of palette, material, shape, and scale — stone versus fabric, light grey versus off-white, straight lines versus curved surfaces — allowing the former to become a transitional area of functions and styles, connecting the interiors to the exteriors, while guiding customer behaviours by shifting views and texture,” the studio said.
    The fitting rooms at the centre of the shop are wrapped in canvas-like materialThe newly polished interior wall is wrapped in a material that resembles a mix of linen and leather and was created by mixing canvas, plush fabric and texture paint.
    The curved outline of the canvas-clad fitting rooms serves as the visual centrepiece of the space.
    Sinuous metallic clothing racks resemble sowing threadAccording to the studio, all finishing materials in the shop were sourced from the fashion brand’s leftover materials from its production line.
    FOG Architecture was founded by Zheng Yu and Zhan Di and has offices in London, Shanghai and Chongqing.
    Previously the studio has completed flagship stores for ToSummer in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Super Seed’s Hangzhou store featuring kinetic display.
    The photography is by INSPACE.
    Project credits:
    Design team: Zou Dejing, Huang Yingzi, Wang Shengqi, Zhunag Shaokai, Zheng Yu, Zhan DiLighting design: Liben Design, Zhang XuConstruction: Shanghai Guqin Construction Engineering Decoration Co., Ltd.Furnishing: Dongguan Lianwei Furniture Co., Ltd.Structure consultant: Tao Xinwei

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    FOG Architecture transforms Beijing courtyard house into fragrance store

    Chinese studio FOG Architecture has turned a courtyard house in Beijing into a flagship store for fragrance brand ToSummer with exposed wooden roof trusses and columns.

    Located within a 500-square-meter Siheyuan complex, the store occupies  a 280-year-old courtyard house that are common in the region.
    The store is located at a restored courtyard house in BeijingFOG Architecture renovated the building to reveal its original architecture, which features triangle-shaped timber roof trusses and series of wooden columns.
    Layers of decorations added on the structure over the years as well as some of the interior walls were removed to expose the core wooden structure of the building as well as to create an open view of the space.
    The studio exposed the wooden roof trusses and columns of the original building”We ‘skimmed’ the building to expose its ‘skeleton’,” said the studio. The resultant ‘column field’ became the visual centre of gravity of the space as well as what defines its outline.”

    “One of the challenges of the project had to do with the building’s old and new functions – more specifically, how to transform this venerable courtyard which has stood for nearly 300 years as a private residence into a commercial space that is neighbourly, communal, and all-inclusive,” it continued.
    Product display areas are arranged around the courtyardsGlass windows were installed at the storefront, inviting visitors on the street to observe the complex layout of the old courtyard house, while glass walls were used to divide the space.
    Product display areas were arranged around three courtyards of various sizes at the ground level of the complex, each connected by a bridging hallway, which the studio described as “symbol of graduating from the past to the present”.

    FOG Architecture creates kinetic display for Super Seed’s Hangzhou store

    On the first floor,  FOG Architecture remodelled the roof space to create a lounge area overlooking the building’s roofs.
    These roofs were restored with the same grey brick tiles from the original building layered in the same density.
    Grey brick tiles from the original building are restoredA rain chain was hung from the roof connecting to a hundred-year-old well of the site. The well-preserved brickwork of the well echoes the delicate crafts of the roof tiles.
    FOG Architecture was founded by Zheng Yu and Zhan Di and has offices in London, Shanghai and Chongqing.
    Previously the studio has completed flagship stores for ToSummer in Beijing and Shanghai. Other recent retail project from the studio include Super Seed’s Hangzhou store featuring kinetic display.
    The photography is by InSpace Architectural Photography.
    Project credits:
    Design team: Zou Dejing, Wu Leilei, Wang Shengqi, Tang Mo, Lei Ronghua, Jiang Lu, Huang Yingzi, Zhuang Shaokai, Sun Yuan, Zhang Xinyue, Chen Yixuan, Zheng Yining, Tao Xinwei, Cao Xiaomao, Hou Shaokai, Xiong Aijie, Khoon Choi (client representative), Zhan Di, Zheng YuProject management: Shen Qianshi (client representative)Lighting Design: Zhang Xu, Liben DesignStructural engineering Consultant: Tao Xinwei, Wang HaiboConstruction drawing: BS DesignContractor: Youlong Jinsheng

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