Beyond Material——Space Installations special exhibition area

How materials help architects realize beauty, texture and emotion in creative designs?

CADE will continue to work with young curator Mr. Gao Changjun to design special exhibition of the Possibility of Materials - a space installation exhibition showcasing the unique and creative installations designed by the leading architects using selected special materials. Professor Li Xiangning from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University will be the general counsel, and Mr. Gao Changjun will be curator.

Themed as Shelter, the space will be designed by architects including Shui Yanfei, Zang Feng, Meng Fanhao, Liu Kenan and a 5D team using different materials to present different scenarios and creating a spatial aesthetics via  design and materials. Five unique spatial installations with a strong interactive function that allows visitors to probe the projects and experience them in different dimensions. It will be a special experience to explore the infinite possibilities of space and materials.

 Gao Changjun

Shui Yanfei

Zang Feng

Meng Fanhao

Liu Kenan & Zhang Xu

5D Team

概念海报

The concept of posters

效果图

A rendering of the space installation "Material Possibilities"

The Possibility of Materials will be debuted at the space installation section during CADE  (June 23 - 25, 2022 at National Convention and Exhibition Center Shanghai). The interactive installation allows visitors to understand the project profoundly, experience and touch more dimensions of materials, and explore the infinite possibilities of space and materials.

Instead of using ordinary structural materials most used in engineering practice, the exhibition will select more expressive enclosure materials which are highly recognizable and more flexible to shape the space. Based on the theme Shelter, the architects from five design firms will select one kind of the materials including glass, membrane, stainless steel, ceramic brick and bamboo to compose different shelters with different scenarios.

The Space Installation Exhibition of CADE attempts to re-establish the connections and loop of the pre-feedback. It aims to support material manufacturers to carry out R&D breakthroughs from the design dimension and to allow architects to fully participate in this R&D breakthrough experiment, so that the experiments and innovations with construction materials will become more diversified. One of the basic characteristics of the installation is to emphasize the integrity of the environment and to focus on the interaction between the audience and the project. Focusing on the materials, it may be possible to make the audience have a new look at the traditional or modern architecture.

No.1 A Slice of Transparency

The name of the installation is A Slice of Transparency. Since modernism architects have had a natural passion for transparency. It is transparent while giving rise to all kinds of realistic illusions. The installation connects two pieces of oversize (5.4m*2.4m) ruled surface glass, stabilizing the installation by counteracting the lateral forces of the glass at an angle to each other. The gap between the glass allows the viewer to see the installation from both sides, creating a sense of perspective overlap and a mirror image with the pattern. This illusion comes from the jellyfish feature, which is the only species of marine life with 95% water in its body. It has almost reached the extreme of transparency. The symbolic meaning generated by the pixelated pattern overlay of jellyfish shapes out those different feelings such as floating, wandering, lax, out of focus and so on which is perhaps an expression of counter-experience.

A Slice of Transparency project 3D design

A Slice of Transparency project 3D design

Poster

No.2 Roll & Fold

The name of the installation is Roll & Fold by using the concept of minimal curved surface. Mechanically speaking the shape is the result of a uniform tension and equilibrium.

In order to let the audience have a closer experience, the membrass can be  surface,  facade, roof and even a partition to be touched, leaned on, sat down and even a trampoline. Interactive is the keyword to describe the installation. There are some accessories in the installation, such as a light of three primary colors. When the light is projected on the membrass, people can stand at different angles to feel the connection with the material.

Technical fabric installations Roll  & Fold 3D design 

Technical fabric installations Roll  & Fold 3D design 

poster

No.3 Tornado

Stainless steel has always constituted a safe shelter by its solidity and durability. The design team of this installation - 5D will present a freer and more fluid state of stainless steel in a diametrically opposed way. The flowing form shows the power while  the tangible material shows the shapeless.

The team uses the complex polysurface technology of metal  (stainless steel) to create an irregular spiral structure that can be accessed. The concept is meant to create a surreal shelter and metaphorically with kicking up a storm from ordinary life.

Tornado installation  3D design

Tornado installation  3D design

Tornado installation  3D design

poster

No.4 The Brick^N

The Brick^N intends to retrace the format expression of the bricks, reconstruct the relationship between the inside and outside of the brick material and link the tradition and future of brick. The 3×3×3 meters square installation is created by bricks as the surface forming a seemingly transparent drape. Inside the installation, a set of quadrangular cones with topological changes and up-and-down alignment are continuously reflected by the surrounding mirrors, forming a borderless and infinitely extended space. The overall affection creates a strong contrast with the impression of closed and heavy bricks. The upright quadrangles are made of brick masonry which is a traditional craft construction method.  The inverted quadrangles are suspended in curtain wall construction which is a new technology from the industrialization revolution.

The interaction of the installation is more than viewing and touching, but aims to create an unconventional space experience with the visual impact of the Drost effect. The installation completely subverts the material properties of brick, heavy yet light, traditional yet modern. It also brings out poetic primitiveness and surreal sense like science fiction, leading to a new dimensional space of brick.

3D Design of The Brick^N

3D Design of The Brick^N

Poster

No.5 A Could of Bamboo

By using the resilience of bamboo, the installation expresses material properties and aesthetics of architecture. It presents the space feature between tension and structure by forming a natural and relaxed atmosphere as a whole. The installation can also provide interactions. The design is different from the traditional bamboo art, which combines architectural engineering and bamboo weaving technology, using a variety of techniques to shape a space. People can feel the nature and a sense of balance when they are inside the installation. The design is intended to enhance the harmony and coexistence between human and nature.

3D Design of A Cloud of Bamboo

3D Design of A Cloud of Bamboo

3D Design of A Cloud of Bamboo

Poster

Beyond Material 2020