Within the industrial town of Xigu, Lanzhou, Gansu in Northwest China a new project by Mindd Design, is inspired by the night sky often blocked out by the developed city’s structures.
Using contemporary space and design aesthetics, the project introduces “starlight” into the room with its simple, open and modern appearance. With an urban aesthetic barrier, it isolates itself from the secular life. While bringing peace and harmony to people within the space.
The designers have injected refreshing fashion charm into this region which boasts a long history and profound culture.
Located in the centre of the lobby, Time Capsule connects with water under it and with a mirror above it. The square and circle mutually supplement and the dynamic and static overlap, showing perfect oriental aesthetics. Time Capsule is a giant installation of art at the entrance. Like amber, it sealed Lanzhou’s featured plants, animals, and cultural symbols inside, to resist fatigue with the beauty of the past and the present.
Not limited to concretely expressing “starlight”, Mind Design echoed the theme with the help of the “starlight” of the art installation and non-opaque stone with spots. From the lobby, the space is constantly changing, the starry sky is constantly expanding, and the value of life is constantly iterating.
According to the development team, “the building is the carrier of the landscape and the interior, namely, a box. The interior and landscape materialized ‘starlight’.”
The building, landscape and interior were integrated into an inseparable whole as the ‘starlight’ that lights up Xigu together. The closed facade came from the essence of multifaceted thinking. People can keep away from the hustle and bustle of a common life here.
As a key node of the project and the centre of the space, the sand table area connects the lobby, model room and gallery, and also the social fields such as booth, water bar area and consultation area. The designers interpreted “starlight” as “the delicate colours produced by shade and light”.
The interior is open and flowing. People complete their self-declaration of the value of life in such suddenly bright environment. Starry Metropolis is just like the Peach Blossom.
As an ideal place, Starry Metropolis continues to write the feeling and longing for this city. Flowing art twists and turns in the space as if the eternal melody congeals here, and infuses a different kind of natural true interest into Lanzhou, an inland city.
“As a northern city, Lanzhou has a tough winter. On the one hand, the treatment of a warm tone is a response to the geographical culture, and on the other hand, it can produce a warm and bright psychological effect, driving away the chill atmosphere in autumn and winter here.”
The transition of times is showed in the intersection of space. The past and possible future of Xigu are presented in the form of image or model, to open up the imagination of high-end dwellings.
Taken from those of the land and the Yellow River, the pale brown colours in different colour gradations constitute the main tone of the social space of Vanke • Starry Metropolis. The fibre-optic light passes through the ceiling and produces flares which are also “starlight”…The transparent and open building is wrapped in natural starlight, reshaping the landscape and environment, virtual or real.
The non-opaque stone wall looks like sand-containing air, and has the rough and primitive beauty after long weathering, just like the sense of profound vicissitudes and history in northwest China. On this background, the wavy mountains grow freely, repeating the lofty sentiments of “the Yellow River flowing around the mountains” and “the deep mountains connecting with the broad desert”.
Starting from Vanke · Starry Metropolis, the “starlight” will gradually shine at Xigu. With housing as the pioneer, the increasingly perfect supporting services such as commerce and art will slowly develop a living picture that meets international standards and cutting-edge trends of thought.
Images by Zhang Qilin via Mindd Design
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