DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
Archermit : Because the project is surrounded by the National Giant Panda Forest Park, pandas and their living environment are the design inspiration. Through our own research on the methodology of imagery architecture, we present a sci-fi rural architecture.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
Archermit : The project aims to become a landmark building in this area, with pandas and local landscape elements as its design imagery. The main functional space has been elevated, and the elevated floor serves as an area for surrounding people's activities, improving the utilization rate of the site.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
Archermit : We have informed the owners and local government of the award news, and they will promote it on different media platforms. We will also continue to follow up on the usage of subsequent projects to improve our future designs.
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
Archermit : Almost at the moment of seeing the venue, I had a rough idea, and then visited the venue multiple times, experiencing the lighting, surrounding nature, and people's activities from morning to night. Later, I added the idea of starry sky, and the plan was completed in about a month.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
Archermit : This is a design commission. The local area is an important entrance to the Giant Panda National Forest Park and also the main entrance to more than ten villages. We need to balance the display of pandas and their living environment, as well as the living habits of the local people, and even involve this project in their lives.
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
Archermit : The project has been completed and the owner and local government have started using it.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
Archermit : Before each design, we would first visit the project site and spend a lot of time studying the connection between local nature, culture, and project functions, before deciding whether to accept the project design commission. What attracts us to this project is the complexity of the natural environment, functions, surrounding population, and project objectives.
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
Archermit : Our designs all come from nature, so perhaps nature is the teacher of our project.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
Archermit : We hope to make some breakthroughs in this place, which are related to the local culture but not to the local architecture. There are too many newly built rural buildings in China that are related to the local residential architectural style, but there is no in-depth study of the site and what kind of architectural form the local area needs.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
Archermit : The site is located between the magnificent landscape of Longmen Mountain, we took the nature of Longmen Mountain as the inspiration for the design and came up with the architectural image of “Woyun”. It means lying high in the cloud and mist, and means “returning to seclusion”. “Woyun Platform” expresses Archermit thoughts and explorations on “people's inner longing to return to nature, nature and tradition”.
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
Archermit : We applied our own methodology of imagery architecture to design this project.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
Archermit : We have a professional lighting team and construction team who have contracted with us.
DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
Archermit : Realized the starry sky effect of building overhead floors.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
Archermit : We have used many traditional materials to combine lighting to form new methods, such as the starry sky effect of the overhead layer. Initially, we wanted to form it through direct shooting of the spotlight, but the effect was poor. Later, we found that the effect was related to the thickness of the punching plate and the size of the hole. Therefore, we conducted multiple sample tests with the manufacturer and ultimately chose the current presentation method.
DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
Archermit : Different user groups need relatively independent spaces in the same site and building, but we do not want to present this space solely through isolation. Therefore, we integrated elements of local mountains and water into the building, and water is connected and circulated from top to bottom in the building. This issue is something we spent a lot of time pondering.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
Archermit : We want to provide a method for similar projects around the world, where rural architecture not only needs to meet the needs of homeowners, but also needs to be connected to the lives of local people. It can not only create a style similar to local architecture, but also excel in blending with a larger environment.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
Archermit : We are improving the Imagery Architecture Theory guided by Eastern thinking logic, which is a methodology on architectural design practices and aesthetics. This project is undoubtedly an important one that strengthens our research direction.