Movable type printing is one of the four famous inventions of ancient China. With the development of time and progress of science and technology, it has already faded away in people's lives.
Our design client, Cha Yan Yue Se (the sexy tea), is a brand of "Modern Chinese Tea", which takes on responsibility for passing on Chinese traditional culture. We bring unique products to the audience, which will also serve as a carrier and medium for cultural transmission and will be widely spread among the audiences. The client hopes to convey and present the ancient culture and wisdom to young people through a contemporary design language.
The history of movable type printing can date back to more than 1,000 years ago. For people in nowadays, their basic understanding of it mainly focuses on features such as small squares, characters, engraving and flexible combination. The first problem we had to solve was that of the material, which is also the design medium.
Green brick is a traditional building material that can accommodate the infinite combinations of a single geometry. This coincides with the audiences’ basic perception of movable type printing. As the brick material is thicker and more rigid, we chose to balance it with wood. The log material is soft and its color can be chosen according to the amount of bricks used.
In terms of the design language of the space, we made a layered arrangement. The first floor is the product sales area, the second floor expresses the flexibility of "movable type printing" through the unity and variation of the blocks, and the third floor enables audiences to experience the fun of “word”, "engraving" and "printing" through interactive devices. On the fourth floor, we have set up a "self-discipline door" and a "mini-booth", which not only presents "movable type printing", but also enriches the audiences’ experience in viewing the exhibition.
About 80,000 bricks were used for the entire project, with each brick being removed from an old- abandoned house. These bricks were used for over 80 years on average, and have been exposed to the sun, wind, and rain for about a century, which makes each one naturally different and distinctive.
IAI Interior Gold Award
Winners：Hunan zero One Three Architectural Decoration Design Co, LTD
China
