Dream Glow Pavilion | Daxing Jizi Design

Glow Shenzhen 2021, with the curatorial subject “Searching for the Glow of the Future,” aims to integrate light art into urban life and release the energy of urban public space. Daxing Jizi has been invited to show their “Dream Glow Pavilion” architectural piece at the Shenzhen Universiade Center’s Glow Shenzhen’s Longgang area. The Universiade Center is approximately 990 meters broad from east to west and 1050 meters long from north to south, with a total area of 520,000 square meters, and serves as a significant exercise and recreational facility for the neighboring inhabitants. Throughout our study, we discovered a few small-scale structures for the public to rest in; inserting a modest, fun place inside the large center became our first design aim.

© Chao Zhang

Dream Glow Pavilion’s Design Concept

We selected to locate the artwork in the Universiade Center’s central grass space. Although the green area was not intended for relaxation, residents have used it as a mini-park. When the weather is nice, people bring blankets and lunch on the grass, and the kids enjoy playing on the grass slope. We aim to serve the public effectively via our work, to provide entertainment for youngsters playing nearby, and to provide a pleasant environment for individuals strolling at night. During the show, it may also be used for small events like workshops, lawn concerts, and creative markets.

© Chao Zhang

Complete transparency. We developed a 360-degree open area with a cluster of 12 colored semicircular lights softly enveloping the top better to integrate the work into the public’s leisure life. We link the floor of the pavilions with the grassy area in a fluid fashion by meticulously managing the height difference so that residents enjoying fun in the landscape zone may easily approach the inside of the pavilions. The pavilion cluster draws emphasis to the center green space. Like a beacon, it invites people from all directions after dark to relax and enjoy the space. The pavilions have an open design with an accessible ramp on one side of the large floor, allowing persons with strollers to enter the space quickly.

© Chao Zhang

Chinese lanterns with mushrooms. The structure of traditional Chinese lanterns inspired the design of the pavilions. We adopted the frame of conventional bamboo lanterns and used the five classic Chinese hues of turquoise, soft yellow, violet red, mandarin red, and jet black in the design after much research. The nice-round pavilions were designed to imitate our cherished traditional Chinese lanterns while also evoking the beautiful attraction of exquisite animals in nature by imitating wild mushrooms from a specific perspective. Colored, transparent, and matte soft films cover the pavilion domes.
The designers intended the material to have a paper-like texture and to enable light to pass through; its waterproof nature also allows the pavilions to be used as a temporary shelter on wet days.

© Chao Zhang

The light-transmitting material shields part of the sunshine during the day, maintaining the comfort of the space beneath the pavilions; after sunset, the illuminated pavilions release mellow and multicolored light, making it a notable public place at night. The pavilions provide inhabitants with a place to engage with light and nature, a place to rest and meditate, and a natural setting for small gatherings. People flock to the magnificent pavilions on winter days with lovely sunshine to have a tranquil and pleasant time.

© Dalian Zhang

Space for Face-to-Face Social Contact. As social media infiltrates our urban lives, virtual spaces, and fragmented information keep us cooped up while the things that unite us and bring us together fade into insignificance. We seek to convey a multidimensional knowledge of how we perceive reality and nature via the work and to urge people to experience real life not just with their eyes but also with their bodies and thoughts.
We hope that people will take a break from their electronic gadgets and visit the pavilions to appreciate the delicate variations in light and shadow generated by the pavilions and surrounding trees and watch the pleasant ambient atmosphere and the youngsters at play. Using the human-nature relationship as a starting point, the project creates a place for in-person social engagement to study, explore, and empower our shared future.

© Chao Zhang

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