Labyrinth

It is said that the view-angle coverage of six years old children is only about 60 percent of adults in horizontal and vertical direction. If multiplying these two numbers, area ratio would be under 40 percent. If furthermore in consideration of the obstacles that are caused by low viewpoint, the ratio would be much lower. Therefore, knowing space which is based on children’s perspective is completely different from adults’ senses. And children know this world by using views which are totally different from adults.

This project is a children’s club which is set up in Shanghai by a children’s clothing brand “marco&mari”, aimed to develop China’s market. This “children’s club” includes more than ten kinds of functions: clothing store, beauty salon, dancing room, theatre, cafe, playroom, library, children’s classroom and so on.

Because the theme of “arch” which was previously used in Marco&Mari in Beijing successfully interpreted the properties of this children clothing brand, therefore, we further developed it into a maze. Taking advantage of ceiling height of 4.6meter, we make a huge dome which is surrounded by alternate bending wall surfaces in order to divide different functional areas. The wall surfaces which continuously transform and use four kinds of different curvatures play a bearing role of supporting the two floors, and at the same time, meet more than ten kinds of functions’ different requirements for dimension, form, openness and closure performance and create different sense of space. And at the same time, every curved surface segments many space factors, such as clothing show, stair, reception and so on by taking advantage of height change in vertical direction.
This design concept of “circular arch” is used in various spaces, such as furniture of clothing store, decoration of round ceiling, display shelf throughout bending wall.

Surrounded by numerous circular arches of different sizes, the space which is sometimes small or big, and sometimes is wide or narrow, is a winding path leading to a secluded place and every part has different impression. For children, the more than ten kinds of different functions seem to be separated but actually they are integrated. At the same time enjoying them, children, just like Alice in Wonder Land when she enters into maze, fully enjoy the rich experience that is brought by space in the unusual psychedelic world.