Replacement of IM papers to recreate urban hostages and folded dimensions

A paper site on the IM framework examines air pollution

Paper Space in Chinese Practice IM Design is one of the to install works exhibited at Origin Earth Art Festival 2024 for X’ian Contemporary Design Week. This work is inspired by the designer’s life experiences in recent years, traveling between Taipei, Shanghai, and Beijing. The tour focuses on the issue of ‘home town’ not as a rural area but as a common spiritual weakness in modern people. In the mind of the architect, the world between the highly dispersed ‘town’ and the dense ‘city’ is slowly moving towards complete collapse. As an illustration, he takes us to the end of the book The Problem of Three Bodies; after Singer’s development unleashed a two-dimensional foil on the edge of the solar system, the latter generally falls into a giant two-dimensional image. So, the work starts from this end, starting with one part of paper.

images © Kevin, Zhou Xiaofu, Shine Fu

carving out cracks and folds in a limited area

The design uses ‘paper’ as a medium, and changes from a two-dimensional plane to a three-dimensional space by cutting and folding. The abstract look is very different from the urban environment where it is located, aiming to give the audience a more than ordinary experience. The IM Design team created the spatial dimensions inspired by Le Corbusier’s latest residence, Le Cabanon, measuring 3.66mx 3.66mx 2.26m, an essential lesson in discussing the limits of living space. in it. ‘Internal’ and ‘external’ effects are constantly assessed during the folding process. The folding space is a small part of the urban living space—doors, windows, tables, chairs and beds are perhaps the most enclosed living spaces in the city.

The Paper Space installation by IM Design is on display in Xi’an, China

When folded out, the isolated space collapses and reproduces, and becomes a composite image of many urban living spaces. The suppressed ‘center’ that emerges now becomes a small particle of increasing entropy, a particle of the native state. IM Design mainly finds the difference between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ through scenographic construction. The outer ceiling and floor enclose the ‘inside’ space, while the tables, chairs and beds placed outside define the ‘inside’ dimension. As for doors and windows, the relationship is emphasized with common interior elements such as window sills and coat hooks.

This project examines the lack of spirituality in modern people

paper-thin format with a quiet landscape interior

The interior of Paper Space is filled with straw and pine bark, in contrast to the surreal sensory experience outside. It offers a view of the fragile nature where one can experience a submerged environment of water isolated from the bustling noise of the city, where gentle steps, sunlight, gentle breeze and birdsong. Cutting and folding creates many holes of different sizes, heights and shapes, giving different ideas; from bottom to top, earth, reeds, trees and sky form a series of framed, dreamlike scenes.

The construction combines factory production and on-site assembly, using 2mm thick steel plates to build the main structure. Thin metal plates obscure the elements of the installation structure, hiding joints and construction methods to achieve a paper-thin effect. Although the structure seems thin, the design calculations show that the bed and the chairs placed outside can bear a weight of 150kg, which allows interactive experiences with the audience.

using ‘paper’ as a medium, transforming it from 2D to 3D space by cutting and folding

‘From 1990 to 2023, China’s urbanization rate has increased from 26.23% to 66.16%. Many young people left their villages and entered the big cities, becoming ‘captives.’ The public spaces we choose are meant to help these ‘immigrants’ find a sense of belonging. In this context, public spaces should shed their identity as ‘places of power’ and return to the everyday life of the community as a whole. They must be motivated by collective behavior, which unites separate elements such as nature, society and streets. In this way, community life and collective thought within it provide a way to prevent internal confinement, ultimately turning the ‘city’ into a ‘home’.,” completes the IM Plan.

installation combining factory production and on-site assembly, using 2mm steel plates