Medieval Rethink

Medieval Rethink – The Abstraction

Medieval Rethink was an opportunity to recreate a medieval environment in a contemporary cultural setting. The narrative and design approach of the cultural centre has been extensively explored previously (for more, please click on the following link Medieval Rethink). Located in the norther province of Guangdong, this Contemporary Cultural Centre will not only showcase the history culture of the 900-year-old village, it will also function as a cultural exhibition centre and will attract thousands of visitors from all over the region.

QUAD studio is a LAB with a passion to explore new approaches in representation. For the rethink, we spent time revisiting and developing the design composition and to look at ways to enhance the narrative.

The original narrative was to capture the essence of the medieval village, this has been achieved in the disposition of objects in the cultural centre. To enhance to idea of capture, we revisited our original façade and asked the question, “what if we were able to capture the village whist maintaining its functionality for solar shading?” To achieve this effect, we explored the notion of abstraction.

The Abstraction
By stripping off the façade, we are left with a picture like frame. What this does is it focusses your eye towards the objects within the frame. If we then superimpose an image of this medieval village the frame, what you are left with a framed skyline of the medieval village. Abstraction occurs when the skyline is then pixelated. Using dark and light shades of pixels, we generate an abstraction with a notion of depth. This abstraction creates a shading device and the multi layering of the façade together with the objects inside the cultural centre creates a rich composition depicting a visual depth beyond the façade.

Recreating the village
Creating a narrative for the cultural centre not only help the design collective to create a very special place, it is also an attempt to capture an emotional response for any individual visiting the place. The medieval village has already manifested itself in the planning of the functional objects, the façade and also in the internal public realm.