Press Release
Silver A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Goes to Montage of Melodies School by Xiaoyi Ma
The international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Xiaoyi Ma for interior space and exhibition design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Montage of Melodies School by Xiaoyi Ma, designed for Inclusive Architectural Practice, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category. The award was conferred within the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
Regarding Montage of Melodies School
Montage of Melodies is an interior design project for a K12 international school in Beijing, China. The renovation replaces uniform institutional spaces with five distinct learning communities, including an early learning community, an arts center, a library, a design center and a performing arts center. Each community is planned for a specific age group and learning program, and each has a community center. Movable partitions and loose furniture allow the spaces to be reconfigured. Wood and concrete finishes create a calm and natural ambience.
About Xiaoyi Ma
Xiaoyi Ma is the founder and chief designer of Inclusive Architectural Practice (IAP), a graduate of Tsinghua University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a licensed architect in U.S. and a member of American Institute of Architects (AIA). Before founding IAP, Ms. Ma served as Partner and Managing Principle of KlingStubbins, a renowned architectural design company in U.S. (later as Jacobs). The design she led and participated in has been awarded by American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA). As a designer and a mother of two children, Ms.
Award Record
This recognition makes Xiaoyi Ma a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted in the 2020 - 2021 edition of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Typical entries include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. The awarded interior designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/119591
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/119591
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!119591
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/301400
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.iapractice.com
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Montage of Melodies School
- Function
- School
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Teal, Dark Slate Gray, Silver, Dim Gray and Cadet Blue
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Inclusive Architectural Practice
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Xiaoyi Ma
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2020 - 2021
- Design ID
- #119591
Credits
- Team
- Jiajia Wang, Pengfei Chen, Yan Xia, Yang Ming, Xuejiao Zhou, Chaoyi Meng, Weihui Yan, Renzheng Zhu, Jing Wang, Xiaoang Li, Xuan Zhang and Haining Gu and others
- Image Credits
- Zhi Xia
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Montage of Melodies, a proactive interior design approach to renovate the International School of Beijing, aims to transform this leading K12 school to the cutting edge of learning environment by replacing the over-unified, solemn institutional building with a versatile, dynamic learning center empowered by variety of age-appropriate, program-centered communities. All learning communities are imagined as music melodies, composing a unique montage to activate new order of school environment.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by motion picture montage and music melodies, it is the design intention to create each small learning community with colors, forms and placemaking drastically different from one another and fill it to the existing architectural framework, even though the design logic is consistent: each community, highly open and adaptable, is designed to student age and learning program, with a feature community center, and able to be re-configured to meet ever-changing learning requirements.
- Research
- The first international school established in Beijing, ISB is composed of 1,650 students from EY3 to G12 representing 50 countries. The existing building with over-unified spaces is unable to represent the diversity of students and learning programs that are critical to curriculum innovation. The designers, in collaboration with educators and administrators, have implemented a proactive architectural approach, Montage of Melodies, to transform it to the cutting edge of learning environment.
- Challenge
- It was a privilege to work with ISB educators and administrators whose visions in education complements the tremendous K12 design experience of the design team. The challenge came from the conflict of the limited budget and high expectation from each learning community that refused to compromise. The design team have successfully chosen the most cost-effective, environmental friendly and low-maintenance materials and methods to turn the design intent to the best reality.
- Realization and Technology
- Environmental-friendly, cost-effective and low-maintenance are keys to material selection. Low eaves, small fenestrations, simple forms, modest access colors and a large amount of wood and concrete finishes are utilized to create natural and relaxing ambience, counterbalancing the existing solemn environment. Movable partitions, vertically or horizontally operable, and loose furniture instead of fixed millwork, are employed universally to ensure the maximum flexibility of learning spaces.
- Operation and Interaction
- The project consists of 5 learning communities including Early Learning Community, ES Arts Center, ES Library, MS/HS Design Center and MS/HS Performing Arts Center, each represented by different educators and students, with whom the design team worked closely to establish design strategies together. The collaboration was successful in methods of questionnaires, focus group discussion, design charette, and etc. The designer even worked with kindergartners to observe their feedbacks.
- Project Duration and Location
- The International School of Beijing (ISB) is located in Shunyi District of Beijing, China. The design was commenced in May 2017 followed by construction, lasting for a total duration of nearly three and half years. In September 2020, ISB moved its students and faculties into the newly expanded and renovated facility.
- Specifications
- Site Area: 133,333 m2 Existing Building Area: 54,087 m2 Expansion Building Area: 11,079 Square m2 Architectural & Interior Design Area: 16636 m2 Building Height: 24 m School including: Early Year 3 through Grade 12
- Keywords
- K12, Education, International School of Beijing, Renovation, Montage
