Press Release
Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Goes to Device of Perception Cultural Center by Yuting Zhang
The international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Yuting Zhang for architecture, building and structure design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Device of Perception Cultural Center by Yuting Zhang. The result belongs to the 2021 - 2022 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 evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Device of Perception Cultural Center
Device of Perception is a cultural center in Mexico City, set between a low rise historic quarter and a high rise commercial development. The center covers about 4500 square meters and holds a lecture hall, a small theater, exhibition space, offices, storage and a cafe. A sunken entrance plaza separates the building from the busy avenue and serves as an extension of the interior stage. Each floor of the short tower is twisted a quarter turn, forming a spiral public gallery with framed views of the city. Reinforced concrete and weathering steel are used.
About Yuting Zhang
Yuting Zhang is the co-founder of Studio RE+N, as an urban designer and architect, practicing in China and the United States. She is a Harvard GSD graduate, a licensed architect, and a LEED-accredited professional. Her design aims at formulating architectural strategy from the urban environment and its ever-changing conditions, delivering a unique identity while respecting the existing urban fabric, historical and cultural context with sensitivity, and specifying distinct human experiences. She won several international awards in architecture and urban design and served as a guest critic in Boston University, Northeastern University and BAC.
Award Record
With this recognition, Yuting Zhang is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
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/138650
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/138650
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!138650
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/324067
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://yutingzhang.myportfolio.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
- Device of Perception Cultural Center
- Function
- Cultural Center
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Light Gray, Dark Olive Green, Gainsboro, Gray and Silver
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yuting Zhang
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2021 - 2022
- Design ID
- #138650
Credits
- Image Credits
- Yuting Zhang
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The site is in between the low rise colonial historic quarter and the high rise commercial development, as an intersection node full of complexity in Mexico City. The cultural center is not only an exhibition space for Mexico City but could also be regarded as the device of perception. The perception is twofold in this project. One is that exterior plaza as the extension of the interior stage, the other is that a spiral path with various scenery frames as the narrative to understand the city.
- Inspiration
- Aldo Rossi's Project the Small Scientific Theatre from 1978 is taken as a starting point to reflect upon the relation between architecture and image, and between object/ prop and space/ stage. The theatrino models made for the project then have borrowed this primary idea from Aldo Rossi to explore how does the Zarco Plaza could be regarded as the extension of the stage of the auditorium. The definition of performers has been extended in the exploration.
- Research
- Explore how experimental miniature stage was used as a space in which objects, 2-‐dimensional drawings and 3-‐dimensional constructions of different scales could coexist in a seemingly unproblematic way, to see how the same spatial base was used to accommodate different scenarios and situations, just by moving props around, adding surfaces and changing backdrops.
- Challenge
- The selected site is adjacent to Zarco Plaza, public plaza alongside the Church of San Judeas Tadeo, near the convent of San Hipolito, located on Reforma Avenue at Avenida Hidalgo, which is an intersection node full of complexity in Mexico City. The design challenges are how to use space to fully interprete the surrounding urban context and the rich cultural and history narratices.
- Realization and Technology
- The cultural center is constructed using reinforced concrete. Informed by “stereotomic” architecture, the board-marked concrete walls of the center are treated as a found object. Corten is another material been introduced to the project. The use of the weathering steel creates an immediate visual link between past, present, and future.
- Operation and Interaction
- The sunken entrance plaza of the cultural center creates a tranquil start of the narrative, separating the cultural center from the heavy traffic La Reforma Avenue. The lower ground floor surrounding the sunken plaza houses the art storage facilities and a cafe, maximizing publicly accessible space continues from the plaza into the lobby of the building. Each floor of the short tower is twisted a quarter turn, which creates a large spiral public gallery as the extension of the interior exhibition space.
- Specifications
- Approximate total area 4500 square meters, with main conference/lecture hall, small theater hall, exhibition space, offices, storage, cafe.
- Keywords
- cultural center, gallery, theater, exhibition
