ArchShowcase Sanjay Gangal
Sanjay Gangal is the President of IBSystems, the parent company of AECCafe.com, MCADCafe, EDACafe.Com, GISCafe.Com, and ShareCG.Com. Dingji Photography – Huan Asia Art SpaceJuly 21st, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
WIT: A Space for Portrait Photography
“After hearing this concept from the founder of Dingji, as someone who has visited numerous art spaces, I was immediately moved. In a time filled with competition and uncertainty due to the pandemic (during the planning phase), Dingji persists in stubbornly ‘discussing art’—a practice that seems detached from commercial interests yet truly elevates the production of portrait photography to its utmost perfection. This is commendable,” expressed Luo Zhenhua from WIT Design. However, the average customer expenditure is five to ten times higher than that of Dingji’s regular stores, and yet it continues to be widely loved. 01 Space However, is art really so distant from us? It is well known that many of our country’s products have hardware that is on par with top Western brands, yet there is still a gap in terms of pricing. Perhaps what is lacking is a thorough understanding of art and design. Speaking of portrait photography, during the years of my interaction with Dingji, I have never for a moment considered it to be just an ordinary photo studio. Dingji’s artistry is far from being exclusive to a select few. It has consistently and silently provided a photography service that withstands scrutiny, constantly pushing the boundaries of portrait art to its utmost perfection. Within the exhibition hall’s corridors, a scene of mechanical aesthetics unfolds. It seems as if, in the fraction of a second captured by the mechanical shutter sound, guests are frozen and captured, while being processed and uploaded in real-time. Dingji’s artistic output is not akin to the portrait oil paintings of the 16th-century Renaissance, nor the slow development of images by cameras in the 19th century. Instead, it exists within a futuristic realm of silver and metallic textures, where capturing, storing, and online management are unrestricted by technology—never fading, never lost. This eighth establishment, the Huanya Art Space, offers customers a glimpse into the future—a scenario where, in the era of cloud data, they not only serve as photographers for the guests but also act as their portrait stewards. As the artistic portrait stewards, Dingji also provides large-scale interactive installations within the exhibition hall, showcasing the power of their advanced backend technologies. If there were a “Heavenly Photo Studio,” it would most likely be curved in design. The exhibition hall is curved in design—Architect Antoni Gaudí once said, “Straight lines belong to man, while curved lines belong to God.” 02 Value Portrait Consultant + Art Exploration + Homage to Future Imaging Returning to the commercial space itself, after the pandemic, the project has gained a significant number of customers, achieving an average customer expenditure that is 5-10 times higher than that of its regular stores. This transformation has brought about a qualitative change in both the business and brand dimensions. This is a contemporary imaging space that observes and explores the future, reaching people through intuitive design and receiving positive responses. Portrait photography is a combination of a portrait consultant, art exploration, and homage to future imaging within a service-oriented system.
“There was a touching story about a Dingji staff member that really moved me: A customer wanted to have their portrait taken during sunrise. When the customer arrived at the outdoor shooting location promptly at 6 a.m., the enthusiastic Dingji business team offered them tea, and the makeup team had already prepared all the necessary facilities outdoors. The photography team’s instructor, equipment, devices, and lighting were all perfectly set up in advance. The customer’s experience was further enhanced as they melted into the moment, accompanied by the warm rays of the rising sun.” Returning to the commercial space itself, the project has consistently attracted a significant number of customers after the pandemic. At that moment, it wasn’t just a groggy independent photographer welcoming the guests, but rather an entire professional business team working together systematically to pursue artistic outcomes. In the end, a series of personalized, custom-made artistic portraits with a sense of contemporary tension are produced.
Aedas-Designed JOYY Industrial Internet Headquarters ProjectJuly 20th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
The industrial interconnection headquarters of the global leading technology internet company, JOYY Inc., is located in Foshan Sanlongwan, a high-end intelligent manufacturing and innovation gathering area. The project offers a vibrant commercial area as well as a quiet retreat encompassing sequestered offices and serviced apartments laden with green, open spaces. Project: JOYY Sanlongwan ProjectLocation: Foshan, ChinaDesign & Project Architect: AedasClient: Foshan Tuyi Network Technology Co., Ltd.GFA: 443,956 sq mCompletion Year: OngoingDirector: Ken Wai, Global Design Principal“Gleaning from the depth of our experience in the field, we seek to reconcile form, function and cost to create a new landmark for the Sanlongwan area that will become a token of technology and innovation,’’ said Aedas Global Design Principal Ken Wai. With a total planned area of circa 77,716 sq m, the site is divided into two plots. Plot A is surrounded by water and elevated highways, with superb urban display, whereas plot B is a compact area that overlooks a green riverside landscape to its north. The towers are externally connected by a crescent-shaped volume, while the inner center is connected with a peripheral courtyard and corridor. The dense and precise arrangement maximises the landscape view and conveys an open, powerful portal image, forming a corporate display business card. Countering the long, uninterrupted building façade of nearly a thousand metres, the building blocks are constructed in a jagged fashion, engendering a rhythmic outline and a layered development. Premised on the notion of open exchange, the design creates an indoor sharing space at the heart of the office floor for easy access, as well as an outdoor public sharing space. These seamless collaborative areas serve to foster an uninhibited interactive atmosphere, stimulating creativity and innovation. To create a comfortable office environment suffused with natural light, the design introduces wide and deep cornices on the façade, reducing the thermal radiation and minimising the need for indoor temperature calibration. It doubles up as a sustainability feature that contributes to energy saving and emission reduction. Plot B extends the design concept in a compact layout. It contains an apartment tower, an office tower, and four single-family office buildings of differing height; each attached with a retail block underneath. A sky corridor threads through the individual buildings along the river, with concentrated public spaces at the core and courtyards scattered around. Coupled with the green roofs and the sky gardens introduced in the towers along the street, the design creates a multi-dimensional green urban landscape, forming a high-efficiency and vibrant office park. Web resolution images can be downloaded here: https://ftp.hk.aedas.com/?ShareToken=1F17D1AEB337085890D0664D8ADDD503B10226AA About AedasAedas is the world’s only local and global architecture and design practice driven by global sharing of research, local knowledge and international practice. Our 1,100 creative minds with design studios across the globe create world-class design solutions with deep social and cultural understanding of the communities we design for. We create world-class design solutions that are tailored to the needs of cities and communities around the world. LDH High-end Japanese Restaurant: SUSHI ZEN • BeijingJuly 19th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
Located at No. 33 Wusi Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, the Japanese banquet restaurant was renovated from a 200-year-old building set up in the Republic of China and provides Japanese banquets with a history of 300 years, facing the Forbidden City, a 600-year-old imperial palace. As its designer, Daohua mainly highlighted the oriental aesthetics and integrated the eastern and western cultures in the spatial design of the restaurant. Guests can feel certain culture and tradition from every dish they enjoy at every moment when they stay at the restaurant. Cloud Café, on the first floor of the building, spread a life atmosphere for SUSHI ZEN on the second floor.” People can experience a fused cultural and artistic conception.” Behind the doors and windows with diamond-shaped lattices is a cavernous cigar room with brick grating sills and a lighting fireplace. The welcoming counter, on the second floor, is created with natural marble with firelight lines, and looks like a fire providing a warm and tipsy feeling.
The paper window shimmer penetrating through, the stone-like rough wall, the wabi-sabi bryophytes in the corner, and a small flowing “mountain stream” complement each other. Guests feel as if they arrive at a mountain temple after climbing.
All the moldings and moving lines converge together in front of the table in the center of the space. A large hinoki table combines with round chairs, cloth curtains, and shadow windows here. Suzuki Ohki, who was titled Asia’s Top 10 Chef in 2017, cooked delicacies here. Central Dining Area With special tools, the chef sculpts precious and cooks ingredients which are transported across the mountain and sea into seasonable delicacies suitable for spring, summer, autumn, or winter. Guests can enjoy delicate delicacies quietly in such a ceremonial area. The black steel and the mirror reflect each other and bring an infinite sense of spatial extension. The interspersed dark and light colors add more visual layers and create a warm balance. Separate Dining Room There are four separate elegant dining rooms, named Chuan, Ze, Song and He, which symbolize mountain, river, green pine, and green cypress, respectively. Every window was produced with carved hollow pine and maple patterns. The grass-flower road at the corner and the full moon shape on the wall create a broad spacious sense. The courtyard is enclosed and closed as is typical in Beijing. When you walk into it, you can find a world that seems to belong to you specially. Its door, house, screen wall, veranda, grass, trees, flowers, birds, fish, and stone scenery all show tranquility and warmth. The ultimate goal of design is to connect human and nature. The courtyard forms a separate world at SUSHI ZEN. Along the winding wooden walkways on the roof, guests can arrive at the sunken courtyards on the four sides. They are surrounded by maple and bamboo trees, and interspersed with irregular flagstone paths. Guests can have drinks heated with fire here. Terrace The turret of the Forbidden City shows the majesty of the royal architecture, with its Xieshan gable and hip roof where there are horizontal and vertical eaves, exposed or hidden, and well-arranged eaves corners, high or low. The roof courtyard and the Forbidden City face each other every dawn, noon, and dusk. It is at such times that man and nature are connected exactly. We can listen, smell, watch and feel at these moments.
Wentz Headquartes Designed by Marina MiotJuly 19th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
Designed by Marina Miot, a Brazilian architect from Rio Grande do Sul, the restoration project of an original industrial pavilion from the 1940s in the city of Caxias do Sul was conceived to house Wentz’s new headquarters. The pre-existing architecture was preserved and the building’s original walls and frontages maintained. In the internal space, large white volumes and glass walls were created for better division, fluidity and full use of natural light, crossing the limits between external and internal, reducing excesses and connecting the space to the contemporary essence of the brand – silent, natural, simple and casual.
KOSÉ Corporation Renovation project for cosmetics makerJuly 14th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
This renovation project for cosmetics maker KOSÉ Corporation entailed a remodeling of the firm’s 1,000m² office space on the 7th floor of a high-rise building in the bustling Nihonbashi neighborhood of Tokyo. Its completion also coincided with KOSÉ’s 75th founding anniversary. Facility name: KOSÉ Nihonbashi Office Luxurious Waterfront Living at Marina Gate Towers by AedasJuly 13th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
Project: The Residences at Marina Gate Designed in 2015, The Residences at Marina Gate project is a prestigious residential development that comprises three high-rise towers, two residential and one hotel serviced apartments managed by Jumeirah Group International, all offering stunning views of the Marina and the Arabian Gulf. It is located at the world’s largest artificial marina – Dubai Marina, which is a vibrant tourist hub and a dynamic neighbourhood with many unique residential towers. The Marina is a bustling waterfront community with a mix of residential, commercial, and entertainment options. Facing the Arabian Gulf and the Marina, The Residences at Marina Gate enjoys one of the best views within Dubai Marina. The project offers a variety of living options to its residents, including studios, 1-5 bedroom apartments, serviced apartments, penthouses and over 30 villas. The three towers range from 52 to 64 storeys that stand above a cluster of an 8-level podium with retail at lower levels. The inspiration for the design comes from the sleek and modern aesthetic of Dubai, as well as the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. The architects aimed to create a sense of openness and connection with the environment, while also ensuring a high level of privacy and exclusivity for the residents. The Residences at Marina Gate, designed in 2015, is a prestigious residential development in Dubai Marina. With three high-rise towers offering stunning views, the project seamlessly blends sleek design with the natural landscape. The interconnected terraced podium enhances convenience and waterfront usage. Each tower boasts luxurious amenities, making it a symbol of luxury living in the vibrant Marina community. About Aedas Studio 804 – A Modern sustainable house in Pinkney Neighborhood 2023July 12th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
The house is on the 400 block of Indiana Street in the Pinkney Neighborhood, one of the oldest in the City of Lawrence. The site was previously developed, but the building and its foundation had been removed and the lot was very overgrown. It is adjacent to the flood zone with a small portion encroaching on the building site. Studio 804 saw potential in the location despite the challenges. Because of the easement, there is no alley running behind the lot like there is in most of Lawrence. The flood zone becomes an extended, forested backyard that feels secluded for being in the heart of a neighborhood. The neighborhood is among many valuable living amenities. Just a few blocks away Downtown Lawrence pulses with vibrant shopping, dining, and cultural experiences. Also nearby is the Kansas River which is a National Water Trail with its waterfront parks that extend up to downtown. There is also access to the Lawrence Loop bike route that runs for 22 miles through and around town. As well as being a pedestrian friendly neighborhood, there is easy access to the city bus system which expands the possibilities of travel around Lawrence without a car. The scale of the house and its gabled forms fits the neighborhood. On the main level, one enters an open living, kitchen, and dining area. A hallway to the backdoor, across from the garage, is lined with storage and houses a laundry, mechanical room, guest powder room as well as a mudroom. At the end of the hallway is a bedroom suite with a full bath and walk-in closet. The bedroom opens to the east to the quiet tree canopy behind the house. At the top of an open staircase from the living area is a second bedroom suite. A flexible space that adapts to the varying privacy needs of different living arrangements and the different stages of people’s lives. It has a full bath and a cozy loft ambience. There is a small self-sufficient accessory dwelling on the second floor above the detached one-car garage. It is accessed through a private exterior entry. This means even moreliving flexibility for the homeowner as well as the opportunity for rental income while supporting the effort to increase residential density in the heart of town which helps mitigate urban sprawl. The house is expected to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The highest certification level possible under the U. S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) standards for sustainable practice. Studio 804’s 2023 project aligns with the long-term mission of the City of Lawrence to support sustainable development as part of creating sustainable community for the future. Part of this effort is analyzing local economic and demographic trends and strategically adapting. In recent years, both the City of Lawrence and Studio 804 have recognized trends in the housing market of Douglas County. The population is growing at a high rate, while the average household size is dwindling and availability of property in the existing city limits is diminishing. Community engagement during city study found that residents are open to seeing smaller lots and houses as well as accessory dwellings that infill a neighborhood and address the housing shortages as well as reducing the need for the city to expand. Moving forward, the City of Lawrence plans to use this data to inform policies and goals in the updated Horizon 2040 plan SUSTAINABLE FEATURESLEED PLATINUM EXTERIOR SKIN: CONTROL LAYERS: WINDOWS & DOORS: INTERIOR FINISHES: ELECTRICAL & APPLIANCES: ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT:The detached garage with an ADU above provides additional storage and rentable living space and promotes urban density. ELECTRIC CAR CHARGER:The garage is wired for electric car charging. STORMWATER MANAGEMENT:The driveway is paved with a permeable surface to minimize storm water runoff that can often overwhelm city systems and the river to which it drains and cause flooding. Instead, the water saturates the ground and replenishes the water table. On the eastern edge of the site, a rain garden will retain and absorb runoff from the roofs. THE STUDENTS OF STUDIO 804’S CLASS OF 2023
PHOTOGRAPHY Finish photos: © 2023 Corey Gaffer, Corey Gaffer Photography, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The remaining photography and graphic content are courtesy of Studio 804 Studio 804, Inc. STUDIO 804 Studio 804 was founded in 1995 by Dan Rockhill, Studio 804 is a non-profit organization and a full-year design studio for graduate students that finds its momentum at the intersection of contemporary architecture’s most topical concerns: sustainability, affordability and education. The studio has produced 27 projects to date, including 15 buildings that have been certified LEED Platinum, one Gold and three that are Passive House-certified. These projects have gone on to become spaces for both private and public use and engagement; they are spaces for leisure and spaces for learning. Contact: Dan Rockhill Studio 804, Inc. Brainium Studios by Hacker ArchitectsJuly 11th, 2023 by Sanjay Gangal
Brainium asked Hacker to design a modestly branded workplace that created a welcoming and visually pleasing experience while leaving room for the unexpected. The desired qualities were not entirely different from the studio’s own work: their game apps are unique, intuitive, and engaging, with incredible attention to detail, all for the goal of an amazing experience for the player. An Expanded and Transformed Audubon Aquarium and InsectariumJuly 10th, 2023 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: EskewDumezRipple
The Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium will unveil its newly renovated and expanded building to the public on June 8, 2023, following a transformative $41 million building project. Along with this new program, the scope included a crystalline-configured entry identifying the relocated main entry lobby and ticketing area, a new lobby grand stair and glass bridge, re-envisioning of the existing Mississippi River Gallery into a bayou experience, a refreshed Amazon Exhibit Gallery, introduction of a new Top-of-Gulf tank experience, two new gift shops, and the reversal of the exhibit flow experience throughout the aquarium exhibit spaces. Read the rest of An Expanded and Transformed Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium Xiamen Winland International Financial Center in China by FarrellsJune 29th, 2023 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Farrells Located on the east coast of Xiamen, a well-known port city in Fujian Province, China, the Xiamen Winland IFC, covering approximately 500,000 square meters of area, is the largest mixed-use development in the core of the emerging seafront financial zone Cross-Strait Financial Center. The promising new financial district boasts mutually enhanced station-and-city TOD development, diversified and high-density business scenes, maximised greenery and sea views, as well as ample public spaces.
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