With a total area of more than 330 acres, the project is located in the city of Zhengzhou, Zhongmu County, Henan Province. The area presents unparalleled geographical advantages, and has been chosen by the real estate giant Central China Real Estate, and the cinema and television international heavyweight Huayi Brothers, to portray the characteristics of a unique artistic project, promote regional development and cultural construction.
The designer features “cinematic” elements as the main theme on public spaces of the exhibition area. The entire zone is connected through the continuous use of a symbolic language that represents time, allowing the visitor to experience story-like scenes of profound humanistic significance in international production scenarios. Analyzing the theory of the evolution of cinema from a macro perspective, we observe three major developments that form a harmonic resonance between people and space: classics from the past, modern trend, and vision of the future.
Furthermore, these developments explore from a micro perspective the spiritual connection between people and cinema. Film elements are portrayed in an abstract form throughout the project. With a click sound, the spotlights of an old-fashioned movie projector are turned on. Then, a yellow glow is reflected on the façade of the building. Such a scene feels far away in the distance, yet remains so close at hand. Classic symbols are further used to interpret the essence of film, fitting into the atmosphere of the space, and creating a refined and elegant language.
At night, the LED lights on the sides of the artwork are lit to create a flowing scene, bringing to mind beautiful dreams from the past. Time flows in reverse, sound becomes matter… these feelings are conveyed as if the beautiful music of a gramophone was playing around us. “The Gramophone of Youth” consists of two art installations that bring to mind the multiple changes in people through an effect of visual interlacing. The gramophone gently plays, and a halo of light glows up and down, flowing with the rhythm of time.
Time flows in reverse, sound becomes matter… these feelings are conveyed as if the beautiful music of a gramophone was playing around us. “The Gramophone of Youth” consists of two art installations that bring to mind the multiple changes in people through an effect of visual interlacing. The gramophone gently plays, and a halo of light glows up and down, flowing with the rhythm of time. The designers carefully plan every aspect of the project, while the sculptors work thoroughly on every detail of the artworks, adhering to a spirit of excellence, in search for artistic perfection and uniqueness.
Each line of design is creative, every sculptural model is a technological breakthrough. All of this is achieved through a combination of hard work and tempered human emotion that produces an artistic charm out of this world. Today, after more than one hundred and twenty years of cinema history, the spatial and temporal montage at Central China Movie Town blends the classic with the contemporary to produce new ideas and thoughts. Visual and auditory interactions allow visitors to experience scenes from the placid times of the golden age to the trendy mood of contemporary cinema, and projects them into the future.
Modern art appreciation involves more than just visual perception. True appreciation demands emotional resonance with an audience, allowing people to experience and interact with works of art, feeding their imagination to further explore the alluring qualities of creativity. Thus, artworks are placed as carriers of creativity, to assist functionality, and make spaces less reserved and quiet. The area of the project has been divided with careful consideration to maintain the relationship of the architectural landscape. The artistic forms of both closed and open spaces match the environment, a feature not easily achieved in design.
A macro analysis of the logical story of the space highlights key points and minimizes small spaces (depending on how much people take part in the action line). The theme of the story is a spiritual international production and the artworks that match such concept. Regarding aesthetics, I believe they are extremely valuable, as they improve people and society and encourage us to cherish life. Aesthetics are more than just theories about appreciation, but the integration of the individual into a larger community. Indeed, contemporary aesthetics go beyond the simple study of artistic media, to become a whole philosophical culture. Source by Chongqing Basic Element Architecture.
- Location: Zhengzhou, Henan province, China
- Architect: Chongqing Basic Element Architecture
- Design Director: Yanjun Chen
- Designer: Wei Zhong
- Design Manager: Zhichao Deng
- Project Manager: Kexin Chen
- Year: 2018
- Photographs: Xin Na, Courtesy of Chongqing Basic Element Architecture