studio O composes symphony of blues installation for beijing design week

for the 2015 edition of beijing design week, architecture office studio O has completed a public installation titled the ‘symphony of blues’. comprising 400 graduated fabric panels, the work fills the winter gardens of beijing’s indigo shopping mall, establishing a series of fluid and dynamic spaces that flow seamlessly into one another.

all images © cristiano bianchi / studio O

in order to create a ‘visual symphony’ of colors, studio O selected seven different tones of blue. these tones were then modified through alterations in saturation, brightness and hue, resulting in 88 different color variations. by aligning 400 pieces of fabric, with an interstitial space of 30 centimeters between each element, the design team created a composition of horizontal and vertical relationships — conceived as a dialogue between silence and sound.

a series of fluid and dynamic spaces are established

‘(our) approach started by considering the impressive open space as a ‘blank’ canvas, on which we have to create spaces for future designers to exhibit,’ explains studio O. ‘other important aspects we had to consider were the ‘organic’ and natural flow of people in and out of the exhibition area with defined entries and exits, the different amount of natural light needed for each exhibition area, and the sizes of the installation — considering the proportions of the individual panels seen from the ground and from the terraces.’ see here for designboom’s coverage of beijing design week 2015.

the design team created a spatial composition of horizontal and vertical relationships

an interstitial space of 30 centimeters is present between each element

floor plan indicating the layout of the horizontal panels

diagram illustrating the flow of pedestrian movement

once again, designboom and designboom china are media partners of BJDW. beijing design week 2015 (september 23rd to october 7th) is an annual citywide event co-hosted by national ministries and the municipal government of beijing during the national day holiday every year in beijing. attracting over 2,000 designers, institution representatives and industry experts, over 5 million visitors, and more than 100 accredited news media in attendance every year, BJDW is the largest and most influential platform in asia for display, promotion, exchange and trading of creative designs.