Concept design · Preliminary sensor experiments · 2024
Under the Banyan Trees
Local memory & responsive urban furniture
Three urban-furniture concepts inspired by Wenzhou’s banyan spaces, accompanied by preliminary Arduino and sensor experiments.
Original portrait cover
Collective memory beneath the trees
The project draws on play, rest and theatre-going in Wenzhou’s banyan spaces. Structured interviews informed three strands of collective memory: play, rest and theatre-going. Openness and inward gathering guide the three furniture concepts. The source diagram connects spatial types with lightweight materials and proposed pressure, distance, sound and infrared sensing components.
- Everyday activities
- Shared spatial qualities
- Three furniture concepts
Three spatial proposals
The Banyan Curtain, Rong Theater and Nine Pavilions reinterpret shared activities through different arrangements of enclosure, openness and gathering. These images represent design proposals.
Construction and intended response
Lightweight frames, translucent surfaces and movable elements form the proposals. Exploded drawings separate the parts; the sequences below show intended changes in use and form.
Preliminary sensor experiments
Simple Arduino and sensor experiments explored aspects of feasibility. These bench experiments accompany the concepts; the three full installations were not built or field-tested.
The design work includes cultural inquiry, spatial concepts, interaction design, preliminary prototyping and visualization.