“I have never seen such a magnificent and beautiful scenery in my life, and I can’t expect to see better.” The famous writer Hawthorne once praised Britain’s most spectacular Roman-style buildings: this represents an era, obsessed with a group of people art form. The master architect Balfours, who was deeply infiltrated by the culture at that time, naturally understood this kind of romance. Just like his “1933 Laochangfang”, if he wrote a “most beautiful building in Shanghai”, it would definitely be on the list.
1933 Laochangfang was built in 1933 by Balfours and completed by Yu Hongji Construction Factory, which was famous in Shanghai at that time. The overall building is round outside and inside, the heights are scattered, the floor without beams, the corridors circle, the layout is like a maze, but the space is in a clear order.
“It can be regarded as a model of the perfect combination of architectural art and production technology,” said Lai Jian’an, where their new work J3 space is located.
J3 space is a diversified rental office space integrating office, business talks, roadshows and exhibitions. Different from the relatively serious big companies, it strives to create a fashionable and relaxed impression: using gray as the screen and color as the painting, Ying Taohong and Minghuang draw the unique meaning of the LOFT cultural and creative space, and depict it with feminine softness, live “joy” “youth.
The interior is designed around the central bar, and the circular circulation on both sides is attached. On the premise that the original building is not damaged, the fresh colors and the simplicity of the cement constitute the purest place in the space.
Grey seating, dark solid wood, poured cement, and some home landscape plants bring modern simplicity to the extreme.
In addition, the new and old wear is also a highlight here. The design of the canopy, façade and floor, doors and windows is also kept unified. The pink wire tube of the canopy, the hand-painted fluid art floor, and the Mondrian-style chandeliers revitalize the entire space and elevate the office style.
“It is full of life and agile and natural, just like the breeze blowing, and you can feel the coolness of being in it invisibly, which is nothing more than a brand-new office experience,” said Lai Jianan.
Design is not a skill, but a sensory ability and insight that captures the essence of things. The fundamental issue to be considered is not the form, the spatial domain image, but the experience. The real design approach comes from an experience. The important thing is not to let the other party understand, but to drive the heart that wants to understand.
The reception area is closely connected with the bar area, and it is also the dividing axis of the entire space. Peach red and bright yellow are used to embellish the space, forming a sharp contrast, giving people a feeling of sudden openness and fashion.
Bare ceilings, unadorned concrete floors, criss-crossing lines, these classic elements give people a feeling of unfinished business.
Adjacent to the bar area are two conference rooms, which are distinguished by the sliding door of the piano keys, which complement each other. Listening to the rhythm of the piano keyboard, I instantly use this wonderful rhythm as an element in the interior space design, breaking the inherent spatial structure pattern, forming a new division and organization, and more importantly, it also meets the needs of different groups of people. different needs.
Large-area glass windows and openable street windows promote the convection of indoor and outdoor air, allowing sunlight and air to flow naturally. You can also enjoy the gifts of nature after work.
This also seems to reflect the value of design invisibly: it can not only highlight practicality, but also form a new way of life under the premise of proper use of elements. From an artistic point of view, it can also create a different aesthetic level.
All the independent offices by the window are divided by glass screens, allowing sunlight and air to circulate naturally, breaking the narrow and long corridors, and creating a transparent freedom.
Hidden in the old building, the historical rings and cultural heritage will naturally give J3 space an innate temperament, which is an aura formed between the present and the past. There is no need to accurately inform the other party, but let the other party enter the established world and discover it by himself; guide “discovery” by “hiding”. Retreat and seek progress, concealment seeks knowledge, and silence seeks solutions.
The open office location satisfies people’s pursuit of free office. The exposed roof, old-style coils, and modern Mondrian-style chandeliers are interspersed in an orderly manner, as if the roof is the background, and the lamp has become a darling, without being too public.
Maybe you know Chinese red, but the layered and poetic color is the Chinese rhyme. Clean and neat lines, quiet gray, simple white, and elegant brown all interact with each other to construct a space, and together they interpret the oriental wisdom that belongs to China.
The curved glass staircase inadvertently guides you into another space, and follows the stairs to enter the negotiation area, overlooking the office area, which is displayed in front of you, and the feeling of climbing is spontaneous.
Lai Jian’an said: “Chinese traditional culture advocates “the unity of man and nature”, pays attention to imitating nature, and the principle of “the sky is round and the place is round” in Feng Shui, which is also the soul of J3 space. The sky is round and the place in learning is to interpret the concept of connecting all things, the Dao to simplicity, and the three births of all things.”
