Ruoyu Wang from Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, Unitec, School of Architecture is a finalist for their project 'Almost Unnoticeable: A Project on Time Existence in Place and Non-Place'.
Judges citation
In designing for the invisible and forgotten in non-spaces, this project explores identity and belonging. Two gritty city sites are chosen for their spatial qualities and given a gentle and poetic design response.
Empathy is the superpower here and the designer privileges humanity by stretching time within a hurried world, encouraging the individual to gradually locate their sense of self. A diversity of users is considered in designs that create opportunities for connection, collision, curiosity and navigation within a safe environment.
This project creates a cure for the inhumanity of transitional spaces. Ripping off the band-aid approach that patches them and applying a heartfelt response.
Project description
To accommodate the pace of modern living, non-places prioritise efficiency at the expense of character. By using the anonymity and equal identity conferred by non-places, this project imagines a series of interconnected spaces to promote different perspectives, initiate conversations and raise interest in cultural diversity.
Architectural opportunities are explored through the concept of time and space as circular and respond to the possibility of joy in the temporary loss of identity.
