hospital for broken things

HANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL DESIGN WEEK, CHINA

The studio involved the design of an installation in a traditional shop house on Southern Song Imperial Street in the Nansong district of Hangzhou. As the project was located within a site of significant cultural heritage the students were asked to carefully consider issues surrounding cultural and environmental sustainability. As a response to the theme of ‘healing’ outlined by the curators, the design responded to the physical fabric of the existing building and featured works that were produced through the recycling, reuse and reconfiguration of found and broken objects.

The concepts of the ‘hospital’ and the ‘patient’ were used as a way of intertwining ideas concerned with the realm of medicine and with the nature of contemporary lifestyles. Through the adaption and re-use of objects and materials the students were asked to comment upon the issues brought about by the nature of modern technology and the consumerism that accompanies it. Within this combination of concepts it was intended that the collective work of the students and the configuration of the installation would offer a reflective experience for the visitor, a moment to consider the nature of the world and question their role in taking care of it.

*Highly commended - Australian Interior Design Excellence Awards, Event Design category, 2015