Individual Work
Location: Home, Wuhan, China
This project began during the earliest stage of my design journey—before formal instruction, before theory. It was shaped by emotion, intuition, and the need to make something I couldn’t find elsewhere.Growing up in a tense household, I longed for solitude but had no access to privacy. My room had no lock. There was no space that truly felt like mine. One day, I noticed a blind spot in my home’s layout—a narrow, hidden corner between the living room and bedroom.
That overlooked gap became the foundation for THE REFUGE, a self-initiated, two-level shelter that offers emotional retreat and soft connection.The structure responds to sunlight, weather, and mood. When I want to hide, it closes; when I want to reconnect, it opens. Its petal-like form is suspended by slings and pulleys, mimicking the behaviour of sunflowers, which follow the sun only when young. As they mature, they stand still.
This metaphor guided my process: I stopped adjusting myself to external expectations and started growing toward my own light.This project was not taught to me. I worked through trial and error—sketching, failing, testing stretch and weight by hand. It emerged through lived experience, not technical instruction.
THE REFUGE is not just a structure; it is a physical response to the emotional conditions of growing up. It represents how personal need and silent love can drive design long before professional skill.
Considering this project, I hope it is a hidden existence that would not be discovered bymy mother. When choosing the location, I pay special attention to the shading problem.
Ascan be seen from the interior floor plan, there is a blind angle in the middleof the balcony between my bedroom and the living room, just enough space forme, so the location is determined here.
Sunflowe rno longer follow the sun when it grows up. Itis very similar to my desire of an independent life after adulthood , no longerrely on my "sun" life.
According to the sunshine characteristics of sunflower, devices are set to be controlled through weather and mood.According to the sunshine characteristics of sunflower, devices are set to be controlled through weather and mood.
Iuse soft materials, because of the characteristics of flowers and I expect itto be a warm place.
The final selected material is determined by the simulation of different materialsand the calculation of load-bearing tension.
