Planting a seed

A ball-like bamboo structure with a split that serves as its entrance and a central light hanging from the top attracted many viewers' attention. According to the design team, the ball resembles an empty heart and the bamboo chips, in their disorder, are like messy hair－just what students majoring in architecture look like after staying up late to do homework. It is said that architects are among the professionals who sleep the least.

The breach in the spherical design appeared by accident, but they built on the idea and turned it into a unique and fun design, Chen Du, one of the team members who created the work, was quoted by China Science Daily as saying. The entrance seems like a gate to Shangri-La where visitors can enter and lie down in the curved space.

Another work, named Winding River and Flowing Mountain, connects bamboo tubes like nerve tissue, so that visitors can walk through it, appreciating the beauty of its geometric design.

Wang Ruofei, from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, says the team drew inspiration from an ancient Chinese drinking game, qushui liushang, in which intellectuals would sit by a little winding creek and make a cup float on it. They then took turns to drink and chant poems when the cup floated to them. It reflects the free-spirited, yet elegant, lifestyles of ancient Chinese intellectuals.

Yeon Woo-kim, a participating student from Kyung Hee University in South Korea, says it was inspiring to see other designs. She plans to return for next year's competition.