Qian Cao

I am from China and have a five-year architectural background at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

I came across this design opportunity on my way from architecture to interior design, so in this design I wanted to create an interesting mix of vertical architecture, interior design and exhibition planning.

In the last work of my student days, I hope that everyone's childhood can be well preserved, and trigger people's thinking about childhood and growth, and regain the original intention of fun and play.

Education:

Royal College of Art, Interior Design, 2020-2022

Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Architectural Design, 2014-2019

"Play" is our innate instinct. Toys, as the carrier of "play", accompany us to grow up, and help us perceive the world, think, and generate interests and hobbies in the process of play. There are profound social meanings behind toys, but they also contain the purest and most primitive fun, so I designed this vertical museum about toys.

The building acts like a toy box, but also acts as a playable contraption in itself.

The main audience of the exhibition is the family group, and the two audience groups of children and parents with a larger age range visit together. In this building, I set up four exhibition halls with different toy themes vertically, likening them to kingdoms and giving them playful names. I designed the exhibition hall to be more immersive, allowing "toys" and "play" to be reflected in the exhibition hall at the same time, making it an exhibition with more vitality and game experience, rather than a simple space container for display. For the audience group of children, compared to passively watching the exhibition, this makes it easier for them to use their imagination, engage in and participate in the exhibition, and interact with the space and content.

For those adults or young people, I hope my exhibition can arouse their enjoyment of "playing", temporarily escape from the world full of rules and constraints, and fiddle with interesting interactive devices according to their playful instincts. The four exhibition halls are also arranged vertically according to the time logic, which also implies that the roles and functions played by toys have changed with age, triggering people to have a deeper understanding of childhood, time and growth.

Concept collage

Vertical logic – I transformed the spatial logic into the content of the exhibition. According to my research, toys have different effects on children in different periods, from first perceiving the world through toys, to later generating interest, gender differences, and intellectual development. I use this to categorize the toys into four themes. The bottom layer connects the body and the material world, and the upper layer connects the mind and the spiritual world. And gave them more childish names to let children be mor

Building appearance – This is the street view of the building. It itself is like a giant toy standing on the streets of London. People can stick their heads out from the inside and walk on the volumes outside the façade. The rich colors and lively appearance attract people to come in and explore.

Entrance hall – Entering the building, the first thing you see is a huge planet. There are four continents on it, which gives viewers a rough idea of what's coming next and lets them start imagining themselves in a whole new world. There is a stage in the center of the building where you can watch the puppet show.

Exhibition hall: Friends wood – This is what you can see in friends wood. Audience will imagine that the exhibits have become their own friends, playing hide-and-seek in the woods. In such a dim environment, people can temporarily forget their identity and become any character they want to be.

Exhibition hall: Machine land

Exhibition hall: Building world – This is a world built with building blocks. The audience can look up to see floating building blocks, as well as a booth built with building blocks. Children can even hide in huge building blocks to play with toys....

Exhibition hall: Exploration zone – With clean and clear colors and glass materials, this space is more like a science laboratory that requires meticulous research. Here, the audience becomes a scientist, exploring the underlying science of educational toys and learning while having fun.

Structure

Building section

Plans and route

Building axo

Storyboard

Graphics

Showcase detail 1

Showcase detail 2

Showcase detail 3

Qian Cao

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Royal College of Art