2024
Immersive Theatre
Shanghai
ADS 12, RCA
Immersive Theatre
Shanghai
ADS 12, RCA
This project pioneers an immersive theatrical space to address the erosion of communal belongingness among China’s youth, stemming from accelerated urbanization, evolving familial structures, and pandemic-induced isolation. Reimagining traditional cultural elements through contemporary leisure paradigms, it cultivates an urban hybrid complex integrating sociocultural functionality with spiritual rejuvenation.
Centered on the iconic Chinese romance folktale ‘The Butterfly Lovers’, the design synthesizes traditional Chinese garden spatial philosophy with interventions at Shanghai’s Caohejing Development Zone Park and transforms the urban green space into a hybrid environment - a tranquil retreat by day and an immersive theater by night. Through scenographic reinterpretations of plot sequences, architectural transfigurations of vernacular tectonic elements, and participatory audience role-playing mechanics, the intervention forges a physical nexus for generational cultural resonance. This constructed heterotopia offers a temporary
The Manor / Teahouse
The Pavillion
The Academy
The nocturnal immersive theater stages *The Butterfly Lovers* folktale along the park's artificial lake, structured in two contrasting acts: comedic vignettes ("Academy Bonds," "Guanyin Temple Vows") transition to tragic sequences ("Forced Betrothal," "Tomb Metamorphosis") within reused settings, amplifying emotional tension through spatial-temporal juxtaposition.
Daytime programming repurposes narrative spaces: the Academy Pavilion hosts chess/calligraphy meditation, while Zhu Manor Teahouse offers tea rituals. Lake-centric pavilions and the long bridges frame contemplative leisure scenarios, merging cultural archetypes with therapeutic urbanism, fostering cross-generational resonance by reimagining heritage as a dynamic social and emotional infrastructure.
The project reinterprets Suzhou garden window motifs to embody the "scenery-shifting" philosophy. Key interventions include Zhu Manor’s prosperity-signifying octagonal windows, the academy’s solemn vertical lattices, and Guanyin Temple’s butterfly screens enhancing drama. Semi-translucent paper screens blur spatial thresholds, evoking a "living painting" ambiance.
Functioning as both theatrical fourth walls and cinematic frames, the windows transform landscapes into daytime stage compositions and nighttime dramatic focal points. Beyond ornamentation, they act as narrative directors—their strategic placement redefines audience-performer dynamics through Eastern spatial framing. This design intelligence bridges classical garden aesthetics with immersive theater, enabling fluid transitions between natural and constructed realities, where architecture orchestrates diurnal shifts between heritage and fantasy.