Yale SOA / LIXIL International University Architectural Competition

Meet Xiao: Born in the ancient Chinese capital arrived by Marco Polo, Xiao naively pursued architecture in the family of physician and mechanic. He has breathed the cold saroma air that fueled Murakami while doodling for Jun Igarashi. He also helped design a house and weld some staircases in suburban Connecticut during his masters study at Yale. He still believes in the power of small things.

This diagram was used as a tool for generating spatial relations.

Meet John: Born in sultry Singapore during the Halley Supernova of '88, John forsook a career in airborne acrobatics for architecture whilst still a toddler. The powers that be had him flown to the Bartlett School of Architecture, the last remaining bastion of his old colonial masters, where he learned to reckon with architecture's missing 'right brain', a theme that continues to guide and order his work. These days, John is best known as chairperson of the bi-weekly Celestial Disco Night in studio, much to the chagrin of the associate dean.

Thoughts on the Theme: Our research focuses on various forms of the threshold, from the wind-break room in Hokkaido to other Japanese traditions including Entryway, Mudroom and Veranda. These in-between spaces mediate the inside and outside, hot and cold. We think harsh cold can be enjoyed through threshold, edge and continuity. They are also capable of both softening and intensifying the relationships to the landscape. We want to create a dramatized, multi-faceted series of interactions with coldness, through a carefully curated sequence of in-between space.

another one bits the dust

some quick and dirty concept models

More Paprika carpet coming your way!