Track - INK

City University Malaysia

Project idea

The "Track · Ink" project is located in the old factory area of Luoyang Tianxin Cultural Industry Park in the old urban area of Luoyang City, Henan Province, China. Its predecessor was the Luoyang Construction Machinery Factory of Sinomach Heavy Industry. The original red brick walls and steel structure frame exude a strong industrial charm. During the renovation process, the design team followed the idea of "protecting industrial heritage, continuing the urban cultural context, and developing cultural industries", retaining the original components such as red bricks, concrete, and steel beams. Through modern Chinese techniques, they incorporated calligraphy elements, allowing the historical texture and contemporary art to communicate in the space. In today's society, the attention to the inheritance of traditional culture is increasing day by day. On the one hand, the government and social organizations have successively introduced measures such as the protection of intangible cultural heritage and the renovation of cultural and creative parks, emphasizing the protection and revitalization of historical memory and regional culture. On the other hand, modern people's identification with traditional culture shows a diversified trend - although the younger generation has adapted to the fast-paced life, more and more people seek spiritual belonging and cultural confidence through cultural experience activities such as calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, and tea ceremony, promoting the re-creation and innovative development of traditional culture in modern society.
"Track · Ink " takes "the flow of ink traces" and "the stillness of light and shadow" as its core imagery, integrating the structural wisdom of Song Dynasty mortise and tenon craftsmanship with modern technology to construct a three-in-one design system of "modular woodwork - movable walls - light and shadow interaction". In this system, traditional elements are no longer isolated decorations but organic units with structural functions, reconfigurable and assemblable, and capable of triggering interaction, jointly creating a "new Chinese calligraphy community space" that respects historical context while meeting contemporary aesthetic and functional requirements.

Project description

The entire project takes Chinese calligraphy culture as the narrative thread, integrating materials such as dark grey cement, warm logs, black metal and the texture of Xuan paper, to construct a spatial system that combines traditional imagery with contemporary aesthetics. Through the movable PC board roof and skylight lighting design, natural light and shadow interweave and echo with the spatial content, creating a cultural tension between movement and stillness. In terms of spatial composition, the project has created four immersive experience zones: The first one is a community cultural and creative market themed "Under the Big Locust Tree", which combines intangible cultural heritage handicrafts with neighborhood social interaction, evoking people's emotional memories of traditional market culture; The second one is "Ink Ladder Floating Pavilion", which interweaves and integrates the walking path and the exhibition experience through the design of a three-dimensional staircase and a suspended gathering room, creating a place for spiritual communication in the vertical space. The third one is the "Ink and Wash Leaving Light" interactive bookstore and the second-floor self-study hall. It uses programmable light and shadow technology to simulate the flow of ink, creating an immersive calligraphy experience environment, allowing traditional art to "flow" in the light and shadow. Finally, there is a modular light and shadow installation area with cross grooves and dovetail tenons as the core components. By taking advantage of the flexibility of the mortise and tenon structure, the installation can be freely combined and dynamically interactive, thus rejuvenating the traditional structure in a modern context.

"Traces Between Ink Shadows" is not a simple replication of traditional culture, but rather a deep integration and innovative transformation of cultural memory and artistic expression in the contemporary urban context. It transforms static heritage into a tangible, feasible and participatory cultural experience space, not only responding to the current society's diverse demands for the recognition and spiritual belonging of traditional culture, but also exploring a new model for the integrated development of industrial heritage and cultural industries, becoming an important landmark for the experience and innovative dissemination of calligraphy culture in contemporary cities.

Technical information

The project extensively adopts traditional structural forms such as cross-groove and dovetail tenons from the mortise and tenon techniques of the Song Dynasty, and modernizes them through the modular design concept. This structural approach features excellent mechanical stability and disassemblability. It enables the stable combination and reuse of spatial components without relying on metal connectors, meeting the requirements of modern sustainable architecture. Through digital modeling and precise numerical control cutting technology, batch production and precise assembly of mortise and tenon components can be achieved, making the complex craftsmanship of traditional wooden structures feasible in modern construction systems. This technology not only improves the construction efficiency, but also enhances the variability and interactivity of the spatial structure.
To achieve the controllability of spatial light and the function of natural ventilation, the project adopted polycarbonate (PC) sheets as the material for the canopy and designed it as a sliding or openable structure. PC sheets have excellent light transmittance, impact resistance and thermal stability, and are widely used in modern building ceiling systems. When used in conjunction with mechanical drive or automated opening and closing systems (such as linear drives, photosensitive automatic opening devices), it can be intelligently adjusted according to weather, time or indoor usage requirements. This technical solution is mature in technology and is commonly used in cultural and creative Spaces, greenhouse buildings and atrium skylights, ensuring the comfort and energy efficiency of space usage.
This project employs a variety of materials such as dark grey concrete, raw wood, black metal and rice paper texture, creating a strong contrast and layering variation in texture and enhancing the visual tension of the space. Among them, concrete serves as the main structural material to ensure the stability of the building foundation. Logs and metals are used for detailed components and decorations, reflecting the integration of traditional craftsmanship and industrial style. The texture of Xuan paper is applied to walls or furniture through lamination, printing or multi-layer composite processes to enhance the cultural perception of the calligraphy theme. This type of material combination is technically easy to implement, with controllable maintenance costs, and has good sustainability and design extensibility.

Documentation

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