We are often in a rush to go about our ways, counting minutes waiting for the trains or bus. These transit spaces have the ability to channel your psychological momentum which directly or indirectly affects your subsequent activities. This metro station design in China mingles commuters’ activities, their time on this station, their daily routines and ideates a new perspective on the whole transit design system. To cultivate a moment of pause while traveling, toning down the haste with organic, systematic free flowing design structures for the commuters to admire in that short span of time. These installations instill a sense of community journey on a positive note. The flower petal canopies infuses a sense of security, yet mimicking forms of nature, visually and in abstraction. ~Yamini Vaswani

MASK Architects and Shenzhen-based Jiang & Associates Design (J&A) have collaborated to develop the conceptual interior design of the Zhengzhou metro line-7 stations. The first phase of Zhengzhou Rail Transit Line 7 starts from Dongzhao Station to Nangang Liu Station. The line is 26.82 kilometers long and has 20 stations, including 11 transfer stations. The line passes through Huiji District, Jinshui District, Zhongyuan District, and Erqi District, and is an important rail transit corridor covering the north-south development axis.

Iconic Ideation of Flower Clouds for Metro Station Design in China | Mask Architects + Jiang & Associates Design

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Öznur Pınar ÇER says; Our new generation concept for a metro station in China is inspired by how commuters interact with the space and how they feel within the space on their daily routes. We know that sometimes this daily journey or commute can be very dull and boring, almost an unconscious journey that we don’t really focus on too much. Either you are tired, stressed, sleepy, or just not in the mood. We have created a concept for commuters to feel like they have transited into a new world. We have created an installation, an application to the normal structures of metro stations, and changed the whole environment. The environment will be welcoming, elegant, light, and warm. A place where all pressure and stress will be reduced, where your mind becomes open and active instead of tired and sleepy. We wanted to create a social space, in which the commuters can engage with the surroundings and the environment”.

For them to have a kind of social connection with the space and to be able to interact with one another as they have never before in this kind of environment. To create this kind of space, it is important for us to make commuters more calm and relaxed, because a commuting journey affects everyone’s day, so it is important that we start and finish everyone’s commute in a positive way. We want to take away the negative energy of dullness, boringness, and heavy industrial metro machinery away from this space and transform it into a clean and elegant space. Nature has a way of creating positive disruptions by pulling us out of our interests, ideas, and systems and into something that is often humbling. Design with nature now means to develop areas and environments that are preparing to grow with policy changes, with changing needs of individuals and communities as well as with altering environmental constraints and potentials. The metro station is located in Zhengzhou, China.

Nanhuan Park is where we take inspiration to connect the outside environment to the interior of the metro station. The park shows off the city’s flowers and roses. It attracts people to come and take pictures of the beautiful natural landscape and environment. We want the continuity of flow from outside to inside to continue and help transform the interior of the metro station into something more natural and flourishing. You can see that our installation’s concept consists of flower-like structures and modules that will create the base and main attraction point. We have created large modular structures that can be situated in any order or pattern, to be connected together or separated. With this expandable and mobile modular system, we can create different systems in which the perspective can be changed and can create different flows of avenues for people to explore or be directed to their platforms.

The petals of the flowers create a kind of canopy that will have beautiful light installations that will pulse throughout the canopy and its leaves interacting with light, music, and movement. We went to create a sensation for the commuters to feel like they are under the flowers and get a different perspective and view from under the flowers. This kind of environment is refreshing and very playful with the eyes and mind. We aim to distract people from their daily routines and commutes by giving them the opportunity to focus and explore an environment that they may have been using for a long time. We want to identify the clarity and transparency and create it in a very elegant way using 3D volume to create beautiful bespoke shapes of petals and leaves.

The mesh material will allow us to create transparency to allow light to reflect and be seen in different perspectives. The lighting sequences and patterns will create beautiful lines streaming and beaming across the ceiling area from petal to petal. The canopy lines will create a ceiling wave to excite the commuters. Almost like an exhibition, it allows people’s minds to wander and think freely. The leaves and petals on the branches of and stems of the flower will have multiple lighting effects. They will beam and pulse creating a beautiful harmonic lighting solution as well as a light show. The elegant petals and leaves contribute to the flow of nature into the transport hub. Taking away the full, boring, mechanical elements away from the metro station and transforming it into a more natural, nourishing, flourishing, and refreshing space. The whole goal and aim for this space are to transform people’s daily routine and commutes and how they feel within these metro stations. We want to bring positive natural energy inside and underground.

The flooring is important in this metro station design, as we want to make it as easy as possible for the commuters to navigate and get directions from the floor patterns to their platforms. The station is built on two floors, an arrivals, and a departures floor. Each floor will have patterns on the floor to direct the commuters throughout the metro station. The commuters can feel the flow all around them. We want to engage with their emotions and take them away from their negative emotions and implement a happy environment to create happy emotions for them. Life should not be a dull and boring routine, rather a flow of emotions controlled by a happy environment and moment. The station is under construction and is expected to be completed and ready for opening in 2023. The material used for the flooring is a gradient terrazzo pattern on vinyl. This gives us the flexibility of a floor made beautiful and durable. The ceiling material is a stainless steel mesh that has 0.10mm thickness. The stainless steel mesh is easily sculpted and is usable in different methods to create beautiful sculptures.

Fact File

Designed By: Mask Architects

Joint Partner Firm: Jiang & Associates Design (J&A), China

Typology: Metro Station Interior Design

Location: Zhengzhou, China

Principal Designer: Öznur Pınar ÇER

Design Team: Öznur Pınar ÇER, Derya GENÇ, Danilo PETTA

Visualizations & Animation Studio: Derya GENÇ, GENC Design Studio

Text Credits: Sarje Nagda

Firm’s Website Links: Mask Architects Jiang & Associates Design (J&A), China

Firm’s Facebook Links: Mask Architects

Firm’s Instagram Link: Mask Architects

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