Personal statement

My site is located in the middle of a forest park that was converted from a chemical plant. The park was designed to repair some of the damage done to the land by the former chemical plant and to reduce the waste of energy on the land. My site is a military building from a war that took place around the last century, it was first abandoned when China ended the war, the country was developing economically, and people had no time to care about the use of the buildings left behind during the war. In 2011 a murder led to the building being abandoned once again and until the surrounding villages and factories were turned into parks, the building was only used by people who liked to explore and take pictures.

I was studying the built environment around my site and found that the design plan for the park was in line with my design philosophy for my site, which is to use sustainable design concepts to help the surrounding residents feel natural in a big city like Beijing and to help the city develop green concepts. At the moment there are many people who avoid buildings that have been the scene of a murder, and it would be a waste of energy if no one bothered with such buildings. We can design and use such buildings as a way to avoid energy consumption.

According to the park designer's plan, my building is surrounded by mainly children's places, so the main demographic of my place is also children. As I continue to learn more about and engage with children in Beijing, I have found that children like them, who live in big cities, face a lot of pressure to study and many of them do not have the means to go far away to engage with the natural environment and explore nature. Therefore, my design will revolve around the connection between children and nature exploration, and I hope to provide an opportunity for children in big cities to explore nature. The group of 6–12-year-olds who are part of the project need not only a single place to engage with nature, but also a space to meet and interact with people. My client group is Gen Alpha, who have a difficult relationship with their parents due to intelligent technology, the stage of developing their own personalities, and a lack of opportunities and space to interact with their peers. The renovation of the building will also help them with some of the problems that arise during this period of transition from childhood to youth.