“The original architecture, as often happens in China,” he continues, “was an anonymous pseudo-classical pastiche on a reinforced concrete structure, with lots of potential. The first time I entered, I was almost overwhelmed by the incredible height of the internal spaces, from the semi-basement to the attic. But those spaces were split up into many enclosed episodes. So I have reconsidered them as parts of a gigantic open volume, to be reinvented with dynamic compositional lines, to convey a completely different overall image.”
The first focal point was the staircase, a load-bearing feature and the spinal column of the internal vertical connections, in relation to open areas capable of interacting with each other, through contractions and dilations, two-story spaces, full and empty zones, shifts of light and shadow driven by balanced tones of color and luminosity.