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Ann Yu's Tic Art Exhibition Center commands the visual field through a masterful orchestration of earthen tonalities and geometric precision, presenting an elevated aerial perspective that reveals the
Captured from a zenithal vantage point, this aerial architectural photograph reveals a remarkable plaza design characterized by two dominant circular forms rendered in warm terra cotta tones that crea
Ann Yu's Tic Art Exhibition Center demonstrates a sophisticated synthesis of materials and spatial articulation through its two-story horizontal mass anchored by a perforated copper-toned metal screen
A commanding triangulated screen stretches across the upper register of Ann Yu's Exhibition Center, each metallic triangle tessellated into a precise geometric lattice that simultaneously conceals and
Ann Yu's Exhibition Center manifests through an aerial perspective as a commanding circular architectural intervention composed of richly toned timber decking arranged in concentric bands that establi

Times China Holdings Limited

Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2023

Tic Art Exhibition Center

by Ann Yu

  • A' Design Award 2023 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
  • Awarded April 15, 2023
  • CLIENT: Times China Holdings Limited
  • Estimated Number of Design Views: 32,721
  • Verification code 83F379F764 · Verify this award
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About Tic Art Exhibition Center

Tic Art is an exhibition center designed as a public urban landmark. The design covers landscape, architecture, interior and products, and offers a comprehensive yet rhythmic spatial experience. Red bricks formed with 25 sets of molds are used across the building and the landscape, following the local clay brick tradition and lowering the construction cost. A double layer curtain wall combines ceramic bricks with a modern structural system, filters direct sunlight and reduces heat conduction. The building area is 8000 square meters and the landscape area is 16000 square meters.

Ann Yu's Tic Art Exhibition Center emerges as a significant contribution to contemporary cultural architecture, demonstrating how thoughtful material choices and geometric sophistication can create spaces that honor both heritage craft traditions and forward-looking design innovation. The project appears to engage with longstanding architectural dialogues concerning the integration of building and landscape, employing the ancient typology of the amphitheater reimagined through contemporary formal vocabulary. The circular water feature functions as both a literal reflecting pool and a metaphorical gathering space, its stepped perimeter inviting congregation while its still surface mirrors the warm façade above, doubling the visual presence of the architecture in liquid form. The perforated screen that wraps the primary volume achieves remarkable technical accomplishment, transforming a utilitarian sunshading device into an ornamental surface that shifts appearance throughout the day as light angles change, creating what might be understood as a contemporary interpretation of traditional mashrabiya or jali screens found across various architectural traditions. The material palette demonstrates sophisticated restraint, limiting itself to variations of earth tones that suggest both permanence and regional appropriateness while the weathering steel and terracotta elements will patinate gracefully over time, embedding the building within natural cycles of material transformation. The landscape design merits particular attention for its balance between formal geometry and organic planting, with trees positioned to provide seasonal interest and shade while maintaining clear sightlines and processional clarity. The work invites contemplation of how contemporary cultural institutions might create welcoming public realms that extend their civic mission beyond interior galleries into generous exterior spaces that belong to the community.

Press Kit

Unique Properties
TIC Art Center is a public urban landmark project.The overall design scope of covered landscape, architecture, interior, and products, bringing together the innovation of structure , aiming to provide a comprehensive yet rhythmic spatial experience .This project Influence as a micro urban landscape.It also Impact re-active the product trend of hand-made brick industry that makes a successful practice of environmental-friendly architecture.The project has become a destination for numerous visitors, while contributing to the brand value of the client as well as the land value in the area.
Dimensions & Packaging
Landscape area:16000㎡,Building area:8000㎡
Tags
Art Center,Integrated Design,Exhibition Center,Handmade Bricks
Production Technology
The red bricks used through out architecture and landscape werecreated by 25 sets of molds,resulting in a continuous ambience in the project. The unify material selection was based on the local clay brick production tradition, and achieved a lower overall construction cost, as well as efficiency.
The red bricks used in TIC Art Center were created by 25 sets of molds, resulting in rich specifications and trimming systems. The scale and proportion of the bricks were modernized in relation to the specifications of ‘hand-holdable bricks’, through iterative research on the six indicators, i.e. controllable furnace condition, material performance, applicable structure, process stability, production cost. Thus, the bricks were eventually refined.
Design Challenge
The overall passive design of the building minimizes energy consumption through the double-layer curtain wall system (clay brick grid + cavity + insulated low-e tempered glass) on the east, south and west facades. Compared with conventional curtain walls, the system reduces the heat conduction of the building by about 30% and estimated cooling energy consumption by 30%, effectively improving its insulation performance. At the same time, the 240mm-thick side openwork brick curtain wall system forms a sunlight filter, preventing glares caused by direct sunlight while enhancing the softness of the light through refraction.
An arch with a maximum span of 29 meters is created on the facade wall. The top of the arch is composed of cantilever beams and upturned overhanging folding slabs so that it's higher than the beams between floors. The middle of the arch features cantilever beams and hanging columns and beams to achieve a wide scale. Finally, the non-arch section is build by cantilever beams and brick walls.
The reception areaon the first floor emphasizes a transparentboundarybetween architecture andlandscape.The interior design is basedon the idea of de-interiorization. Firstly, in contrast to the traditional interior lighting solutions, a large intelligent presetlight filmceiling is adopted to obtaina balance between indoor lighting and outdoor daylight.This lighting strategy issimilar to the control of top lightingin photography,helpingcreate a strong sense of vastnessin the space. Secondly, theemphasisonarchitecturalstructure.Theelectromechanical and firesystemsstrictly followthe extension of itsbeam and column system. Thirdly, the interior materialsare directlyderived from thearchitecturalelements,bondingbetween interior and exterior while greatly reducingthe construction costs and risks.
The original lighting product seriesinspired by clothesline, commonly foundintraditional dwellings, act asart installationsinthe interior.It provides supplementarylighting for different areas and is widely used on the first floor. The visually intertwiningcurvessoften the space and respond to the circlesand arcs of the building and landscape.
Project Duration
The project started in October 2019 in Foshan and finished in October 2021 in Foshan, and was exhibited in October 2021.
Operation Flow
The viewing platform stretching to the middle of the pool provides a panorama of the main facade of the building. The mesh-like double-layer curtain wall system is both the visual highlight and the technical focus of the project. A unique grid masonry effect is achieved by combining traditional ‘ceramic bricks’ with modern curtain wall structural design. Equilateral triangular modules are assembled to form the mesh-pattern facade. Thanks to the concealed anti-dropping nodes of the curtain wall, the unique aesthetics of the openwork masonry is ensured, and meanwhile, damage and falling of the ceramic panels are avoided. Through industrialized production, precision of the concealed aluminum alloy unit adopted for the ceramic mesh curtain wall is effectively ensured, whilst significantly improving the efficiency of its installation.
The inner-layer curtain wall adopts ultra-clear glass in its conventional economical size. Single glass pieces with a length of 2,200mm enlarge the view from indoors and ensure fast installation. Thickened and laminated glass ribs avoid exposed frames, and the reduced width of glass ribs increases the utilization of interior space. This structure emphasizes the transparency and invisibility of the glass curtain wall, creating a clearer background for the outer mesh curtain wall formed by triangular ceramic bricks.
A ‘valley’ passageway is constructed in the middle of the architecture. It created a highly through and interactive cavity within the building while separating the main displaying building volume from the operational annexe, it releases an uninterrupted touring experience within the main building. Therefore, multiple functions and flexible alteration of the building would be possible through its life cycle.
It is either art piece or furniture.
the harmonious integration of interior space and architecture is realized, a visual focus is to create rich spatial and sensory experiences for visitors.
Research
Since 2020, Chinese government has tightened macro control of the real estate sector, and the policy of rating real estate firms into four classes based on three key indicators signifies that the period of demographic, land and financial dividend is coming to the end. This has caused anxiety in the land market, and real estate developers in the private sector are taking a wait-and-see attitude. The game rules in the real estate market are evolving.
In September 2021,TIC, alandmark urban maker town developed byTimes China, was unveiled to the public. In the same month, to the amazement of citizens of Foshan(located to the Southwest of Guangzhou and within its one-hour life circle), TIC Art Center was completed. Covering aplotarea of 3,000 mu (2 million square meters) and with a gross floorarea of 5 million square meters, the maker town complex, TIC, has turned against the tide in the turbulent real estate market. It has not only secured a leading position for Times China in real estate development in the center of Qiandeng Lake Area, Foshan, but has also become a new hot spot for local citizens.
TIC Art Center, as an iconic symbol that represents the image ofthemakertown, received a total investment of around 180 million yuan.DOMANI was invited to carry out the overall design of the project, with the design scope covering landscape, architecture, interior,products, and more. Meanwhile, top-tier resources in the sectorare joined together to create a top-classworkwith high integrity, highstandards, high academic and commercial value and high urbanity, which is rarely seen in the real estate industryin recent years. The project becomes a hit, indicating that Times China is embarking on a new journey of refined product-oriented long-termdevelopment.
Inspiration
From north to south in China, the color of claybricks usedinfolkhousesgenerallychanges from dark to light. From the traditional use of humus to make clay bricks, which resulted in great losses of arable land and woods, to today's large-scale industrialized production of clayand terracotta bricks, the genes of ‘brick’ and ‘masonry’ in Chinese folk architecture continue to be passed on. Of these, red bricks are particularly widely used in folk buildings for their low cost. With the developmentof urban construction criteria, however, traditional bricks and masonry techniques no longer meet the requirements of large-scale public buildings. To hold back the vanishing of traditional craftsmanship, we need to look deeper at it and redesign an adaptable method.

Colors of Tic Art Exhibition Center

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