A Chinese architectural designer’s understanding and pursuit of art

The newly completed hair salon is in central Auckland, where the pristine white walls on either side are particularly striking.

A square slab of richly textured stone divides the interior without compromising the independent use of each area, lending the space a distinctive artistic character. In designer Daniel’s conception, this is a stone-enclosed ‘grotto’.

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A return to simplicity defines Daniel’s pursuit of architectural art. He values the purity of architecture itself and advocates returning it to its elemental state.

“If a piece of stone can serve perfectly well as a wall, why choose anything else?”

Although he grew up in an era dominated by modernist architecture, Daniel has little interest in turning design into an exercise in following trends.

Rather than assigning his work to a particular architectural style, Daniel prefers to describe it as his attitude towards architecture: “pursuing its essence and purity”.

“Styles have a lifespan, but an attitude is timeless.”

In the year just ended, 2019, Daniel’s hair salon project won a New Zealand retail design award: the 2019 RedAwards Health & Beauty Merit Award.

This was just one milestone since he established his own practice.

From extravagance to purity: stripping away unnecessary architectural complexity

His earliest encounter with architecture came through studying ink painting and landscape painting.

Daniel learnt Chinese painting from his father as a child. That experience has had a profound and lasting influence on his perception and understanding of architecture.

“Eastern architecture is always immersed in nature.

Among towering mountains and trees, houses are always accents. Architecture is both a landscape in itself and part of the landscape. It is a state in which everything blends into one.”

Interestingly, his first job after coming to New Zealand to study was as a draughtsperson focused on individual details. Both his drawings and his thoughts were filled with details such as the junctions between doors, windows and external walls.

His daily work involved repeatedly redrawing the original designs supplied by manufacturers.

“There was no room for my own ideas,” he recalled. This passive way of working did not suppress his love of architecture.

He chose to return to university for further study in architectural design.

While studying architectural design at the University of Auckland, Daniel was influenced by the prevailing Western idea that ‘architecture takes precedence over nature’, the rise of advanced architectural software and the school’s emphasis on conceptual design. For a time, these led him to pursue visually spectacular architecture.

Computer software made many extravagant designs possible.

Daniel sees this period as a passive design process “influenced by new technology”.

“If I hadn’t gone to the United States, the architectural style I developed at university would have become increasingly extravagant, with digitally driven architecture, for example.” Going to the United States proved to be the turning point.

His experience as an exchange student overturned his understanding of design. In the United States, he saw far greater importance placed on physical models than on computer software when exploring and refining designs.

“Making models takes you back to an elemental state.

” Moving away from his previous pursuit of elaborate architectural lines, Daniel focused on making small, quiet models.

Even a single column had to be taken to its fullest potential.

“This is also something I kept practising at Pattersons.”

After returning from the United States, he joined Pattersons, the internationally renowned New Zealand architectural practice. On the international architectural stage, he contributed to many award-winning projects.

Although these projects were highly complex behind the scenes, their final appearance was simple.

“This is another way of expressing purity,” Daniel said. Gradually, he developed an understanding of architectural design that was closer to his own convictions. He had been free to develop without too many constraints.

Whether in architectural design or in life, simplicity is his guiding principle.

Ordinary homes can be artistic too

Yet simplicity elevated to an art form can sometimes seem out of reach.

At Pattersons, Daniel served as a star designer’s right-hand man, expressing groundbreaking design ideas through drawings and software.

His most memorable experience was working on the Len Lye Gallery, a modern art museum in New Zealand’s North Island.

The space is dedicated to collecting art, notably housing an extensive collection of works and archives by Len Lye, a pioneer in filmmaking and kinetic sculpture.

The gallery’s international standing meant that its overall architectural design needed to possess artistic value of an equivalent calibre.

The art museum is a microcosm of the qualities found in Pattersons’ projects. As Daniel puts it, the pursuit of artistic value is an essential aim of the practice’s design projects.

At Pattersons, every design project is like the process of buying ingredients and turning them into a dish: everything begins with raw, unprocessed materials.

Starting with the project’s requirements and using raw materials as the starting point for design, every stage is tailored to that particular project.

The result is that every project is unique.

This also gives the practice’s designs an artistic value that typically endures over time.

Through refining numerous projects and spending countless days and nights reflecting, Daniel gradually learnt to think about architectural design like a star designer.

At the same time, he began to feel a sense of isolation at the top. “I realised that what we were creating was so high-end that ordinary people could never experience it.”

By 2018, that inner voice had grown increasingly insistent. Daniel struck out on his own and founded InnoArch.

“I felt that perhaps I should go out and do it myself, using this design philosophy wherever possible to give ordinary homes an artistic quality too.”

In his view, that artistic quality does not necessarily depend on complex processes or techniques.

“Design is not a very complicated thing. I really want to make art part of everyday life. Art should not be a luxury.

Returning to design itself, something that is well considered, artistic and engaging can also be presented in an everyday way. Design should not be complicated.

” In a showroom project he recently took on, he simply had a boulder excavated from the construction site cut flat and used it as a reception desk. In a renovation project, he refinished substantial pieces of timber from the old house, turning them into richly textured tabletops and door handles.

Staying true to his original vision and breaking the industry’s vicious cycle

Leading InnoArch and moving between commercial buildings and ordinary homes, Daniel has remained committed to his approach to architectural design.

Against a backdrop of housing shortages and thin construction margins, developers tend to cut spending on architectural design.

In the resulting vicious cycle, many architects choose to reuse standard plans to save costs and offer lower quotes.

“I want the projects I create to be beautiful. Beauty can coexist with function, commercial returns and cost considerations. I cannot guarantee that what I create will be the cheapest, but at least it will offer artistic value in addition to what you would normally get at market prices.”

Daniel advocates involving designers in construction to avoid cost increases caused by inaccurate work and unforeseen changes.

He believes the designer is the key person best placed to judge whether construction is being carried out correctly. Work on site can encounter situations that could not have been anticipated on the drawings.

Sometimes subtle differences in materials can affect the finished result, so designers need to participate in and oversee every stage, from design through to construction.

Rather than seeing numerous conflicts between commercial interests and design aspirations, Daniel prefers to understand them as part of a designer’s personal development. “What designers face is an ongoing process of solving problems.

Those problems arise from the needs of many different parties. A good designer should accommodate everyone and resolve problems with mutually beneficial outcomes in mind.”

 

About the designer:

Daniel Zhu, Design Director

With a Master of Architecture from the University of Auckland and extensive design experience, he specialises in interior and exterior design for residential and commercial projects.

He previously worked at Pattersons and has extensive experience on projects overseas and in New Zealand.

He established InnoArch Ltd in 2019, serving as design director and managing projects.

Selected projects:

Oravida Shanghai flagship store (2013)

Len Lye Gallery (2015)

New Zealand Guest of Honour at the Taiwan Book Fair (2013)

Christchurch Botanic Gardens Centre (2014)

Geyser B uilding P arnell (2011)