Work  
Hudec Exhibition /
Tactile Storytelling

Installation Design Concept Development Spatial Storytelling Design Strategy Cross-Functional Collaboration Prototyping Material Exploration

Challenge
As part of a long-term placemaking initiative, Vanke Group commissioned Domani to revitalize a protected Art Deco villa in Shanghai into a permanent public exhibition honoring architect László Hudec. The brief required full architectural preservation, shifting the design focus to site-responsive installations that could activate the space without altering its historic fabric. Under the theme “a dialogue across time,” set by the Design Director, I contributed to the overall exhibition strategy and was responsible for the design of several installations that serve as narrative and emotional anchors within the spatial journey.
Approach
Working under the Design Director, I focused on how contemporary visitors might emotionally connect to Hudec’s legacy and design spirit — which continues to shape the city — not through historical display, but by reimagining how he might live and work in the villa today. My task was to translate this abstract narrative into tactile, emotionally resonant spatial experiences.

One installation responded to an unexpected challenge: a chandelier was accidentally damaged during removal. Instead of restoring it, I designed a functioning floor lamp that embedded the broken crystal pieces into a cast concrete base. The interplay of fragility and mass, light and shadow, became a spatial metaphor for the tension between preservation and reinterpretation.

Another key installation reimagined Hudec’s drafting table as a motorized experience that visitors could physically operate. Rather than replicate a historical artifact to reflect how he once worked, the drafting table stages how his design spirit might manifest today. It offers an active, tactile encounter — inviting visitors into an imagined continuity between architect and city.

These two installations, among others I designed, reframed preservation as an act of imaginative continuity—creating tangible, inhabitable moments where audiences could experience the past as a living part of the present.

Outcome
The project demonstrated how narrative-led installations can activate heritage architecture without compromising its integrity. Our work helped reposition the villa from a static exhibition to an emotionally charged cultural venue—one that invites physical, sensory, and reflective engagement.

This shift was validated when Vogue China selected the site for its New Chapter Night event, using the space’s experiential arc to connect with a broader lifestyle audience.

The design approach—translating abstract themes into tactile, inhabitable moments—has since informed my broader practice. It offers a transferable model for shaping brand environments that build emotional continuity between story, place, and people.
Credits
Client: Vanke Group
Project Site: Sun Ke Villa, Shanghai
Design Studio: Domani Architectural Concepts
Design Director: Ann Yu
Concept & Installation Design:
Ann Yu, Jincheng Zhangliu
Installation Implementation & Fabrication Coordination:
Jincheng Zhangliu, Ruiquan Ye
Technical Design (Interior Architecture): Huanhui Liu
Photographer: Vincent Ng

























































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©Liujincheng Zhang