Project name: ARK Club
Project Location: Chengdu, China
Project Area: 800m2
Interior design: VGC Design
Architecture design: VGC Design
Completion Time: January 2024
Chief Designer: Michael Chen
Detailed designer: Ding Fei
Project Management: Wen Ming
Project construction: Zhejiang Construction Decoration Group Co., Ltd.
Structural design: Luanlu Structure
Landscape design: Parallel Vision Landscape Studio, Michael Chen
Soft decoration design: VGC Design, Qianmo Design
Lighting design: Artluci*Owen
Photographer: Yu Space Photography, Liu Wei
Video: Qishijiu
Visual identity: SAC Design
Installation Art: Green Knight

VGC design Michael Chen × ARK: Rejuvenated and Everlasting Life

"Ark" is a medical aesthetics pharmaceutical corporate club located on the top floor of a single commercial building. It integrates functions such as showcasing corporate strength, displaying flagship products and entertaining guests. Using modern technological design techniques, it provides an immersive experience that transcends the present and ventures into the future.

Rejuvenated and everlasting life.

The arrow of time always moves forward.
The river of entropy never flows backwards.
Everything is evolving towards disorder.

Designer Michael Chen started working on the "Ark" project in 2022. During that special lockdown, he fused his many thoughts on life and destiny into the project's conception.

Human imagination of the universe is based on the exploration and thinking of our own existence. The lifespan is constrained by time, which is a fundamental law of the universe. Therefore, it is a lifelong quest for humanity to slow the wear and tear of time in life effectively. In this project, the designer adopted "time and life" as the theme and created a transcendent space. Like an ark carrying the strength of life, it floats in the river of time and space, waiting for people to board, get rejuvenated, and sustain life.

Part 01
Femtosecond Hall
Listening to the frequency of the moment

“Seconds” are the pulse of time, beating in the boundless sky.
The "Second Ring" is the main installation of the lobby, with its scale shining backwards.
The "Waterfall of Light" is sprinkled with stars flowing backwards, symbolizing the reverse of time and space at this moment.

The "Second Ring" intertwines with the stainless steel columns, presenting a dynamic scene. The waterfall-like light and shadows echo the "Second Ring". Together with the interweaving lights, they give a tangible sense of the passage of time.

Part 02
Temple of Time
Touch the pulsation of time

"All matter originates from a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds them together. Behind this force exists a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter." The entire space is constructed with various types of circles, forming a field in physics. The curved stainless steel wall panels reflect light, injecting flowing energy into the space. When touched with fingers, the LED screens display different visual effects and change with different angles of observation, allowing deeper interactions between viewers and the space. This space emphasizes human presence despite the modern technological ambience.

“All matter is essentially a vibrating energy field.”
—Max Planck

“The nature of the future is the unknown. When you feel the unknown, you see the future.” The “Ark”, originating from mythology, carries the energy of life and wisdom, and represents the dawn of an unknown new era.

Part 03
Starlight Hall
Looking up at the brilliant sky

The side glass walls present the traditional cosmology of “round heaven and square earth”. The black stone floor creates a profound effect reminiscent of the earth through the reflection and projection of lights. Breaking traditional furniture forms, the designer arranges the tables in the multifunctional hall in the form of scattered planets. Mobile tables and chairs can move like planets, changing the layout of the space for meetings, entertainment and other functions, thus offering guests a unique experience.

Part 04
Ethereal Hall
Enjoying the exquisite delicacies

In the club, besides the showcasing exhibition hall, there is also a welcoming reception that makes guests feel at home.

In the Song Dynasty, people "watch the meal" to stimulate their appetite before eating.
At this moment, the dining table shows “magnificence”, allowing guests to feel “the greatest of life, from the micro to the macro.”
The reflection of honeycomb mirror panels expands the space, providing guests with an experience akin to:
in the sky sparkles the star;
in the vastness echoes the ethereal sound;
in the clouds lies the exquisite food;
in the twinkles of light toast is proposed.

Part 05
Fang Yuan
Sitting and watching the breath of the plants

Shunmyo Masuno once said: “We need to find out the contemporary nature of gardens, always be contemporary and even ahead of the time.”

The white surface and ground of the architecture are particularly prominent against the dark sky. Streamlined white strips go through the outdoors, like star trails left when passing through a wormhole. Carefully selected and arranged plants evoke a vivid sense of alien planets and the future.

How precious it is that the “Ark” owns this “Fang Yuan”! It connects the interior and exterior, sailing through the past and into the future.