Ideorealm Design: Yingzhou, also known as Hunzhou or Huanzhou.
To the east lies a deep abyss, home to a thousand-foot-long fish with a kaleidoscopic sheen and a horn at its snout. It leaps and dances in schools, stirring the waters into a vibrant spectacle.
From afar, the sky appears brushed with multicolored clouds; up close, one realizes the mist is merely the spray of these joyful creatures, as dazzling as auspicious clouds.
— Shiyi Ji
The wind sweeps across the vast waters, waves ripple under the boundless sky, and the sun rises over the blue expanse, casting its first light upon the eastern frontier.
This is Qidong, a city at the northeasternmost tip of Jiangsu, where the great Yangtze River meets the sea. Named for the phrase “Qi Wu Dong Jiang” (Opening the Eastern Frontier), its lands stretch ever eastward as shifting sands reshape its shores.
Encircled by water on three sides, Qidong is a natural peninsula—a gateway where river meets ocean, where golden waterways, golden coastlines, and golden trade routes converge. It is also the first place in Jiangsu to greet the morning sun.
Rivers and seas carve through the land like an open cross-section of the city’s history. Yet in the heart of modern metropolises, many yearn for an escape—a nomadic way of life, “free from the city’s relentless pace”. This longing for movement and reinvention speaks to a deeper question: How can we reclaim a sense of wild freedom in a world ruled by speed and structure?
Before it became the Crosslight Wedding Chapel, this site was once a go-kart racing track—an outdoor retreat on the fringes of the city, designed for team-building and adventure. But as lifestyles shifted and urban expansion took its course, the track fell into disuse, becoming one of many forgotten fragments of the city’s past. In 2024, IdeorealmDesign took on the challenge of breathing new life into this space. Weddings, like many great ceremonies, mark a passage—a transformation from one life stage to another. So the question arose: How can a new wedding chapel find harmony with its surroundings? How can its design honor the local cultural fabric while preserving the deep sense of ritual that makes weddings so meaningful? And so, the design journey began.
We envisioned a place as pure as it is eternal—a sanctuary of romance, delicate yet radiant, like the unfurling petals of a flower. Blossoming in beauty, poised yet fluid, graceful yet powerful. The wedding chapel we sought to create would not strive for grandeur, nor would it shrink into the background. It would stand with quiet strength—reverent but never submissive, resolute yet never rigid. Simply by being there, it would exude an undeniable presence. A presence so profound that it allows those who step into its space to momentarily escape the noise of the world, to retreat into their inner universe, to rediscover energy, and to arrive at a state of emotional freedom. This architecture, we believed, needed to possess a touch of surrealism—elegant and deeply romantic.
Prelude to Light
The Hidden Cross of Light
In urban architecture, design is often guided by rationality, human-centered thinking, and the relationships between people. So for this project, we sought to merge a cinematic stage with a space for authentic experiences—a place where reality and symbolism coexist.
The chapel’s fluid silhouette draws inspiration from the white camellia, a flower symbolizing grace, nobility, and poetic romance. Its curving form flows outward like petals in bloom—sculptural yet organic, minimalist yet breathtaking. The undulating walls fold over each other, appearing like a series of blank canvases, catching and diffusing natural light from the sky. As people pass by, they step into the spotlight of this ever-changing stage. The overlapping geometric curves of the exterior create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow, ensuring the chapel is never seen the same way twice.
At the heart of the structure, curved walls extend toward the entrance, transforming into a cross-shaped opening—a hidden motif of light. As night falls, embedded lights within the cross softly glow, turning the chapel into a beacon—a lighthouse guiding couples toward their sacred vows. This interplay of blooming petal-like walls and the concealed cross of light crafts a space imbued with an unforgettable sense of reverence. Inside, the space soars—vast, luminous, and pure, like an untouched canvas—waiting for the couple to paint their own story upon it.
Fragments of Light, Moments of Emotion
The chapel is unified in a singular shade of pure white—a choice that transcends mere aesthetics. White symbolizes the purity of a wedding, but beyond that, it strips the architecture of historical references to classical archways, allowing it to stand as a modern entity in its own right. Set against the golden hues of autumn, the white surfaces catch the warm evening glow, reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, naturally distinguishing itself from the weight of classical architecture.
For the couples exchanging vows within this space, every step toward the altar is accompanied by fragments of cherished memories—a collection of luminous, fleeting moments that have led them to this day. These delicate glimmers of light dance like poetry, forming an eternal tableau. In this divinely gentle atmosphere, two souls lean into each other, hearts intertwined. And in that single, sacred moment—as vows are spoken, as time holds its breath—the world falls silent. Everything, from the celestial to the earthly, bears witness to the profound beauty of love. A beauty that cannot be captured in words, only traced through time—etched into the fabric of memory, light, and eternity.
A Dialogue Between People and the Chapel
Buildings may fade, but their meaning lingers, pointing toward the eternal. Each evening, as the sun descends, golden light filters through the trees, casting fleeting shadows upon the chapel’s petal-like walls. In that brief yet tender moment, it offers quiet solace to those making their way home. In the space between the sacred and the everyday, life unfolds. Though these realms may seem separate, they are constantly intertwined—one constantly transitioning into the other. And in this ever-shifting threshold, we find ourselves drawn toward something higher, something transcendent.
Here, architecture, contemporary art, and spirituality engage in a silent, sacred dialogue, offering both an anchor for emotions and a sanctuary for the soul.
“In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with Annie.”——Carl Sagan – Cosmos
