A līmen is a threshold between two worlds that perceives instability through stability. It creates a unique relationship between two layers, revealing the meaning that extends beyond the piece itself. In Shuang Chen and Yushan Jiang’s “A Līmen: In-Between and Beyond” exhibition, they created distinct perspectives with their poetic architectural design and encouraged silent dialogue through specific curation. Located at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Massachusetts, the exhibition showcases how different contexts inspire each designer’s perspective and invites spectators to explore concealed connections.
The Innovative Designers
Shuang Chen is a Boston-based architectural designer with professional experience in adaptive reuse and theater design. She received her Master of Architecture from Yale University in 2021. Shuang’s design work has been recognized and showcased on various international platforms, spanning Asia, Europe, and North America. Her passion for innovative designs has pushed her to earn prestigious accolades, such as first place in the ASA Experimental Design Competition 2024 for her work “The Lantern: A Multi-sensory Dining Experience.” This project was exhibited at the Architect 24 Expo in IMPACT Arena, ASEAN's most prominent building technology exposition.
Yushan Jiang is a Brooklyn, New York-based interdisciplinary architectural designer. She received her Master of Architecture from Yale University, where she earned the Suzanna Sheng Memorial Scholarship from the Connecticut Architecture Foundation. She has embraced global exhibitions across North America and Asia and has infused experience in international practices into her work. She collaborated with Morgan Kerber on “Splice City,” which was the Winner for “The Award for Excellence in Digital/Hybrid Media (Professional)” at KRob Competition 2024, one of the most influential architectural drawing competitions currently active worldwide. The project is featured by AIA Dallas and will be exhibited in AD EX from July 2024.
Featured Projects
Shuang Chen designed the “Third Space,” a free library situated between the Jamaica bus terminal and a commercial street. The library serves as a waiting area for passengers and a vibrant community hub for Jamaica Queens. Shuang’s design features a narrow and linear design on the ground floor, which includes the library lobby and the bus station waiting room. As it ascends, the structure takes on an arched shape on the upper levels, providing generous open spaces for reading and book storage. It embodies the ethos of free access and encourages visitors to experience the library as the nexus of their urban journey, whether waiting for a bus or engaging in daily activities. Shuang’s project blurs the boundary between familiar and unknown and public and private and creates a third civic space for individuals.
Yushan Jiang’s “Divided Unity” project captures the transition between horizontal and vertical surfaces at multiple scales to showcase the different but cohesive identities of both. Throughout history, architects have developed and reinvented the articulations between horizontal and vertical elements, starting from simple and sharp connections to extraneous and layered decorations to sophisticated and fused geometries. These transitions could be found at different scales, ranging from the overall composition to wall-to-ceiling details, even furniture.
In her project, Yushan utilized the fused towers as a pivot to redefine the boundaries between intimacy and publicity. Within the towers, artists have access to diverse and custom studios. On the ground, the common art center is for everyone to experience, where visitors circulate between inside and outside through unexpected transitions. “Divided Unity” embraces twists and turns to expand the meaning of fluid transitions, connecting not only the artists and the visitors but also linking the vertical and the horizontal. This project’s section drawing is a 50th Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition finalist.
Design Approaches
Shuang approaches design by drawing inspiration from her daily observations of people and their surroundings. She sees architecture as a means to reflect and uphold shared urban memories while contributing to the cityscape's continuous vibrancy. Her work focuses on the interconnectedness between individual experiences and public spaces, seeking to balance intimacy and public interaction in today's society through architectural design.
Yushan focuses on the synergy and interplay between nature and culture. Her design adheres to simplicity and subtlety within architectural discourse, serving as a manifesto for the mundane and a reinterpretation of the transcendent. She explores the potential to address cultural and environmental issues through architectural design and implies a far more expansive meaning.
Visitor Insights
Exhibition visitors have been delighted and intrigued by the designers’ projects, demonstrating their ability to impact the world socially.
One visitor named Isaac stressed the importance of third space and liminal space. Isaac revealed that the world can be fundamentally different if individuals know what to change, and the architects’ designs demonstrate that.
Another visitor named Olivia reflected on how the exhibition was “brilliant” and “amazing,” wishing the world was as “cool.” The exhibition significantly highlighted boundaries on numerous levels, including social, physical, and environmental.
Personal Reflections
Shuang’s collaborative journey with Yushan deepened their shared passion for spatial storytelling. They navigated reinterpretations of the projects’ narratives while also reconsidering the design’s potential. Visitors sparked the most interest in Shuang because they came from diverse backgrounds and gave different insights and interpretations of the projects.
From Yushan’s perspective, curating the “A Līmen: In-Between and Beyond” exhibition was a one-of-a-kind experience. She could explore intertwining relationships and pinpoint invisible synergies between their work through mix-and-match techniques. She was grateful for Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, allowing the designers to showcase their work and engage with professors and other designers.
Links: https://abigailogilvy.com/events/61/overview/
