Zihui Pan

Endless Communication Wall

My scheme started by looking at handwash which is often used to kill COVID, and I found that the bubbles produced after rubbing have their own organizational logic. This logic informed my final pattern. I was also inspired by the precedent of ‘Hortus Mytilus’. I proposed a ‘safe’ communicating space for China Town which works with social distancing. The name of the scheme references the fact that a circle can never find an end. Because the pattern elements are the circle and line, I realized circles are suitable for hanging things, and lines offer a structure for fixing and suspending these circles. I also drew on the blessing note tradition in China, where stripes hanging from the circles could work as a message wall which would allow people to communicate in a way that was not face to face. After a period of time the color of the surface of stripes disappears and turns white.

The installation serves as a leisure space for people after their meals in China Town and the ‘wall’ forms a semi-private space. The wind also affects the length of the stripes and changes the feeling of the space. The ground paving pattern and the ‘walls’ work together to offer rules of social distancing. The space is ephemeral, transforming in usage and meaning during traditional Chinese festivals.