BI FU by Xing Chen

February 2, 2016 2016年2月2日

Located in Beijing’s Qianmen, BI FU Kongjian is a small shop that sits quietly along Zhujiajiao hutong. Chen Xing, an architect and fashion designer, is the mind behind this project. With his background in architecture, he transformed what used to be an old brothel into a contemporary clothing boutique that is home to a collection of his personally designed apparel. Upon entering through a small door, visitors will find themselves in a narrow passageway, and advancing further they will find themselves in an open-air courtyard. The courtyard is divided in half by two spaces that are used as a café and bar; hinged French doors are used to separate these indoor areas from the outdoor. The glass doors can be opened up completely to combine the three areas into one large space. Going farther down the courtyard is a door that leads into the BI FU studio; the first floor is utilized as a showroom for their clothing, while the second floor is used a private workspace.


彼伏空间,坐落于北京前门朱家角胡同,由旧时青楼改造而成,是陈兴作为建筑师的一个传统老建筑改造项目,同时也是他作为服装设计师而成立的个人品牌“彼伏”的所在地。从胡同边上7号的小门推进去,过了狭道,便可见一个露天中庭。中庭两侧是咖啡馆兼酒吧,均有面向中庭与墙同宽的折叠推拉玻璃门。一旦侧推开门,三个被划分开的空间便融为一体。穿过中庭,即是彼伏的工作室了。其一层为展示空间,二层为制作及设计工作间。

The way BI FU is designed makes it quite different from a traditional siheyuan, and it’s also unlike the traditional architecture of Chinese palaces. Chen Xing chose this particular building to renovate mainly because of the courtyard space and he was intrigued by the ways the original architects built with wood. After all his personal touches were applied, he carefully returned the original wooden structures to their place. He wanted a contemporary design but still sought to preserve the history of the old building. Born in Xi’an, Chen Xing graduated from the Tsinghua University in Beijing and later the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy with a degree in architecture. He understands the importance of culture and heritage, and strongly believes that the old and the new should exist and grow alongside one another. Being an avid supporter of independent designers, and having an interest in the role of culture in brands and design, it seemed only natural for him to shift his focus towards fashion design.


这个空间结构既不像四合院传统民用建筑,也不似故宫传统皇家建筑,其中庭和繁多的木结构又给它平添一丝趣味,这正是陈兴选择并改造它的原因。他将原建筑中的木结构小心翼翼置回原处,让历史痕迹在现代设计中仍踞有一席之地。这位来自中国古都西安、从北京清华大学和意大利米兰理工大学毕业的建筑师,他信奉文化的传承,信奉新与旧应该有机生长在一起。因为更倾向于自主创作以及对“品牌、文化、设计”的热衷,他转而投入到服装设计。

Chen Xing’s obsession with architecture and culture, along with his love of design, culminated into his BI FU clothing brand. He prefers minimal and simpler designs that also contain dramatic details. His goal was to create something exciting and refreshing amidst the cultural renaissance happening in China. The specific type of design, whether it’s architecture or fashion, isn’t important to him except when it comes to the technical requirements. He firmly believes that the artist’s personal interpretation on the finished design as well as their understanding of culture are the cornerstones of every piece of work. We recently had the chance to discuss fashion and architecture with this multitalented designer.


陈兴对建筑和文化的痴迷带进他的个人品牌“彼伏”。他的设计简洁利落,细节中充满戏剧,在今天中国创意界的文化觉醒中一枝独秀。对于他来说,具体的技术性要求外,做哪一类设计并不重要,作品只是作为最末端的一个存在,个人对设计的解读、对文化的理解才是最为源头的关键。以下采访兴许可以让我们对这位跨界设计师有更深的了解。

Neocha: In your opinion, what do fashion design and architecture have in common?

Chen Xing: Fashion and architecture are both created to fulfill practical roles, but both also seek to satisfy people’s demand for good aesthetics. Practical daily life use, weather condition, cultural background, materials, and technical aspects all need to be taken into consideration for both of these fields. These two things also have similar roles in culture, history, and society. Both fashion and architecture involve individuals being inside the design – only one is done on a smaller scale while the latter is executed in a larger scale. Clothing involves accommodating a person’s movements and actions, while architecture involves allowing sufficient space for their activities.


Neocha: 在你看来,服装设计和建筑有些什么共性?

陈兴: 服装和建筑都是既要满足人的实用性,又要满足人的审美;既需要考虑生活条件、气候条件,文化背景,也需要考虑材料、技术实现,到最后造型确立。它们跟人文历史社会的关系也都是一样的。此外在在实现上也是,都要在解决功能的过程中解决形式的问题。它们存在非常多共同的地方: 一个是在小的尺度上将人包裹起来,一个是在大的尺度上将人包裹起来。衣服是满足人的一个动作,但是建筑是满足人的一个活动。

Neocha: Are there some ways of thinking that you take from your architectural background and apply to your fashion designs?

Chen Xing: I would say the way I deal with problems is carried over. A big part of architecture involves solving problems. For example, once an architect knows the plot of land they’ll be working on, all the pros and cons must be worked out. The design cannot compromise functionality; certain requirements, such as lighting, ventilation, fire safety, traffic, and so on, all need to be taken into consideration. Fashion design is similar – there are fewer problems, but you still have to figure out the textiles and cuts to bring the design to life.

Culture is another angle that carries over from my architectural background. For example, Western architecture tends to use stone, and Eastern architecture has a preference towards wood instead. We put emphasis on the connection between materials; traditional Eastern clothing doesn’t use buttons but opts for straps and bands instead, which perhaps feel more “gentle”. Western fashion tends to be more colorful using synthetic dyes, while Eastern fashion prefers using plants and minerals to create natural dyes. These are aspects I will take into consideration when I’m designing clothing.

Another thing is the way I think about aesthetics. Architects need their work to be able to stand the test of time. When I make clothing, I also aim to create timeless pieces. This is probably one of the bigger influences that architecture has on my fashion design. I really dislike the current market trend of making products that try to entice consumers into buying things they don’t need. There are vintage designs that still look amazing today. There is value in well-designed products, I want my designs to still look beautiful after a decade.

Architecture influences me greatly, not only in fashion, but in almost everything I do. Whenever I encounter a problem, I first begin to analyze all the advantages and disadvantages, and then I’ll try to figure out how to employ different methods in order to solve it. In architecture, when you’re solving a problem there is never one straight answer; it often involves many variables.


Neocha: 有没有哪些思维是你从建筑的学习中带到服装设计中的?

陈兴: 一个是解决问题的思维。建筑其实更多的是解决问题。比如说你拿到一个地段后,首先要研究它的优劣势,然后你要满足的功能条件。这其中就会有诸如采光、通风、消防、交通等等各种问题需要你解决。衣服也是类似,只是相对问题少很多。你要思考通过什么样的线条、比例和剪裁去实现你最后要实现的效果。

一个是文化角度出发的思维。例如:西方用石材,东方则是木构,所以我们更强调构件的连接;东方传统上不爱用扣子,而是用带子系,是更柔和的一种处理方式;色彩上,西方工业色彩用的较多,东方则更偏向用植物和矿物等天然颜色……这些都成为我做设计的出发角度。

还有一个是审美的思维。建筑本身的特性会要求它能够经受得住时间的考验。做衣服的时候,我追求的也是timeless。这个影响对我比较大一些。我不喜欢现在市场上充斥着很多为了刺激消费去拼拼凑凑的东西。古代的精品到现在也很好看,好的东西都要有自己的含金量,我希望我的东西再过几十年看也是挺好看的。

建筑思维对我影响特别大,对我做任何事情都影响特别大。我遇到任何一个问题,都会分析优势劣势,怎么用综合的方式去解决它。因为解决一个建筑问题的思维他就不是单向的,都是发散、多元的。

Neocha: Is there a reason why you place such heavy emphasis on Chinese culture when it comes to your fashion designs?

Chen Xing: Successful brands that have a deep respect for their local culture, have the mindset of wanting traditions to live on and be preserved. I’m Chinese – when I established my brand, my respect and desire to interweave local culture into my brand was a given. It’s not a publicity stunt. You have to start with the things that you understand and believe in the most, and have strong feelings towards. These things need to act as the foundation: the soil that provides the nutrients for your brand so to speak – that’s the role of your own culture. A brand, simply put, is just an abstract form of an individual’s personality. If you don’t understand your own culture, then you won’t be confident; and if you’re lacking that confidence, it makes it extremely difficult to shape your brand.


Neocha: 你为什么在服装中特别注重中国文化?

陈兴: 纵观所有好的品牌,他们都有着对自己本土文化和传统的尊重和延续。我是中国人,我做一个品牌,这方面应该是默认的,而不应该作为宣传噱头。你本就要从你最能理解、最有感受、最信仰的一个基础土壤去吸取营养的,那就是你自己的文化。品牌是个抽象化的人格。如果对自己的文化不了解,就会不自信;缺乏自信,你就很难去塑造你的品牌。

Neocha: What has been the biggest challenge for you in combining Eastern culture with contemporary fashion?

Chen Xing: The production chain. I wanted to do a series on oriental fans at one point, and some of these traditional fans are made with paper, some with canvas. There are fixed fans and folding fans; there are some that are embroidered, and others that use tapestry methods of silk weaving. Some fans are decorated with calligraphy, others with painted designs. Each fan involves a lot of creativity and all have a story behind it. I had to compromise when it came to production. There was only one place in Beijing that could make folding fans, but their work wasn’t consistent unlike the kinds that are produced through machines. I wanted to make embroidered fans, but there are not many tailors that could do it. When I did find someone who could do it, the end result was actually very unpolished. Making any additional requests increased costs too much. When I found myself wanting to create more intricate and high quality products, and wanting to fulfill my original design goals, that’s when I discovered the lack of support at different stages in the production chain. The slow deterioration of traditional crafts, the lust of money, and the lack of well-developed brands – I suspect these are the main reasons behind it all. I hope that I will eventually be able to change things.


Neocha: 东方文化和现代服装设计相结合,这其中的最大挑战是什么?

陈兴: 配套产业链。我曾想做一个扇子系列。传统扇子有纸面,有布面;有团扇,有折扇;有刺绣,有缂丝;有书法,有图案。它们有着各种故事,也有着各种创意空间。但在具体实现过程中,我不得不妥协:想做压褶,全北京只有一个地方能做,就这样,它压褶的效果也比不上大工业机器稳定;想做刺绣,刺绣工人本来就少,且做的也粗糙,多提一点要求就会导致成本过高。当你想做高品质的精致作品时,当你发现你需要更多的设计表现语言时,就会发现配套的周边产业链的问题。传统工艺的流失、想赚快钱的欲望、成熟品牌的缺位,都是这个现象的成因,我希望我可以改变这种情况。

Neocha: What are your plans for the future? Any new projects?

Chen Xing: I have a project that combines aviation concepts with Chinese qipaos. Kites, gliders, vintage aircrafts, and modern airplane are all inspirations. I want to unite all of these things with traditional apparel that already possess their own unique defining characteristics. When qipaos were more commonplace, those that would wear it found it difficult to walk because of its constricted form. I want to take the classic elegance of qipaos and clash it against a modern, super fast thing like an airplane. I plan on being more experimental with the form and fabric. As for the long run, I hope that BI FU can develop into a China-based luxury brand.


Neocha: 未来有什么创作计划?

陈兴: 我想将旗袍和飞行元素结合在一起。风筝、滑翔机、复古飞机、现代飞机等,都有很多的想象空间,包括相应的服装也有显著特点。传统的旗袍,人穿着的时候路都走不开。我想将这样一种优雅古典的东西和一个具有速度感、现代感的东西发生碰撞,在形式和面料上也做新的尝试。长远来说,我希望能够做成可以代表中国的一个奢侈品牌。

Address:
No.7~9, Zhujiajiao Hutong, Qianmen
Dongcheng District, Beijing
People’s Republic of China

Phone: +86 010 63135944

Weibo: @彼伏空间
WeChat: bottopchen


地址:
中国 北京市西城区
前门朱家角胡同7~9号

 

电话: + 86 010 63135944

微博: @彼伏空间
微信: bottopchen

 

Contributors: Banny Wang, Eric Zhang
Photographer: Banny Wang
Additional Images Courtesy of BIFU


供稿人: Banny Wang, Eric Zhang
摄影师: Banny Wang
附加图片由彼伏授权提供

 

What’s Up With That?

February 1, 2016 2016年2月1日

What’s Up With That? is a new multimedia collaboration between The Shanghai Restoration Project and Chinese indie animator Lei Lei. The project contemplates the seemingly inexhaustible curiosity that we all had when we were children and explores what happens to it when we all grow older. It features ten new original electronic music compositions by The Shanghai Restoration Project, which also incorporate samples taken from cassette tape recordings made by Lei Lei during his childhood. The sounds were then juxtaposed against the soundscape of adult life in today’s modern society.


《怎么搞的?》是上海复兴方案和中国独立动画人雷磊的一个新的多媒体合作。作品对我们童年时期那看似源源不断的好奇心进行了思考,并对我们长大后好奇心方面究竟发生了什么进行了一番探索。作品含有十首由上海复兴方案创作的电子音乐新作,其中收录了雷磊童年时期的磁带录音中提取的小样。这些声音继而与时下现代社会中成人生活的音景相映并置。

 

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The synchronized visuals from the collaborative project is comprised of animated cutouts from the book A Collection of Western Book Covers, which was introduced to Lei Lei at a very early age by his father who worked as a graphic designer in the 1980s. This multimedia collaboration, according to Lei Lei, is an exciting departure for him. Being able to perform along with Dave during live musical performances is quite different from his usual workflow as an animator, which typically involves spending many hours drawing illustrations and animating on the computer.


这次合作项目中的同步视觉是由利用《国外书籍装桢设计选》一书剪贴画制成的动画节选组成。在80年代雷磊尚为年幼时,他的平面设计师父亲就将这本书介绍给了他。此次这个多媒体合作,是个令他非常兴奋的新方向。作为一个动画人,他在日常工作中需要长时间地画画和电脑动画制作,与Dave一起在音乐现场表演这种事与之相比算是个相当不同的体验。

Photo Credit: TW.STUDIO
图片来源: TW.STUDIO

The album is available for purchase on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

Take a listen to a selection of our favorite tracks taken from the record here:

The Shanghai Restoration Project + Lei Lei – Ayo Way

The Shanghai Restoration Project + Lei Lei – Out the Door

The Shanghai Restoration Project + Lei Lei – Dreams in a Glass Jar

Read more about the collaboration below in our exclusive interview with Lei Lei and Dave Liang from The Shanghai Restoration Project.


该专辑现已在iTunesSpotify,和 Amazon发布。

以下是我们最爱的专辑曲目节选,欢迎试听:

 上海复兴方案 + 雷磊 – Ayo Way

上海复兴方案 + 雷磊 – Out the Door

 上海复兴方案 + 雷磊 – Dreams in a Glass Jar

了解更多关于这个项目的内容,请阅读以下我们对雷磊和上海复兴方案Dave Liang的独家专访。

Neocha: How did this collaboration come about? How did you both meet?

Dave: I first heard about Lei Lei through Neocha founder Sean Leow and found his work fascinating. Growing up in America, most of the animation I was exposed to was very corporatized (for example, Disney, Pixar, etc.), so the individualism of Lei Lei’s work really resonated with me. A few years later, I was introduced to him in person by the visual artist Sun Yunfan. He was in New York City for a few days and even stayed over at my place, where he would show me his latest animations and we would also jam together over tracks that I was putting together – he’s a really clever freestyle rapper!


Neocha: 你们的合作是如何展开的?你们是如何相识的?

Dave我第一次听说雷磊是通过Neocha的创始人Sean Leow, 当时觉得他的作品特别迷人。我在美国长大,接触到的多数动画都是非常大公司集体制作的(例如: 迪士尼,皮克斯等),所以雷磊作品的个人特质激起了我很大的共鸣。几年后,视觉艺术家孙云帆当面介绍我们认识。他当时在纽约呆了几天,甚至在我家借宿。在我家,他给我看了他最新的动画作品,我们也一起听了我做的一些曲子,他真的是个非常聪明的freestyle rapper!

Lei Lei: I actually met Dave before in New York City, and had already heard a lot of his music. At that time, we had some ideas to collaborate on a music project. I was a special guest rapper at some of his Beijing and New York shows – slowly after that, we got to know each other.

Last year, when I went back to my hometown, Jiangxi, I discovered a bunch of old cassette tape recordings from when I was three years old. I listened to them and found them really interesting! So then I shared what was on the cassette tapes with Dave, and he became as excited as a kid in a candy shop. He later sampled and edited the sounds from the tapes and used his own music to spin everything together into a completely new story.

And just like that, we started to prepare and put together some fun stuff to do for our live performances. I actually did a lot of research on one of my dad’s old books called A Collection of Western Book Covers – it was published back in 1988 and it compiled a lot of international book cover designs. At the time, the book was put out to show Chinese designers some of the better new design concepts from the West. So then I used all the graphics and stuff that they made in 1988 and turned them into an animation. I used some clips from it in this collaboration with Dave and matched the clips with the mood of his music. Some of the parts are more abstract and some are more obvious. So that is pretty much how What’s Up With That? came about – the visuals and sounds from the live performances are from 1988. We just created a completely brand new story through editing and remixing all of those different elements.


雷磊: 其实我之前在纽约就见过Dave, 也听了很多他的音乐,当时我们就有一些音乐上合作的想法,我作为嘉宾出现在他北京和纽约的演出上。所以我们慢慢开始熟悉和了解对方。

在去年,我在江西老家找到了几盘我在1988年的录音和唱歌的磁带~那时候我三岁,我听了以后觉得内容非常有趣!我把磁带的内容分享给Dave,Dave也被我小时侯的录音乐翻了,像吃了一包跳跳糖,于是他在纽约重新编辑采样这些磁带的素材,从中找到新的线索,用音乐编写成新的故事。

就这样,我们开始准备一些有趣的现场演出,其实我一直在研究我父亲的一本旧书《国外书籍装桢设计选》,它出版于1988年。书中展示了大量国外的书籍封面,试图教导当时的中国设计师学习西方优秀的设计概念。我利用这些1988年的视觉素材做动画,我会从中选择一些片段和Dave合作,配合音乐的情绪,有的抽象,有的具体一些……《怎么搞的?》专辑就是这么来的~现场演出的视觉和听觉都取材于1988年。我们通过重新的编辑和剪辑工作,虚构一个新的故事。

Neocha: What was it like collaborating on this project? Tell us about the process, and how was this different from your usual projects?

Dave: Lei Lei and I would hang out a lot in New York City during his residency. We liked each other’s artistic style and wanted to find a way to collaborate. One time he was telling me about his childhood in Nanchang, and it sounded very different from his current life in Beijing. We thought that it might be interesting to explore his childhood and see if that led us anywhere. On the visual side, Lei Lei started playing around with some animated cutouts from the above mentioned book. On the audio side, he dug up these three cassette tapes. When he was three years old, Lei Lei’s parents had recorded him making funny sounds, telling stories, reciting random poems, and singing songs. The tapes also contained theme songs from television and radio programs at the time, as well as sounds from everyday life, like phone calls, and so on. After we converted the tapes to digital, I went through and extracted the sounds that jumped out at me and created some basic tracks from them. I would then send them to Lei Lei in Beijing and he would send over new animated clips he was working on to me in New York.


Neocha: 合作是怎样的?可以和我们说说过程吗?这和你通常做的插画项目有何不同?

Dave雷磊在纽约的这段时间里,我们经常呆在一起。我们都喜欢对方的艺术风格,也想找到一个合作的方式。有一次,他和我说起他在南昌的童年,在我听来,那和他现在北京的生活大不一样。我们认为探索探索他的童年生活应该会挺有意思,也看看这么做下文会怎么样。视觉方面,他开始试着利用上面提到那本书剪下的画面。音乐方面,他找出了这么三张卡带。他父母在他三岁的时候录过他自己编的故事、发出的搞怪声音、背诵的诗句和唱的歌。那些卡带上也录了些当时的电视主题曲和广播节目,还有一些日常生活里的声音,比如电话铃声等。我们把这些磁带进行数码转码之后,我捕捉了一些能刺激到我的声音,编成了基本音轨。我会把它们发给在北京的雷磊,他也会把正在做的新动画片段发给在纽约的我。

Lei LeiI think the main reason this collaboration between Dave and I happened was because we were both really open to do different things. Both of us enjoy the process of working with different artists. Dave has collaborated with Jazz singer Zhang Le and various Indian musicians for different projects that ended up being amazing. I have also worked with Ou Ning, an art curator; Thomas Sauvin, a collector of French art; as well as numerous artists from different fields. That’s how we knew a collaboration between us would work out.

Even though Dave primarily handled the music while I handled the visual aspects for this collaboration, our way of thinking is quite similar, so we were on the same page the whole time. Dave is an incredible musician. The origins of material is very important to both of us; we like to deconstruct older works and reconstruct it into something completely new. Even though the two of us grew up in very different environments, we still share the same issues of being overly self-aware and trying to figure out our identity in society. So through this project we try to find answers to these questions.

Of course, this project is really different from my past work. Sometimes just doing animation work can feel boring and mechanical, because I’m just sitting in front of the computer making drawings over and over again. Being a part of a live musical performance with Dave is something really exciting for me. Performing live you can get an immediate reaction from an audience, which is very different from doing animations or illustrations.


雷磊: 我觉得我和Dave的合作的前提是我们都有非常开放的心态,我们非常乐于和不同的艺术家合作。Dave和爵士歌手张乐和印度的音乐人都有不同的项目,非常精彩。我之前也和策展人欧宁,法国收藏家苏文以及很多不同领域的艺术家合作过。所以我们知道这样的合作会带来有趣的化学效应!

这次合作中,虽然Dave主要负责音乐而我主要负责视觉的部分,但关键的是我们的工作背后的逻辑和思考是类似的。Dave是非常优秀的音乐家,我们同样关注素材的来源,我们喜欢对旧物进行解构和再创造,我们虽然成长于不同的环境,但是我们同样有在社会生活中自我认同和自我认知的问题,所以在这个项目中我们都试图去寻找答案。

当然,这个项目和我其他的动画工作不同,动画有的时候是机械的工作,坐在电脑前反复的绘画,而和Dave的音乐演出是让人兴奋和激动的!我们即兴的表演观众会立刻有反馈。这和动画或是插画很不一样。

Neocha: What did you enjoy about the collaboration process?

Dave: Lei Lei is a really quirky guy and this makes for a fun partnership. Once we were at a gallery watching an animated short and he started making sound effects out loud as if he was providing the soundtrack. Another time we were at a Knicks game and he was commenting on the shapes of the players’ bodies as if they were cartoon characters in a future animation of his. I’m sure these quirks and carefree attitude towards life influenced some of my production choices for this project. Also, when we perform live, Lei Lei often whips out a signature combination of up-down, side-side moves that audiences really like.

Lei LeiTwo things. The first thing being what I mentioned earlier: being able to incorporate my art into a live performance is really exciting for me. The second is the aspect of being able to share my experiences. Having the chance to share my memories and cassette tapes from my childhood with other artists is wonderful.


Neocha: 在这个合作过程中,你觉得最棒的是哪个部分?

Dave雷磊是个很古怪的人,这一点让我们的合作关系变得很有趣。有一次我们进画廊观看动画短片,他就开始搞出各种声效,就跟他在给动画配音轨似的。还有一次我们在尼克斯队的篮球比赛上,他现场评价各个球员的体型,好像他们都是他将来某部动画片的角色。他这些生活上的古怪和无所谓的态度对我在这个项目上的制作肯定是有影响的。还有,当我们现场表演的时候,雷磊常来个上下、左右结合起来的标志性身体动作,让观众特别喜欢。

雷磊: 最棒的:1,是上个问题中我回答的演出,这让我很兴奋。2,是关于分享,我觉得把我儿时的记忆,我小时候的录音磁带分享给其他的艺术家,这个让我觉得非常的奇妙!

Websites:
shanghairestorationproject.com
raydesign.cn

The album is available for purchase on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

 

Contributor: Leon Yan
Video & Music Courtesy of The Shanghai Restoration Project & Lei Lei
Artist Photos by TW.STUDIO

Additional Photography by Jia Li


网站:
shanghairestorationproject.com
raydesign.cn

The album is available for purchase on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

 

供稿人: Leon Yan
视频和音乐由上海复兴方案雷磊提供
艺术家图片: TW.STUDIO

附加摄影: Jia Li

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