Yizheng Experience Center: A Journey Through Childhood Memories

United Design Practice and Light Collab Create a Unique Showcase for Children's Erasers

The Yizheng Experience Center is not your typical showcase. Instead of focusing on production and manufacturing prowess, like most other spaces in China, the center aims to establish emotional connections. The key concept is "erasing x with y," a metaphor for how we erase bad memories from our childhood and keep the good ones. This concept is expressed in a brand video shown in the center and in a concept tunnel that visitors pass through before viewing the exhibits.

One of the unique features of the center is its two rubber light installations. One plays with shadow, while the other plays with color. White rubber blocks protrude from the wall in seemingly random fashion, but when the light is turned on, the Yizheng Chinese characters come into being. In the second installation, light is reflected off colored rubber blocks to compose a painting with light. Both installations are dramatized by the before-after effect in the storytelling with light.

The center also features rubber light fixtures, a surprising element that required numerous rounds of prototyping to achieve the right mix of rigidity and translucency. Three sets of these rubber chandeliers are configured differently elevation-wise, but from a bottom-up view, they spell the Chinese characters of Yizheng, mirroring the wooden blocks on the podium below.

The Yizheng Experience Center is about 200 square meters in total, divided into three areas: a conference area, a retail mockup area, and an experience area. A concept tunnel leads into the experience area. The journey through the center is designed to enhance the sales journey for visiting distributors and foreign buyers, demonstrating the brand's innovation, creativity, and constant pursuit of excellence.

The project started in April 2016 and finished construction in November 2016. It won the Silver A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award in 2017, a testament to its innovative and creative design. The Yizheng Experience Center is a shining example of how design can create a powerful emotional connection and tell a compelling story.