Because of the multi-step process at
photo studio Elefoto, Daylab focused
on enhancing the overall experience
and circulation.
&
AIMEE
THE DESIGN BUSINESS is booming in China,
a country that’s long been a hotbed of rapid
expansion. Buildings were once seemingly
thrown together at a whim, without regard for
their users. Shanghai-based Daylab belongs
to a new wave of young designers eager to
confront such stereotypes. More specifically,
the studio hopes to break the unwritten rules
of commercial architecture in China. ‘Most
designers here think commercial projects are
about checking boxes,’ says Docee Dong, one
of Daylab’s three partners. ‘There are so many
“guidelines”, which can be seen as impenetra-
ble restraints. It’s apparently always better to
have a brighter shop than a darker one, for
instance. We love to question such prec-
edents. On the other hand, some rules cannot
be broken. In those cases, we try to present
an alternative perspective. Is it possible, for
example, to put a high-end store in a low-end
wholesale market, doubling or tripling its
sales volume? If it works, what’s the commer-
cial logic behind that success?’
Docee Dong studied Environmental
Art Design with Daylab co-founder Aimee
Liu at Jiangnan University. After graduating
in 2008, they each gained experience at archi-
tecture firms – Docee at Arata Isozaki, and
Aimee at Hirsch Bedner Associates. Docee
and Aimee established Daylab in 2012, bring-
ing Yongpeng Liu on board as a partner when
he returned from London in 2015, armed with
a diploma from the Architectural Association
School of Architecture. Since then, they’ve
worked on a string of commercial spaces –
everything from a co-working spot to a photo
studio – that challenge the philosophy of
their forefathers. »INTRODUCING 57