Tyler Hopf

The Dongguan Factory and Housing Complex in Shenzhen, China is a project that was in DD and CD phases while I was working on it at Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The complex itself is composed of a series of strings that are each programmed separately as housing, offices, and manufacturing. At the nodes where the strings intersect, the program collides. Special functions like dining, research labs, showrooms, and community theaters are created. The gaps created by pulling apart the strings provide different exterior community zones and parks.

As a part of the design team, my main responsibility was to coordinate, design and construct a 1:100 scale model of the million square foot complex, in addition to computer modeling and design meetings. The foam core model was over eight feet by eight feet, and took several months to complete. It is now a showpiece in the office for visitors, clients and employees as the largest model done and one of the largest projects for the firm. This huge undertaking and the model was a constant design tool, with holes cut in the parks to allow us to literally climb into the model. A large part of it was interchangeable so that it could be dramatically or subtly changed as the project was designed and redesigned, working back and forth between this model, sketches, and computer modeling. The model was used to test ideas, materials, form, organization on a constant basis, and will not be done until the project is constructed.

I worked specifically with Charles Renfro, Ling Zhang, Merica Jenson and Alice Chai. Construction began in 2012 and completion is expected in late 2013/early 2014.