On June 16, 2017, the Much in Little – Small and Exquisite Architectures Joint Exhibition organized by the Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University was officially unveiled inside Yifu Building at Xixi Campus of Zhejiang University. Many young architects attend the exhibition to voice their ideas, and discuss with scholars and experts their ideas and thoughts about design, architecture and industry. GOA also participates in the exhibition. Shanghai Chimney Café designed by Wang Yan, Principal of GOA, is showcased at the site. Inside a 3x3m box, GOA demonstrates its attitude towards architectural design.

“To overcome spatial constraints is the utmost key to the success of a small construction” – By Wang Yan

From design to completion, it took only a short period of two months for the Chimney Café of less than 60 square meters to be open to visitors in the courtyard of SPSI Art Museum. Passers-by from the sidewalk can vaguely see the café and the bamboo courtyard through a semipermeable steel mesh wall.

Though of a small size and completed in a short period of time, the Chimney Café on display represents the designer’s continuous thinking about design. Wang first saw the mirror material used for the fog effect of the construction in the newest phase of the renovation project of the Louvre in Paris. He applied it to the Chimney Café as he wanted to incorporate what he observed in daily life into the design of a small construction to make preparations for larger architectural projects in the future.