Urban Design · 2025
Continuation of Atlas
by Yaoze Yu
Continuation of Atlas brings water back into view—as sound, movement, and spatial presence embedded within the city.
Drawing from historical research, mapping, and sectional studies, the work reconstructs fragments of daily life once shaped by a visible water network in Quanzhou. Rather than presenting water as a hidden technical system, the project explores how water can be perceived, inhabited, and remembered in everyday life.
Through collaged scenes and storyboard sequences, infrastructure, memory, and lived experience overlap. The work positions water not only as a physical medium, but as a cultural and spatial narrative that reconnects the city with its historical identity.
Through model-based storytelling, Yaoze Yu creates spatial interventions that are both rooted in local history and responsive to present-day urban life.
Project Details
Artist
Yaoze Yu
Year
2025
Medium
Mapping, Spatial Representation, Collage, Model-based Storytelling
Dimensions
Mixed media installation
Location
Quanzhou, China
Artist Statement
Yaoze Yu is an urban designer whose work explores how contemporary landscape and urban design strategies can be brought into dialogue with historical environments. Trained in architecture and urban design, he is interested in combining historical research with new approaches to water management, public space, and ecological design. Through mapping, spatial representation, and narrative-based design, his work seeks to create spatial interventions that are both rooted in local history and responsive to present-day urban life.
— Yaoze Yu
Interested in This Work?
For inquiries or more information, please contact:
info.unbriefed@gmail.com
Works
Water Infrastructure Narrative I
01 / 06
A collaged scene reconstructing the historical water network of Quanzhou. Through layered mapping and spatial representation, this piece reveals how water once shaped daily life in the city. The composition combines archival research with contemporary design thinking, bringing invisible infrastructure into visible dialogue with urban memory.
Sectional Storyboard II
02 / 06
A sectional study exploring the vertical relationship between water systems and inhabited spaces. This storyboard sequence shows how water moves through the city—not as a hidden technical system, but as sound, movement, and spatial presence. The work merges infrastructure with lived experience.
Urban Memory Fragment III
03 / 06
A fragment of daily life reconstructed through narrative design. This piece translates historical research into spatial intervention, showing how people once interacted with water in their everyday routines. The collage technique layers different temporal moments, creating a palimpsest of urban memory.
Model-based Storytelling IV
04 / 06
A physical model that serves as both analytical tool and narrative device. Through careful attention to scale, materiality, and spatial sequence, this work demonstrates how design research can become a form of storytelling. The model invites viewers to inhabit the reconstructed water network.
Spatial Representation V
04 / 06
An analytical drawing that combines mapping techniques with representational strategies. This piece demonstrates how contemporary landscape and urban design methods can be brought into dialogue with historical environments. The work is both documentation and speculation—grounded in research yet open to interpretation.
Cultural Narrative VI
06 / 06
A culminating piece that positions water as a cultural and spatial narrative. This work synthesizes the project's various threads—historical research, spatial intervention, and narrative reconstruction—into a cohesive vision of how water can reconnect Quanzhou with its historical identity while remaining responsive to present-day urban life.
Urban Design · 2025
Continuation of Atlas
by Yaoze Yu
Continuation of Atlas brings water back into view—as sound, movement, and spatial presence embedded within the city.
Drawing from historical research, mapping, and sectional studies, the work reconstructs fragments of daily life once shaped by a visible water network in Quanzhou. Rather than presenting water as a hidden technical system, the project explores how water can be perceived, inhabited, and remembered in everyday life.
Through collaged scenes and storyboard sequences, infrastructure, memory, and lived experience overlap. The work positions water not only as a physical medium, but as a cultural and spatial narrative that reconnects the city with its historical identity.
Through model-based storytelling, Yaoze Yu creates spatial interventions that are both rooted in local history and responsive to present-day urban life.
Project Details
Artist
Yaoze Yu
Year
2025
Medium
Mapping, Spatial Representation, Collage, Model-based Storytelling
Dimensions
Mixed media installation
Location
Quanzhou, China
Artist Statement
Yaoze Yu is an urban designer whose work explores how contemporary landscape and urban design strategies can be brought into dialogue with historical environments. Trained in architecture and urban design, he is interested in combining historical research with new approaches to water management, public space, and ecological design. Through mapping, spatial representation, and narrative-based design, his work seeks to create spatial interventions that are both rooted in local history and responsive to present-day urban life.
— Yaoze Yu
Interested in This Work?
For inquiries or more information, please contact:
info.unbriefed@gmail.com
Works
Water Infrastructure Narrative I
01 / 06
A collaged scene reconstructing the historical water network of Quanzhou. Through layered mapping and spatial representation, this piece reveals how water once shaped daily life in the city. The composition combines archival research with contemporary design thinking, bringing invisible infrastructure into visible dialogue with urban memory.
Sectional Storyboard II
02 / 06
A sectional study exploring the vertical relationship between water systems and inhabited spaces. This storyboard sequence shows how water moves through the city—not as a hidden technical system, but as sound, movement, and spatial presence. The work merges infrastructure with lived experience.
Urban Memory Fragment III
03 / 06
A fragment of daily life reconstructed through narrative design. This piece translates historical research into spatial intervention, showing how people once interacted with water in their everyday routines. The collage technique layers different temporal moments, creating a palimpsest of urban memory.
Model-based Storytelling IV
04 / 06
A physical model that serves as both analytical tool and narrative device. Through careful attention to scale, materiality, and spatial sequence, this work demonstrates how design research can become a form of storytelling. The model invites viewers to inhabit the reconstructed water network.
Spatial Representation V
05 / 06
An analytical drawing that combines mapping techniques with representational strategies. This piece demonstrates how contemporary landscape and urban design methods can be brought into dialogue with historical environments. The work is both documentation and speculation—grounded in research yet open to interpretation.
Cultural Narrative VI
06 / 06
A culminating piece that positions water as a cultural and spatial narrative. This work synthesizes the project's various threads—historical research, spatial intervention, and narrative reconstruction—into a cohesive vision of how water can reconnect Quanzhou with its historical identity while remaining responsive to present-day urban life.
Urban Design · 2025
Continuation of Atlas
by Yaoze Yu
Continuation of Atlas brings water back into view—as sound, movement, and spatial presence embedded within the city.
Drawing from historical research, mapping, and sectional studies, the work reconstructs fragments of daily life once shaped by a visible water network in Quanzhou. Rather than presenting water as a hidden technical system, the project explores how water can be perceived, inhabited, and remembered in everyday life.
Through collaged scenes and storyboard sequences, infrastructure, memory, and lived experience overlap. The work positions water not only as a physical medium, but as a cultural and spatial narrative that reconnects the city with its historical identity.
Through model-based storytelling, Yaoze Yu creates spatial interventions that are both rooted in local history and responsive to present-day urban life.
Project Details
Artist
Yaoze Yu
Year
2025
Medium
Mapping, Spatial Representation, Collage, Model-based Storytelling
Dimensions
Mixed media installation
Location
Quanzhou, China
Artist Statement
Yaoze Yu is an urban designer whose work explores how contemporary landscape and urban design strategies can be brought into dialogue with historical environments. Trained in architecture and urban design, he is interested in combining historical research with new approaches to water management, public space, and ecological design. Through mapping, spatial representation, and narrative-based design, his work seeks to create spatial interventions that are both rooted in local history and responsive to present-day urban life.
— Yaoze Yu
Interested in This Work?
For inquiries or more information, please contact:
info.unbriefed@gmail.com
Works
Water Infrastructure Narrative I
01 / 06
A collaged scene reconstructing the historical water network of Quanzhou. Through layered mapping and spatial representation, this piece reveals how water once shaped daily life in the city. The composition combines archival research with contemporary design thinking, bringing invisible infrastructure into visible dialogue with urban memory.
Sectional Storyboard II
02 / 06
A sectional study exploring the vertical relationship between water systems and inhabited spaces. This storyboard sequence shows how water moves through the city—not as a hidden technical system, but as sound, movement, and spatial presence. The work merges infrastructure with lived experience.
Urban Memory Fragment III
03 / 06
A fragment of daily life reconstructed through narrative design. This piece translates historical research into spatial intervention, showing how people once interacted with water in their everyday routines. The collage technique layers different temporal moments, creating a palimpsest of urban memory.
Model-based Storytelling IV
04 / 06
A physical model that serves as both analytical tool and narrative device. Through careful attention to scale, materiality, and spatial sequence, this work demonstrates how design research can become a form of storytelling. The model invites viewers to inhabit the reconstructed water network.
Spatial Representation V
05 / 06
An analytical drawing that combines mapping techniques with representational strategies. This piece demonstrates how contemporary landscape and urban design methods can be brought into dialogue with historical environments. The work is both documentation and speculation—grounded in research yet open to interpretation.
Cultural Narrative VI
06 / 06
A culminating piece that positions water as a cultural and spatial narrative. This work synthesizes the project's various threads—historical research, spatial intervention, and narrative reconstruction—into a cohesive vision of how water can reconnect Quanzhou with its historical identity while remaining responsive to present-day urban life.