Assistant Architect

Chapter 136: Finishing Touch

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Tao Fei’s opening speech quickly captured the attention of Party A. Together with the visual appeal of the project and research investment, the preconceived cooperation towards the project has made a high impact towards the next phase of the project. As long as the overall design levels are maintained and Tao Fei can continue to deliver his speech without fatal errors, the project was surely won.

However, Tao Fei’s designs also have a fatal flaw. Even though they are quite distinctive, they are rather avant-garde and most of the masses cannot accept his ideas. Unlike the previous time with Tao Fei’s irregularly shaped high-rise building, Gu Yu intentionally let Tao Fei run with his ideas for the tourism planning project. Today is the first time Gu Yu has seen it.

Sure enough, when the planning details of the main map were reviled, the two conservative members of Party A expressed their concern because there weren’t any straight lines from the road network into the newly designed facilities depicted by the architectural outlines.

Since the land that will be developed is a tropical rainforest, located at the base of the mountain and faced the countryside, the whole landform is sloped with large staggering clusters of flora making an extremely organic landscape.

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In order to maintain the natural environment, the road network drawn by Tao Fei is curved. Like the patches of natural flora, both large and small, the artistically conceived buildings on the drawing were also rounded. Arranged in order, they look like a patchwork of flora that grew out of the landscape naturally.

This design was undoubtedly novel and breaks through the traditional approach. If it can be built, it will likely become a very desired destination in Yunnan that would attract large numbers of rich tourists to the area.

The main issue was the extreme construction costs and time because of the non-linear roads and dimensions that would need to be carefully positioned on-site during the time of construction. Generally speaking, plans that are difficult to achieve are mostly reduced to cannon fodder!

Zhang Siyi carefully observed the expressions of the people in the room. In addition to Party A, he also saw Gu Yu and President Li in deep-thought with their mouths pursed. Zhang Siyi was worried that they now have regretted touting Tao Fei. Fuck! If they really did discuss the plan previously, then who has the balls to present this enchanting scene. The whole design could have been changed beyond recognition!

Zhang Siyi has to admit, Tao Fei is brave for presenting such a lavish design. Zhang Siyi broke out in a cold sweat and perspired enough for both of them. Zhang Siyi expected a turn to present his material soon. That’s right! It isn’t the only choice. They have a left hand!

Since party A’s target customer base is rich, investment is bound to be plentiful. However, none of them know whether or not the group of investors are interested in building a brand or was their emphasis on profits. The series of detailed maps are just one of Tao Fei’s small stepping stones. If it is the former, then he schemes can be as dazzling as it can be. If it is the latter, then the project will probably be pulled because there wouldn’t be enough profits in the end.

Tao Fei continued with his report and explained the origin of his design and where he got his inspiration from. The curvature of the lines on the plans aren’t haphazardly placed. Instead, they follow the orderly patterns of nature, like the branches of trees and leaf patterns. Even in nature can one find logic and geometry.

At the beginning of his design phase, all the lines on the picture were rigid lines including the buildings. Later, Tao Fei added an algorithm based on nature, and evolved the plan into an organic natural pattern. Tao Fei showed them images of his thought process. The changes from before to after reflect his design concept of ‘natural environment’. In the end, it is Party A who will decide which to use; the conservative square buildings or ’natural’ ones.

For the greatest impact, Tao Fei explained his process from the end backwards. First, to whet a persons’ appetite, he beautifully illustrated his most sought-after result, then double back to show the alternative which leaves the ultimate direction of the plan in Party A’s hands. Through one detailed area plan coupled with an intentions map, the result is that Tao Fei didn’t have to draw every single villa. That is to say, it is the slice of pie!

While Tao Fei was going over the intention map, Zhang Siyi watched the reactions of the group in the conference room and noticed some positive movements. All the people in Party A discussed the intention map with enthusiasm. At this time, they looked at President Li and Gu Yu for discussion and direction for final positioning.

Before they could react to the lack of physical architecture, Zhang Siyi stepped up to present his lookout Tower designs. As with Tao Fei, Gu Yu also introduced Zhang Siyi, albeit with much less achievements. Once again, Zhang Siyi was reminded of his education. If Gu Yu could introduce him with a Master’s degree, would Gu Yu be prouder?

At this time, the general manager of the construction planning department of Party A, a woman in her 40s, suddenly smiled and said: “President Li, are the designers of your company architects or models?”

President Li drank his tea and joked: “Before when Gu Yu was in Firm X, I took him to present a project. As long as there were women present, with all eyes on him, all he had to do was smile at each of them, and the project was won. Having tasted the effects of the honey trap, he has hired these two eye-catching architects this past year.”

After everyone finished laughing, the atmosphere became less tense. Feeling a little embarrassed, Zhang Siyi scratched his head. Feeling confident with his design, he took a deep breath and began to present his concept for the new landmark project. He not only showed the group an overview of his ideas, but with a few detailed drawings, he also meticulously included the materials and meaning behind each of the different concepts. During the design phase of his plan, Tao Fei helped Zhang Siyi polish his tower ideas by modify the shape of his tower and picking out the most suitable materials.

Even after he finished the tower, Zhang Siyi didn’t stop thinking about the project. Up until two days ago, he reacted vaguely. The cultural symbolism of the landmark tower is greater than the building itself.

In addition to the unique dwellings of cultural minorities of the area, like the Dai-style buildings, almost every village had at least one Buddhist temple or stupa. Whether the temple was built in a Burmese bell-shaped style, pavilion style or diamond shaped Thai-style, the temples where the most magnificently decorated buildings in the village.

He first took note of the buildings while visiting the Lalu Stockade. In the process of going through his photos, he found sudden inspiration and stayed up all night to research the materials used for Dai religious buildings. Using the significance of Buddhist culture in the area, he created an additional design element to the project. His Bodhi Beacon concept.

In front of everyone, Zhang Siyi could see the slight nods of approval throughout his presentation of his Lookout Tower. Feeling relieved that his meticulous work payed off, he next presented his Bodhi Beacon concept with confidence. Specifically, for his presentation, he chose quiet Buddha music to play. In a moment, the atmosphere in the entire conference room changed. The warmth of the Bodhi light added a finishing touch to their project plan.

Not only did the members of Party A widened their eyes in amazement, both Tong Heyi and President Li were surprised as well. Both had to look at Zhang Siyi closely and reevaluate this little apprentice who hadn’t even been with the company for one year.