Rolling Ball Installation by Drawing Architecture Studio Transforms Chengdu Plaza

This article explores Fun Palace, a large-scale, site-specific rolling ball installation in Chengdu, China. It examines what the project reveals about the changing role of public architecture in dense urban commercial districts.

Designed by Drawing Architecture Studio for Taikoo Li Chengdu’s 2025 winter holiday season, the project merges kinetic art, cultural storytelling, and architectural form. The result is an immersive landscape of motion and memory.

A Kinetic Landscape at the Heart of Chengdu

Located in a central plaza facing a thousand-year-old temple, Fun Palace reimagines the open-air commercial district. It becomes an active stage where architecture, movement, and public life intersect.

Set among ginkgo trees and a shallow reflecting pool, the installation connects five looping rolling-ball track systems with five walkable architectural forms. Visitors can wander through, sit within, and observe the ensemble from different viewpoints as colorful metal balls trace kinetic paths.

Architecture as Collective Memory and Play

The conceptual foundation of Fun Palace draws from Aldo Rossi’s idea of architecture as a vessel of collective memory. It also takes inspiration from the playful spirit of the 1987 Luna Luna art amusement park.

Rather than treating architecture as a static monument, the installation frames it as a tool for joy, interaction, and shared experience.

Five Miniature Buildings, Five Chengdu Stories

At the core of the installation are five small-scale buildings that serve as sculptural objects and key parts of the rolling-ball system. Each structure channels a unique aspect of local culture into spatial form.

Cultural Narratives Translated into Space

The five forms reinterpret familiar Chengdu activities and icons into architectural sculptures:

These cultural references influence both the outside look of each building and the internal path of the rolling balls. As the colorful spheres move through each form, local memory becomes a tangible kinetic experience.

The Choreography of Motion in Public Space

The overlapping tracks weave around the buildings, trees, and reflecting pool, creating a layered visual field. Fun Palace offers a shifting choreography of motion that encourages lingering and viewing from different angles.

From Spectacle to Social Connector

As the balls move—speeding up, slowing down, pausing, and reemerging—the installation becomes a public spectacle that draws people together. Children track the paths, adults photograph and discuss the forms, and passersby pause on custom benches integrated into the design.

This project shows how kinetic architecture can foster social interaction without relying on screens or commercial programming. Instead, it uses gravity, form, and rhythm to engage visitors.

Everyday Materials, Carefully Crafted

Despite its theatrical presence, Fun Palace is built from modest components. The miniature buildings use ordinary corrugated PVC panels, a common material often overlooked in high-end commercial settings.

A Deliberate Language of Lightness

By pairing these panels with precise detailing and custom benches, Drawing Architecture Studio creates a refined yet approachable look. The material language feels both everyday and carefully crafted, showing that meaningful public architecture does not require luxury finishes to have an impact.

This sense of lightness extends to the project’s overall approach. It is temporary yet memorable, playful yet considered, and informal yet spatially sophisticated.

Redefining the Role of Public Architecture

Fun Palace proposes a new, lighter role for architecture in public urban environments. This is especially important within commercial precincts that risk becoming visually polished but experientially thin.

By combining kinetic systems and cultural storytelling, the installation demonstrates how architectural design can invite curiosity and participation. Human-scale structures encourage shared joy.

In Chengdu’s historic temple and evolving cityscape, playful, interactive experiences can transform memory into moving space.

 
Here is the source article for this story: playful rolling ball installation by drawing architecture studio transforms chengdu plaza