Beijing offers plenty of very various work spaces. But when comes the time to pick one to use, it is always such a pain to find the perfect one. Too small, too big, not enough light, bad location, too much renovations, unfriendly landlord, too expensive, unfit to settle a business, promised to be destroyed… The process of locating for sure is not an easy quest.
Though, on that subject, we’ve always been very lucky. In conversations, we are often asked how we always manage to find, and get places that fits our needs so well, and offers such a nice atmosphere. I think we just been very lucky, and with a little bit of determination and intuition, one can find a little pearl and turn it into the loveliest place.
The First Studio
We’ve spent our first 2 years at Baihua Shenchu (one of the hutongs surrounding Houhai Lake area), in a very enjoyable studio. The Baihua Shenchu (a place hidden under hundreds of flowers in Chinese) studio is the place that witnesses the birth of Le Divan, and were we have establish the foundations of our work. Some of you know that it has also been the theater of many parties and get together.
The First Studio, at Baihua Shenchu
The Caochangdi Studio
If one wants to grow and evolve, one have to leave it’s cradle. And has Baihua Shenchu was getting too small, we started looking for somewhere else. Being central was not a need anymore for us and it seemed relevant to move to a place where we would be surrounded by creative activities. Caochangdi then appeared to be the perfect spot. This little district of Beijing’s outskirts has already been chosen by many artists and designers as their working and living place. Totally by chance, and in a stroke of luck, we found an extraordinary compound, the Iowa Plantation, a complex of dome-like greenhouses, which host artist studios, a restaurant, a plantation, an now, our headquarter.
It took a few months to adapt this place to our special needs, and it now offers us the best environment for our activity. We long ago took the choice to live and work in the same place, and the building we found in Caochangdi offers the perfect balance for that.
Half of the building is a big loft-style room, under a tall dome, full of light. Which is a perfect design room, and show-room. It also promise to be a great place for parties and show-case.
The main room at the Caochangdi Studio - Photo by Anne Li - www.anneliphotography.com
The other half consist in a series of rooms of different sizes, in which we’ve installed the cutting room, machine room, archives, fabric collection, and living areas.
What is offered by this space is not just a great working studio, it actually is a full lifestyle. A lifestyle we designed for ourself. A lifestyle that is a full dedication to our creative activity, a fusion between our personal life and our work.
