{"id":38954,"date":"2025-05-20T09:40:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T09:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=38954"},"modified":"2025-05-29T09:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T09:00:10","slug":"mengyu-zhao-and-chengzhe-zhang-offer-solace-through-the-primal-pause-in-madison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/mengyu-zhao-and-chengzhe-zhang-offer-solace-through-the-primal-pause-in-madison\/","title":{"rendered":"Mengyu Zhao and Chengzhe Zhang Offer Solace Through The Primal Pause in Madison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Mengyu Zhao, architectural designer at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and Chengzhe Zhang, landscape and urban designer at Sasaki Associates, combined their expertise to create The Primal Pause at Madison. Merging sustainable design with a global perspective, their collaboration reimagines the public restroom as a sculptural, adaptive space that responds to both environment and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1. Congratulations on winning the MUSE Design Awards! Can you introduce yourself and share about what inspired you to pursue design as a career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you! I\u2019m Francine Teng, an interior designer and project manager based in New York, specializing in high-end hospitality, residential, and commercial projects. I\u2019ve designed award-winning spaces recognized for their innovation, emotional impact, and cultural relevance, collaborating with international teams across the U.S., Asia, and the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired me to pursue design was the transformative power of space, how a well-designed environment can shape emotion, behavior, and connection. I was fascinated by how light, texture, and proportion can quietly influence human experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That realization led me to approach design as both an art and a responsibility, crafting spaces that are not only visually refined, but deeply resonant and meaningful.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Q2. What does being recognized in the MUSE Design Awards mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being recognized by the MUSE Design Awards is an incredible honor. These awards affirm the creativity, innovation, and conceptual integrity of my design vision on an international stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a designer, it\u2019s fulfilling to see my ideas celebrated for pushing boundaries, and this recognition motivates me to continue exploring bold, experiential narratives through design. It\u2019s also a significant milestone that highlights my growth as an interior designer in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q3. How has this achievement impacted your career, team, or agency, and what opportunities has it brought so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winning multiple MUSE Design Awards has elevated my visibility within the industry and positioned me as a designer and manager at the intersection of luxury design, cultural storytelling, and sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has led to increased interest from collaborators, media outlets, and professional networks. It also supports my role as a design lead on high-profile developments and complements the strategic direction I bring to complex, large-scale projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q4. What role does experimentation play in your creative process? Can you share an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experimentation is essential to my design methodology. It allows for innovation that\u2019s both intentional and poetic. In my educational museum project, for example, I explored layered transparency, dynamic lighting, and curated material contrasts to symbolize transformation and growth\u2014mirroring the project’s conceptual themes around education and evolution. Prototyping and sensory testing helped translate abstract ideas into spatial reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q5. What’s the most unusual source of inspiration you’ve ever drawn from for a project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One unexpected source was a traditional lantern festival I attended as a child. The interplay of shifting light, pattern, and silence during that event profoundly influenced the lighting and materials palette for my awards-winning project, Golden Plaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sought to reimagine that sense of wonder in a modern, hospitality context through reflective surfaces, subtle glow, and rhythmic ceiling articulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOLDEN PLAZA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butterfly Effect<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore another journey of Wei Han Teng (Francine)<\/a>, the Platinum and Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards. She designs spaces that stir emotion and connection, drawing on global experience across hospitality, residential, and commercial projects. Her work blends precision with feeling, shaped by a deep sensitivity to light, texture, and proportion.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mengyu Zhao, architectural designer at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and Chengzhe Zhang, landscape and urban designer at Sasaki Associates, combined their expertise to create The Primal [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":39143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[372,553],"tags":[360,12,382],"yoast_head":"\nMengyu Zhao & Chengzhe Zhang for The Primal Pause in Madison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Winner interview with Mengyu Zhao & Chengzhe Zhang from the United States, the Gold Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/mengyu-zhao-and-chengzhe-zhang-offer-solace-through-the-primal-pause-in-madison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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