d+a | Issue 121 • 2021

10 / MOOD BOARD / F aced with a budget formed entirely from donations, TOWOdesign was tasked with conceptualising the Snail Baby Growth Center, a non-profit organisation in Shanghai, China that provides learning, communication, rehabilitation, and employment opportunities for the mentally disabled. To keep costs low, it turned to using paper to create the furniture and fittings. Rolled into tubes, they became the base of stools and tables, as well as to construct shelves for storage. This is not only an environmentally friendly material, but also robust, while being light and mobile. TOWOdesign opted to use yellow and blue to colour the four rooms – a lounge, meeting room, baking studio and classroom – bringing warmth into them. It also played on the name of the centre, PAPER TUBES WERE ROLLED OUT ACROSS THIS NON-PROFIT CENTRE CONCEPTUALISED BY TOWODESIGN. THE SLOW LIFE WORDS LOW SHI PING / PHOTOGRAPHY HE MU which recalls the “slow life”, to create snail- shaped lamps and planters distributed throughout the space. Tasteful, charming and soothing, this project will undoubtedly go down well with its users.