Danning Niu
Design Portfolio

A Slice of Life


Adaptive-reuse of RISD’s 2nd Life into a student gallary, learning & connect center
204 Westminister St, Providence, RI

Fall 2016, 3.5 Weeks

An object in a gallary is not a static and lifeless entity.
Rather, it offers us a section cut into the world through an artist’s eyes.
In that sense, it is “a slice of life” full of creative vitality.

How does this way of conceptualizing art objects change our way of interacting with them?

Instead of showing works in a direct and obvious way, this gallary design rethinks how we engage with art objects. The objects are half-concealed upon first sight, so you are invited to pull out a “slice” and discover for yourself.

You may come across a name card of an aspiring illustration artist, a vertical drawer that holds an architectural thesis, a hanging screen of a piece of textile, or a sliding panel of prints and drawings.




Diagrams: Acts of Pulling

The design challenges the conventional notion of a gallery as pristine and intact. Here, the display systems are designed to evoke a tactile exprience and encourage an intimate relationship bewteen the viewer and the objects in the gallery space.









View 1: Card Table & Bookshelf





View 2: View from Entrance





View 3: Sliding Panel Display