Print Design
Daqing Apartment Block
When I arrived many years ago in the far-flung Northeastern oil town of Daqing, China, it felt like the wild west. Located just below Siberia with winter lows of -39°C, I never expected to fall in love with the place. From the industrial steampunk oil infrastructure woven throughout the city to the neon cyberpunk vibes of city nights, it isn’t hard to find design inspiration here.
This is Daqing.
I've been all over China, and there is one ubiquitous part of the urban landscape that itched at my brain until I drew it: the monolithic apartment block. It is probably the best symbol of modern China - a monument to the largest rural migration to the cities in human history. This particular block was right behind my community, so I saw it daily. The red brick, white outlines, and sharp geometric angles made something click inside my brain. I had to create some kind of minimalist print based on this object.
One’s urban hell is another’s steampunk heaven.
Put Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl tower and glitzy skyscrapers from your mind - this is China’s facade, a neon fresco concealing the soulless concrete that comprises most of the country’s towns and cities. I say that as if it’s a bad thing, but I secretly love it. The city of Daqing wasn’t a thing until oil was discovered in 1960. What was once a vast, frozen wasteland has become a sprawling, hazy maze of concrete and neon that I’ve had some of my best times (so far) getting lost in. Peel back all that concrete, and you’ll find another layer - the Daqing Spirit.
Hand cramps won’t stop the Daqing Spirit.
I have a thing for repetitive, geometric patterns. Transferring them from your head to a digital canvas can be quite a physical workout. I had no shortage of photos to study and use as a basis for this apartment block that stood only a few hundred meters from my home. I settled on one with an interesting angle and set to work painstakingly hand-tracing and coloring the buildings in Illustrator.
How do you say morning?
While the city itself can be as drab as you might expect, the uniform grayness of Daqing often served as quite a good canvas for the sun. After drawing the apartment blocks, I laid the artwork out over a gentle pastel palette of Heilongjiang’s different skies at different times of the day. As it happens 早上 (zaoshang - morning), 中午 (zhongwu - noon), and 下午 (xiawu - afternoon) were some of the first words I learned in Chinese.
Perfect for the wall!
Need a wall print of an apartment block to go on the wall inside your apartment block? Look no further! If you enjoy my work but don’t necessarily need to hire a designer for anything, the best way to show your support is through my Redbubble shop. Get this design and many others as affordable, high-quality prints for the wall or to wear!
