Chen Xu

Another World

Another World is an immersive, 3D conceptual world — a designed space within the realm of the imagined that weaves architecture, mythology, and ritual into a symbolic vertical journey. Inspired by ancient Chinese soul jars—ceramic vessels meant to safeguard the soul after death—this project reimagines them not as containers of broken pieces, but as evolving worlds that heal and transform what has been fractured. Drawing on J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of “secondary worlds,” the work uses spatial progression to explore recovery, escape, and consolation as intertwined states of being. 

The central construct, the Soul Jar Tower, is composed of three interconnected strata. Each stratum is both a physical space and an emotional microcosm: 

The Forest of Recovery at the base invites quiet encounters with mythical creatures and houses a reimagined Qing Dynasty treasure box—an architectural vessel of memory, care, and protection. 

The Labyrinth of Escape in the middle layers intricate patterns, bird and cloud motifs, and spinning lanterns inspired by traditional Chinese zou ma deng (carousel lanterns), symbolizing the disorientation and momentum of running through one’s memories. 

The Sky of Consolation crowns the tower with a blooming pomegranate whose unfolding petals reveal a miniature, reborn world—an act of ritual closure and renewal. 

These spaces are not challenges to conquer, but stages in a layered process of spatial and emotional reconstruction. By moving from grounded forests to airy summits, the player enacts a passage through instability toward healing—rebuilding a fractured world, layer by layer, until a renewed self quietly emerges. Another World invites viewers to inhabit this progression, not to retrieve what was lost, but to grow something new from the cracks.