Studies in Art and Architecture

Climate-Adaptive Landscape Design for Coastal Historic Cities Integrating Heritage Conservation

Ziyu Li — 2026-04-01

Coastal historical cities not only embody marine civilization but also land civilization, serving as the carrier of their integration. Their cultural sites hold great value. However, coastal cities generally have high climate sensitivity. In the context of global warming, how to strengthen the protection of coastal historical cities is one of the key points in current urban landscape design. Based on the dual goals of historical heritage protection and climate adaptation, this paper explores the evolution patterns of coastal historical city landscape, as well as the collaborative paths between climate adaptability and heritage protection. It proposes optimization strategies, through prioritized spatial control of elements, near-natural solutions, and multi-party collaborative participation, to form a dynamic protection system and enhance the value of cultural heritage. At the same time, it improves the climate resilience of coastal cities, thereby promoting the sustainability of coastal city landscape design.

Costume and Accessory Design in the Construction of Animated Characters in Nigeria

Dooshima Terna Iorfa — 2026-09-16

Costume and accessory design play an important role in the construction of animated characters, particularly in a visual culture as diverse as Nigeria. Clothing, jewelry, headwear, patterns, color combinations, and other decorative details can communicate information about a character before dialogue or action begins. In Nigerian animation, these elements often carry more than decorative value. They may suggest age, occupation, social position, personality, regional background, or links with local cultural traditions. This paper examines how costume and accessory design contribute to animated character construction in Nigeria, with particular attention to visual recognition, personality expression, cultural references, and narrative function. The discussion focuses on the use of silhouette, color, pattern, textile-inspired motifs, traditional clothing forms, and symbolic accessories, while also considering how these elements are simplified or reshaped for contemporary animation. Nigerian character design often develops through a negotiation between local visual resources and modern animation styles. Traditional forms may be retained in recognizable details, but they are rarely reproduced without adjustment. Designers modify proportion, decoration, and material appearance so that costumes remain readable within stylized characters and different screen formats. Accessories can also serve as compact visual signs, helping distinguish characters and reinforcing their roles within a story. The paper argues that effective costume and accessory design is closely connected with the overall clarity of character construction. When cultural references, personality, and visual form are handled together, costume becomes part of character identity rather than an added surface decoration.

The Aesthetic Expression of Ronggeng Culture in Sang Penari

Rizky Mahardika — 2026-09-16

Sang Penari presents Ronggeng culture not simply as a traditional performance inherited from village life, but as an artistic form closely connected with the body, memory, social identity, and local cultural experience. Through the character of Srintil, the film turns Ronggeng dance into a central visual and emotional language. The movement of the dancer, traditional costume, music, ritual scenes, rural landscape, and the rhythm of cinematography work together to create an aesthetic image of Ronggeng culture that is both attractive and emotionally complex. This paper examines the aesthetic expression of Ronggeng culture in Sang Penari from several related aspects, with particular attention to dance and bodily performance, visual composition, costume and color, music and ritual, and the construction of female identity. Rather than treating Ronggeng only as a cultural symbol, the discussion focuses on how the film transforms traditional performance into cinematic experience. Srintil’s body is especially important in this process. It is at once the medium through which Ronggeng is performed and a site where cultural expectation, personal feeling, and social pressure meet. The film therefore gives traditional beauty a complicated emotional dimension. Its representation of Ronggeng is not a neutral reproduction of local tradition, but a selective and aesthetic reconstruction shaped by cinematic language. Through this reconstruction, Sang Penari preserves recognizable elements of local culture while also giving them new visual, emotional, and narrative meanings. The film shows how traditional performance can continue to function as cultural memory within contemporary Indonesian cinema.

Protection and Utilization Paths of Historic Architectural Heritage Under the Background of Urban Renewal

Zixuan Zhang — 2026-09-21

Urban renewal has brought significant changes to the spatial structure, functional organization, and social environment of cities. In this process, historic architectural heritage is not only a physical record of urban development but also an important carrier of collective memory, cultural identity, and local characteristics. Traditional conservation approaches that mainly focus on static preservation are increasingly unable to respond to the practical demands of contemporary urban development. The protection of historic buildings needs to achieve a balance between maintaining historical values and meeting modern functional requirements. This paper discusses the relationship between urban renewal and historic architectural heritage conservation, analyzes the major problems existing in current protection and utilization practices, and explores possible paths from the perspectives of heritage value recognition, adaptive reuse, digital technology application, and multi-subject participation. The study argues that historic architectural heritage should not be regarded as isolated historical objects, but as active components of urban systems. Through appropriate renewal, functional transformation, and cultural interpretation, historic buildings can continue to contribute to contemporary urban life while preserving their historical significance.

Embodiment, Craft, and Ethics: Labor Aesthetics in Short-Film Production

Changchang Wei — 2026-09-21

In the context of rapidly diffusing digital-image technologies and generative artificial intelligence, the labor involved in short-film production has often been obscured by text-centered analysis, platform discourse, and technological imaginaries of frictionless creation. This article reconsiders short-film production through the lens of labor aesthetics, treating image-making as a creative practice that is simultaneously embodied, technical, collaborative, and ethical. Methodologically, it combines conceptual analysis in phenomenology and production studies with practice-based reflection on four short-film workflows. The analysis proceeds along three dimensions. First, on-location shooting depends on bodily presence: the camera reorganizes perception, muscular memory, posture, and attention. Second, editing, color grading, visual effects, and sound design constitute forms of digital craft in which repetitive, fine-grained judgment resists algorithmic homogenization. Third, production is an intersubjective process whose value depends on trust, coordination, and responsibility toward filmed others. The article argues that artificial intelligence does not eliminate labor but redistributes and often conceals it. Reasserting the labor embedded in images therefore offers a way to recover creative agency, defend the value of skilled practice, and ground short-film aesthetics in material processes rather than in technological novelty alone. It thereby links aesthetic form to the concrete conditions and social relations of its making.

Visual Expression and Application of Minimalist Design in Brand Logos

Wenjie Deng — 2026-09-21

Brand logos communicate brand identity through graphic forms, colors, typography, and spatial composition. Minimalist design simplifies these elements to create clear and recognizable visual forms. However, excessive simplification may weaken brand distinctiveness, remove meaningful details, and create similarities between different logos. This paper examines the visual expression and practical application of minimalist design in brand logos, focusing on graphic simplification, color organization, typography, and composition. Representative brand logos are discussed to illustrate the relationship between visual simplicity and brand identity. The analysis also considers the challenges of visual homogenization, excessive simplification, and application across different media. Minimalist logo design should preserve distinctive visual features while reducing unnecessary decoration. Its artistic value depends on the coordination of visual clarity, symbolic meaning, brand identity, and practical adaptability.