Yuechen Zhang
is a concept-driven designer creating
question-spaces—games and immersive environments where players inhabit questions through action and reflection. My work investigates cultural preservation, rhythm and autonomy, and tools for self-awareness.
< View Portfolio PDF >
The Salvage Office
Players work as object inspectors in a near-future "clutter reduction" regime, evaluating items: recyclable, repairable, destroyable. But a fourth option emerges—smuggle it.
The core mechanic draws from building object constellations under a shared context. A worn sewing machine, cracked lenses, faded recipe cards: separately just damaged goods; together they might map the domestic life of a past era or document lost repair techniques.
My art history background trained me to read images as dense texts—to see how a single material choice (laminated gampi paper in Rembrandt's prints for example) is a result of intersecting trade networks, craft techniques, and collector culture.