Healing art weaving, nurturing minds with aesthetics. The winter campus often lacks the vibrant colors of other seasons, leaving hearts touched by a wintry gray tone. Students utilized colorful woven materials and crafted adorable and lively designs to bring warmth, humanity, and emotional depth to the campus during winter. They explored rich and diverse weaving techniques to create a warm and dynamic artistic environment. In December 2024, the Department of Art and Design, in collaboration with the North Campus Office, the university’s logistics and maintenance department, and the School of Information Science and Technology, jointly launched the “Winter Coat for Big Trees” event. This activity received an enthusiastic response, with participants deeply moved by the unique creativity of the Department of Art and Design students. The works not only added vibrancy to the winter campus but also brought warmth to the hearts of BUCT’s faculty and students, soothing the cold and dreariness of the season and leaving a lasting impression of comfort and healing.
As part of efforts to implement and promote the “aesthetic education immersion initiative,” the event aimed to create a campus culture enriched by aesthetics. Under the guidance of Professor Gai Juan from the Department of Art and Design, the event utilized the Public Facilities Design course as a platform to explore the organic integration of curriculum content and campus beautification. This approach strengthened the unity between in-class teaching practices and extracurricular aesthetic education. Professor Feng Zuguang from the course team also supported and guided the activity.
Course Materials:
During the “Winter Cultural Festival,” Professor Gai Juan led a team of five students who completed the four key stages—original design sketches infused with “BUCT elements,” material procurement, handcrafted production, and the final display of their works—within three days. The team successfully created 12 “Hugging Tree” designs that were brought to life on campus.
The creative process behind the “Hugging Trees” was both imaginative and challenging. Team members (Xie Luxian, Geng Yijia, Wei Yinan, Yin Aiying, and Zhang Yinying) began with initial design sketches and iteratively refined their ideas. This involved meticulous material selection, color coordination, and hand-stitching. Every stitch and thread embodied dedication and ingenuity, transforming two-dimensional concepts into three-dimensional realities.
Team Members：
Producing Process：
Campus Presentation：
Each “Hugging Tree” features a distinct and creative design, combining originality and charm to surprise and delight the campus. One “Hugging Tree” wears a “BUCT” sweater, extending its blue arms for a warm embrace, showcasing the heartfelt creativity of the Winter Cultural Festival. Another “Hugging Tree” dons a vibrant pink sweater with white fluffy sleeves and a yellow bird beak design, exuding playfulness and childlike joy.
Many more delightful “Hugging Tree” designs await discovery, each offering its unique surprise. Explore and experience the creativity!
The success of this event is a testament to the integration of aesthetic and practical education and the support of functional departments committed to implementing the "five educations simultaneously" policy. This activity brought warmth and joy to BUCT students during the winter, providing an immersive experience of an artistic campus and leaving behind beautiful memories of this season.
Group Photo of Participants
Source: Department of Art and Design
Translated by: Zhu Ruiqi
