Yu-Hsuan Chen is a set designer who works in theater, dance and film. She obtained her BA in Drama and Theater from National Taiwan University. She is now living in New York City and pursuing her MFA in set and production design at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (class of 2016). Her theater design credits include: A Bright Room Called Day, Eighteen, The Woman in the Window and The Yearbook. Her film experiences include the set designer in Taiwanese feature movie KANO and Conspiracy. Cheongsam is her first production design film in New York.

 

Paper projects in the exhibition

 

Hotel Normandie Set in THE THIN MAN

In the movie, The Normandie is where Nick and Nora Charles stay during their visit in New York, one of the most elegant and fancy hotels in the 30’s. Many important scenes take place in their suite at the hotel, including a grand Christmas party scene and the dinner scene which features all of the suspects. 

 

I design The Normandie to be a luxurious and glamorous Art Deco hotel. Art Deco is a style flourishing in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, which represented exuberance and faith in social progress of the time. The bold geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation of the wallpaper and furniture is designed to serve as a foil to the cute couple. The Champagne-color tone of the suite gives a cheerful and graceful rhythm that goes along with Nick and Nora’s character.