The Paper's reporter Lu Linhan reported comprehensively
The architectural design is to restore the foundation and essence of the building, and to treat the living space as a canvas to convey emotion, temperature and wonderful imagination.
The architect and theorist Bruno Sever once said, "Every decent newspaper regularly reports on music, plays, movies, and at least once a week art column, and even so, architecture is still extremely unfamiliar." ”
The Paper, Art Review (www.thepaper.cn) will regularly take stock of some architectural works completed around the world, although it may not be "a glimpse of the whole picture", but from the design, we can see the architect's thoughts and unique ingenuity. The buildings focused on in this issue include the "House of Mars" in Bristol, england, the ecological floating house in Panama, the "Corridor of Time" at Hiroshi Sugimoto's Personal Art Museum in Naoshima, Japan, the "One Drop of Water Library" in Huizhou, Guangdong, and the case of the transformation of Shidang in Jinyun, Zhejiang.
Imagining the future of housing
Bristol, UK| House of Mars: An Exploration of Habitation in Extreme Climates
Comments: How to live in an extreme environment? The "House of Mars" in Bristol, UK, offers a perspective on our increasingly challenging living environment. Inside this small gold leaf house like a golden beetle, one can feel the space experience of space travelers.
Living on Mars is a game for billionaires and superpowers and space agencies, not ordinary citizens. The reason is obvious: Transporting people and equipment to Mars is extremely expensive and complicated. Artists Ella Good and Nicki Kent, however, were unmoved. At a pier in Bristol, England, near the City History Museum, they installed a "human version of Life on Mars". It's a prototype house called 'House of Mars' with a budget of £50,000. It is speculated that their expenditure is about enough to pay for toothbrushes in real-world space projects.
The "House of Mars" in Bristol, UK
The "House of Mars" is a two-story structure with a lightweight structure made of gilded foil designed by Hugh Broughton, an architect known for designing Antarctic research stations. The building looks like a gleaming golden beetle, and although it is small, it stands out against the backdrop of traditional sailing ships, traditional and industrial heritage buildings on bristol's seaside. The building is a project designed for two astronauts and is a hypothetical community that could be built on Earth. The original intent of the design was to explore how to survive in a place of scarcity and danger.
Sketch of the "House of Mars"
The designer's interest lies not in technology, but in humans. They want to ask, what do you need to live well in isolation? What are you going to eat for breakfast? Messages sent from Mars take 20 minutes to reach Earth, and it takes 20 minutes for a reply back, how will you deal with that fact? Or, if something breaks down and you have to fix it yourself, how do you use what's available?
They said they wanted to offer "a vision full of hope." What they want to show is what is possible and that even in extreme cases it is possible to think beyond survival. Whatever the discovery, it may be related to an earth where the environment is challenged, not to the Red Planet.
Artists Ella Good and Nicki Kent wear spacesuits at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah
At the same time, you will feel that the space traveler has access to extremely limited space. On the lower level of the "House of Mars", you can see how compact the sleeping places in these places are. There was a concept in German architecture in the 1920s called existenzminimum, which described the smallest space in which people could live decently, and now, interstellar travel has taken this idea to a new level.
It is reported that the "Building a House of Mars" event was held in Bristol, England, from August 17 to October 30. From August 31, viewers can view the interior of the "House of Mars" by appointment.
Panama | three new types of architecture: challenging future life
Comments: This is the world's first ecological floating house. With a focus on sustainability, the architects combined themes such as floating houses and environmental protection to show the way of life that people are likely to have in the future.
Floating houses
Recently, Ocean Builders, an innovative Panama-based marine technology company, designed "the world's first ecological floating house" – capsule-type villas that cater to three environments. Designed by Dutch architect Koen Olthuis, these luxury homes are available in three models – seaPod, GreenPod and EcoPod – for water, land and eco-friendly needs.
The designers chose the shell as their symbol because they believed that the shell was a natural home built by the creatures of the earth, and also stated that their goal was to create a home that conformed to the ocean and nature. The building's foundations are made of steel and concrete, while the exterior is paved with fiberglass, gelcoats and foam, and the team decided to adopt a completely white minimalist approach to the interior and exterior, plus a skylight so occupants can enjoy direct sunlight and sky views inside.
Floating house SeaPod
Among them, SeaPod is designed for water life and can solve the problem of insufficient space on popular beaches. The pod was built 7.5 feet (2.2 m) above the water surface using steel pipes filled with more than 1,688 cubic feet of air inside. Offering 833 square feet of living space, the floating home can accommodate 2 people on three floors and includes a master bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom, and features 575 square feet of panoramic windows and 360-degree ocean views.
Floating house SeaPod
Floating house Inside SeaPod
Ocean Builders CEO Romond hopes the design will allow residents to live on the water without sacrificing modern life, "Living on a boat is unacceptable to most people, so we designed a home floating on the water." "And custom-built airlift drones will be used to transport items such as food and medicine, as well as smaller items on a daily basis.
Currently, a SeaPod residential model is being built at the Lynton Bay Marina in Panama, where the company is located. The Ocean Builders team hopes to be able to spread it internationally.
Buildings that link nature
Naoshima | Hiroshi Sugimoto Personal Art Museum "Cloister of Time"
Comments: The museum's "Cloister of Time" continues Tadao Ando's clear-water concrete style, but jumps out of the "white box" art museum standard, and has a sense of privacy on a human scale, close to the audience. Indoors and outdoors, the changes in space and the natural environment correspond to the discussion of "time" in Hiroshi Sugimoto's works.
Born in Tokyo in 1948, Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto went to the California Art Center School of Design in 1970 to study photography, and four years later began photography in New York. He said: "Going deep into the consciousness of the individual, to find the common memory of mankind, is the theme of all my art. ”
Tadao Ando's Sugimoto Museum of Art "Corridor of Time" by Tadao Sugimoto
Tadao Ando's Sugimoto Museum of Art "Corridor of Time" by Tadao Sugimoto
In the first half of this year, Hiroshi Sugimoto's first solo art museum, the "Cloister of Time", was opened to the public, presenting his 50-year artistic career to the audience. The museum's "Cloister of Time", located on Naoshima, Japan, was designed by Tadao Ando, whose 10th architectural project was completed in Naoshima in 30 years.
The "Cloister of Time" continues Tadao Ando's clear-water concrete style, but breaks away from the "white box" art museum standard, and has a sense of human-scale privacy that is close to the audience. In this space, one can continuously and intently view Hiroshi Sugimoto's representative photography, design and sculpture. Indoor and outdoor, the changes in space and natural environment correspond to the grandeur and flow of "time" in the work, which is also the eternal theme that Hiroshi Sugimoto explores through photography.
Hiroshi Sugimoto Museum of Art "Cloister of Time" interior
For example, Hiroshi Sugimoto has photographed 20th-century architectural masterpieces as blurred and out-of-focus images, and Tadao Ando's Church of Light is one of them. He placed the camera in front of the glowing cross, but focused on infinity. In the art museum designed by Tadao Ando, it was interesting to see Hiroshi Sugimoto photographing Tadao Ando's architectural works. Audiences also have the opportunity to re-appreciate the connection between architecture and photography through the perspectives of the two masters.
Hiroshi Sugimoto photographs The Savoy Villa in Le Corbusier
Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Sea View" series exhibited at Naoshima Berakusei House
Hiroshi Sugimoto's most famous series of "Seascapes" is not easy to find in the museum, as the works are embedded in miniature Buddhist five-wheeled pagodas made of transparent glass. To truly enjoy the "Sea View" works, visitors need to move to the outdoor space on the second floor of the Belsen House not far away. Here, the sea view of Hiroshi Sugimoto is connected to the level of the Seto Inland Sea not far away.
Huizhou, Guangdong | a drop of water library: a seaside book house on a cliff
Comments: On the cliff, a white library is located under the pool. The building was designed by the Sanwen Architecture team and continues the team's consistent design philosophy of starting from the site, the building is properly embedded in the site, making it a connection point between people and the environment.
The "One Drop of Water Library" is located in the Central Park of Shuangyue Bay, Pinghai Town, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province. The park is between the ancient town of Pinghai and the sea, not far from the famous Double Moon Bay Turtle Sanctuary. The overall terrain of the park is high in the north and low in the south, with hills and valleys on the north side, and the sea to the south. The project site is close to the center of the park and is an independent and prominent "peninsula-shaped" hill. The direction of the mountain is from northeast to southwest, so the view from the north is dominated by hills and valleys, and to the south is a 270-degree sea view, which is excellent. The hills in the park are soft and not unusually steep, but there are several boulders that provide an important basis for shaping the landscape.
"One Drop of Water Library" in Huizhou, Guangdong
The architectural location of the "One Drop of Water Library" was planned at the end of the hilltop, arranged at the cliff mouth according to the height difference of the terrain. The building merges with the mountain and becomes part of the site. This treatment can not only make the library have the largest viewing surface, but also maximize the control of the height of the building under the premise of reducing the amount of earthwork, and do not block the view of the sea from the residence.
The library is white overall, with corridors, long walls and edges of the roof reinforcing the geometric composition. The roof profile of the building is bowl-shaped, and the transparent glass of the reading area gives the roof a sense of suspension. Inside the bowl-shaped roof is a pool, which gives the building a sense of drama – a library located underwater.
A Drop of Water Library
In addition to shielding the unfavorable factors of the southwest orientation of the site, the long wall also plays a guiding role. It directs one's gaze to the pool and the sea and guides the reader along this particular route towards and into the building. At sunset, before the sun falls into the sea, the setting sun stretches the figure along the long walls and corridors. This adds a romantic touch to the building.
Since the building is located on a hill, the architects designed a winding path on the northern slope of the hill. Readers need to climb up the ladder and realize the pain of studying in a slightly tired body, so it is also known as "the mountain of books has a path". When you reach the top of the mountain, you will be greeted by straight corridors and long walls. The main use space of the building is located under the pool, and the process of entering the building is a journey of re-understanding nature and oneself. Access to the building requires descending a long outdoor corridor and "diving" under the pool.
A Drop of Water Library
Vegetation and architecture at the top of the hill
Indoors, the architect creates a set of dramatic spaces with a sense of sequence, light and dark, opening and closing. Among them, the bright place is a semi-circular space with nearly 270 degrees of floor-to-ceiling glass, transparent and open, where you can see the blue sky and the sea.
The vegetation at the top of the hill is dominated by low miscanthus and greenery, which set off the clean shape of the building. The roof pool, on the other hand, has a somewhat utopian component, and from a specific location on the top of the mountain, the line of sight can skim over the water to see the sea level in the distance. Water, heaven, and sea are one in the here and now.
Zhejiang Jinyun | the transformation and activation of abandoned stones
Comments: Shidao, Jinyun County, located in Lishui, Zhejiang Province, was abandoned for many years. With minimal intervention and cost, the architects transformed the first three Stone Gong into the Shi Gong Concert Hall, the Shi Gong Study room and the performance space. Here, the collision of artificial transformation and natural space creates tension.
Jinyun Shidao is located in Jinyun County, a subordinate area of Lishui, Zhejiang. Jinyun's quarrying industry began in the Song Dynasty, and more than 3,000 stone stalls in the entire county were dug up by hand, which were strange and shaped, like super-scale land art. With mining banned in the 1990s, these rocks gradually became idle and were at risk of collapse.
In April 2021, architect Xu Tiantian was invited to renovate the abandoned Stone Valley. With minimal intervention and cost, after reinforcement, she transformed the first three Stone Dangs no. 8, 9 and 10 into the Stone Gong Concert Hall, the Shi Dang Study room and the performance space.
After the transformation of jinyun stone
After the transformation of jinyun stone
Among them, No. 9 Shidang is a completely open open space at the top. It is said that the architect first came to the scene on a rainy day and found that the raindrops sounded particularly good in the water, so he continued the concept of the pond that the villagers spontaneously transformed, retaining a puddle of water in the middle and softening the rough feeling of the stone. She designed several different ways to use this stone, rainy and sunny, with water and without water, each with its own advantages. "When there is water in the pool, the sky light and clouds reflect in the water, which is very beautiful. When there are not many tourists, people walk along the water from the side, and the reflection of the water is also an experience here. When the water is released, it corresponds to two stage forms. One is the center stage in the middle; There is also a standard stage, where the stage is in front and people sit in the space where the water is released. Xu Tiantian said in an interview with the media. The stiffness of the stone and the agility of the water complement each other and collide with each other, and the space naturally has tension.
No. 9 stone, in a state of no water, put on a chair, and the "pool" becomes a theater audience seat; Remove the chair and turn it into a small square, Photo: Wang Ziling
No. 8 is the tallest of the three stone dangs, with a net height of 38 meters, equivalent to a rock wall ten stories high. After the architect's sketch, the abstract concept of "the book mountain has a road and a diligent path" in the ancient poem has been transformed into a real space - a ten-story "study". At the bottom of this stone is a staircase path originally used for quarrying and a series of quarrying platforms. The architects retained the stone steps that climbed upwards, and the quarry platform was transformed into a study, with bookshelves and desks, becoming a natural reading room. Ascending to the mouth of the cave, the narrow gap between the stone walls frames the light and green mountains outside the cave, which contrast with the dark stone walls inside the cave.
No. 8 Shi Dang, Shi Dang Study, Photo: Wang Ziling
No. 10 is a rectangular open stone pit that was previously a chicken farm for villagers. Today, it is the performing arts center of the villagers. On the vertical stone wall, there are two kinds of artificial axe chisel marks. The upper part is formed by manpower knocking and chiseling, the texture is delicate and the transition is natural; The second half is machine mining. Two different imprints, corresponding to different eras and ways of working. The edge of the top of the stone is removed, and the edge bordering the mountain forest is fixed to prevent falling objects from high altitude.
Xu Tiantian said, "There is no shortage of architects' styles in the countryside, don't show off your skills, do rural construction with restraint, and tie it on the point of the village, which can activate the circulation of the entire rural system." ”
It is reported that at present, Jinyun's three stone dang are the first phase of the transformation, and the second phase of construction has been started, in the future, there will be 6 stone dang to be transformed, the overall 9 stone dang will form a one-day shi tang excursion route.
(This article is compiled from The Guardian, IDEAT Idealist, Yiyi, Gooood Gude Design, etc.)
Editor-in-Charge: Weihua Gu
Proofreader: Luan Meng