There is a "cave" in the alley
Modern curves interpret the "old" with a new meaning
Oriental aesthetics activate the depths of the city
Reshaping the spatial order
The courtyard goes public
Beijing's hutongs hide the city's heritage and bones, which are the precipitation of life over the past century. Some changes are also taking place, as if growing out of old buildings, opening a harmonious dialogue between the old and the new, and activating the public space in the depths of the city.
WAY Studio's latest work comes to the east side of the alley area adjacent to the Forbidden City. Through the connection of "cloud corridors" to illustrate the relationship between man-made and natural, a once independent private courtyard house is endowed with a modern and comprehensive functional interpretation. With galleries, exhibitions and sales of Chinese daily necessities, Chinese culture museums, tea rooms, etc., the design team and operators are presented with further exploration and thinking on the new needs of urban renewal and social era.
The project begins with an innovative attempt to abandon the architectural form of pavilions and pavilions that are already flawless and more compatible with the courtyard house, and instead use modern curves to interpret the "old", highlighting the value of the "old" in the reflection of giving and taking. In a series of spatial order reshaping, the arrivals are given new surprises beyond the traditional cognition and habitual thinking of the courtyard.
The design team retained the original traditional Chinese courtyard design concept of the courtyard, but designed it in a space of 420 square meters. For example, the gallery-like installation in the shape of flowing clouds opens a new spatial dialogue, further deepens people's natural fascination with curves, and interprets the new spatial concept of "the unity of nature and man".
The first impression people have when they arrive at the space is the courtyard with two towering locust trees embraced by the cloud-like corridor, the cool shade of the trees in summer, and the fallen leaves everywhere in autumn. Abstract and distorted mirrors float on the ceiling, irrelevant to the seasons, but become eerie and intriguing as night falls.
Inspired by oriental aesthetics, this design creates a unique sense of seclusion for visitors. The courtyard is also different from the traditional perception as a subsequent sudden enlightenment. The image of the courtyard courtyard in the habitual thinking is replaced by the collision between the river of images and the sky. Cloud corridors connect the rooms, "softly" filling the courtyards and forming a new skyline of the building.
The double-streamlined design of the top and bottom allows the space to transform from a chaotic layout that is originally private and lacks rationality into a small commercial complex with modern functions and spatial hierarchy.
The cloud-like corridor, with its soft and flowing state, reorganizes the relationship between the virtual and the real of the space, as an extension of the building, constituting a "gray space" that is different from the concept of indoor and outdoor space.
The two staircases are connected to the cloud corridor through the inside and outside, and when you step into the cloud corridor, the traditional courtyard roof is surrounded by it like an island, and your heart can't help but feel the impulse and childlike joy of going up to the house and revealing the tiles.
The contours of the courtyard on the first floor are richly layered by the cloud corridor on the second floor, and most importantly, these dramatic curvilinear balustrades form an interesting interaction with people, adding the most important humanistic color to the space.
The beauty of the rhythm of the space is hidden in the upper and lower, inside and outside, allowing people to experience the fun of visiting the garden in modern expression. In the process of breaking out of the inherent impression of the so-called "Chinese space", he compared Li Bai's poems to complete an exploration of "there is no other world and no world".
While sorting out the possibilities of each function and the core space requirements, the design team also retained the versatility and ambiguity of the space as much as possible to adapt to diverse and changing needs.
The interior space is mainly composed of four parts: the coffee and tea house is located on the north side of the courtyard, the south room of the main building is connected by an exhibition hall and a long bar for 14 people, and the two floors of the north house are used for private rooms and the tea room and the Chinese culture hall of the Chinese culture exchange center. Several themed functions and courtyard spaces can also be used according to different needs such as day and night time transitions, festivals, and activities.
The full-day and full-time ecological transformation presented in the garden has formed a set of work and rest rhythms that adapt to the diversity of the times. Operating as a restaurant in the evenings, the entire courtyard can accommodate about 50 guests, and in the extreme event state, it can also free up space for more than 200 people. The space presents different strains in different scenarios, becoming a flexible and practical public field.
In the process of functional transformation, the cloud corridor not only plays the role of physical connection, but also attracts people to stay with its functional nature of shading the sun and rain, further activating the sociality of the building and highlighting the significance of the urban living room.
The continuation of humanity is destined to leave traces in the pattern of the city, and the old buildings, as the delicate texture of the interim, often inherit the old and embrace the new, vividly recording the changes of the times. In the innovative transformation of WAY Studio, the old and the new are intertwined, and the oriental aesthetics and modern structure are implemented together, achieving a "cave sky" in the hutongs, and the urban public exchange also has a unique "heaven and earth".
Project name | Courtyard 35
Project Area | 440㎡ (12m in height)
Project Features | Small complex (coffee and tea, restaurant, Chinese daily necessities, gallery, Chinese culture museum, tea room)
Project address | Beijing, China
Design Team | Zheng Tao, Li Ziling, Fernie Lai, Zhang Zequn, Fang Wen, Wang Tianmo, Chen Yu
General contractor | Beijing Helida: Building Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd
Project Cycle | 2022-2023
WAY Studio Architectural Design and Research Institute, just like the word "Wei", expresses the relationship between people and architecture. Design should be "people-oriented", changing people's inherent perceptions of the world through art and design, and exploring the definition and practice of "Oriental thought". WAY also focuses on the relationship between man and nature, and creates a harmonious coexistence with nature through architectural design. At the same time, we explore, discuss and cooperate with professionals from all walks of life in project collaboration. At present, the fields that have not been involved in WAY include cultural projects, urban renewal, large and small complexes, commercial, residential, etc. In the face of new challenges in every project, WAY hopes to jump out of the inherent interpretation and explore more possibilities.
Executive Producer | Li Ye
Text | Happy New Media Editor | Han
Photography | Gao Yuan, Zeng Hao, Akun Lee
Image Copyright | Un/WAY Studio Architectural Design Institute
This article is copyrighted by "ELLE DECORATION Home Gallery".
If you need to reprint or contribute, please contact the message to get it.
Submission email: [email protected]