Architecture China: Architecture as Infrastructure

CONTENTS A

Essays X

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Shaping Publicness: The Landscape Infrastructure Practice of Atelier Z+

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Tan Zheng

Riverside Passage

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Pocket Plaza

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Wetland Research and Education Center

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Ash Gallery

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Visitor Centre of Changping Future Science City

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Atelier Deshaus

Zhang Bin

Looking at Urban Architecture from the Perspective of Infrastructure

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Atelier Archmixing

Atelier Z+

Original Design Studio – TJAD

Hu Yue Studio (BIAD)

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Responsive Practices of Toilet Revolution in Contemporary Chinese Cities

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News

Main Pavillion and Hotel

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The Future Garden

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Land-Based Rationalism Design & Research Center

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Wang Jianguo, Shan Feng

The First Entrance Building and Visitor Center

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Hu Yue Studio (BIAD)

Geology Museum

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Huaxiang Station

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Banshan Hotel

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Expo Village

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Expo Village

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Expo Village

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The Second Entrance Building

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The Third Entrance Building

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Opening Exhibition at the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum

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Land-Based Rationalism Design & Research Center

The Westin Hotel

Huase Station

Award ceremony for the 2020 “Building

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with Nature: Architecture China Award”

Zhou Ling

HKS ARCHITECTS

Vector Architects

Ge Ming Studio 108

Atelier Deshaus

Scenic Architecture Office

Radisson Blu Hotel

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Huanghua’an Inn

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Huayu Station

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Floral Pavilion

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Archi-Union Architects

Totao Design

Rurban Studio

Totao Design

NATURALBUILD

genarchitects

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RIVERSIDE PASSAGE Atelier Deshaus

Location: No.2524 Yangshupu Road, Yang Shupu Gasworks Wharf, Shanghai Architect: Atelier Deshaus Design Team: Liu Yichun, Shen Wen, Chan Hiongai Landscape design consultant: YIYU Design, Laurent Landscape&Architects Firm Area: 268 square meters Design and construction period: March 2018-October 2019 Photography: Tian Fangfang, Chen Hao

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Site plan

The site of the Riverside Passage was previously used as a coal-unloading wharf for transport connected to the old Yangpu Gas Plant. A reinforced concrete wall, which is 90 meters long and 4 meters high, was built to prevent coal from falling down into the river. After the coal wharf was deserted, this long wall became abandoned and fell into solitude. There were originally two walls on the wharf. The one along the river had been removed long ago and filled in the gap between the wharf and the flood control wall. In the gap that is covered by dust, coal debris and concrete blocks, seeds sprout and grow into trees that accompany the long wall. It becomes a scenery specific for being like ruins. This scenery gradually vanishes in the gentrification-oriented urban regeneration in Shanghai in recent years.

It is urgent to retain the characteristics of this existing scenery in the regenerated waterfront turned from industry to public open space, for this is the witness of the

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prosperous industrial activities in Shanghai over the past half century.

The project adopts the long concrete wall as a platform for new construction.

Significance of being a solid earthwork is assigned to this wall, which also serves as a foundation for a sloping bridge connecting the flood control wall and the wharf and then traversing the wild trees, for an elevated long open corridor, as well as for a resting pavilion. A single-pitched roof is designed to demarcate the space inside and outside the wall. Faced inside the wall is a garden of solitude in between the gap of the wharf and the shore, and there is also a low corridor on the ground level. Outside the wall is a cantilevered corridor for visitors to overlook at the Huangpu River. The difference between these two corridors – one is lowered and the other is elevated – implies the changing scales in different distances and viewing sceneries.

The coal factory wharf before the renovation © Atelier Deshaus

The coal factory wharf after the renovation © Tian Fangfang

The wall turning into the boundary between man-made and natural environments © Tian Fangfang Winter 2020

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Detailed view

The project starts with coordinating the relationship between man-made objects and the natural environment; then it fully integrates traditional buildings and the external environment by shattering their geometric boundaries. The building’s subtle embedment into the terrain creates a new kind of architectural landscape. It abandons the strong contrast of the past between buildings and the environment, and it spotlights the design paradigm of the sculpture-like buildings. At the same time, the simple, dexterous geometrical relationship of the visitor center fittingly conveys the traditional values of modern architecture.

More importantly, it helps city managers realize that environmentally friendly and demonumentalized buildings are the way forward.

East side view

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Sunken channel

East side view

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Materials, Structure and Building System Lastly, architects have to face the challenge of quickly, safely, and economically building the urban infrastructure of bathrooms. At the same time, smaller building dimensions give them a rare opportunity to experiment with new materials, structures, and architectural systems.

In designing bathrooms, most architects primarily use industrialized materials – such as corrugated sheet metal, PC light panels, and precast concrete – that offer low costs, stable performance, and ease of construction. In addition, genarchitects compared how citizen experience the textural differences of outer wall materials, like weatherresistant cotton canvas, dry stone, and wooden shingles. Naturalbuild incorporated glass fibers into the double-layered, semi-translucent corrugated panels, while creating a clean, bright atmosphere with evening lights. Qi Shanshan’s project also featured a semi-translucent building skin, except that she combined perforated aluminum sheets with glass bricks or used transparent glass fiber reinforced concrete.

YEAS used mirrored walls to disperse the abstracted building blocks into a pleasant, natural setting, whereas LYCS Architecture and Chen Haoru used ecological materials like bamboo, rammed earth, and cobblestones.

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1. Model of No. 8 toilet (Kunshan), © genarchitects 2. Rendering of No. 1 toilet (Kunshan) © NATURALBUILD 3. Floor plan of No. 13 toilet (Kunshan) © Stud 4. Rendering of No. 4 toilet (Kunshan) © YEAS

Structure concept

Sun light

Polycarbonate board

Natural ventilation

Aluminum grillage

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anti-slip tile Mirror stainless steel Rain water drainage

Concrete

Building structures take on greater flexibility in these types of practices. Projects by Deshaus, Continuation Studio, and Rùn Atelier all reflect the architects’ creativity in this area.

In Continuation Studio’s Project No. 17, the swings hanging from the eaves of the building create an ambiguous relationship with the roof fasteners, and reinforce the feeling of “suspense.” Rùn Atelier’s circular bathrooms are preassembled structures, similar to YJ Atelier’s cylinders.

The illusory appearance of the building suggests that all the individual units were made from ordinary, precut concrete tubes. In reality, they more closely resemble a collection of three-pronged rings, with the entrance and walls added based on specific needs. Likewise, another one of their designs reflects the architects’ sensitivity towards structure.

The interaction between the setting and the flow of people causes the T-shaped walls – comprising seven groupings of different sizes and orientations – to stagger and shift, its concrete roof undulating with it.

Details of No. 3 & 17 toilet (Kunshan) © Continuation Studio

Rendering of No. 3 & 17 toilet (Kunshan) © Continuation Studio

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View of main entrance

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HUANGHUA’AN INN Rurban Studio

Architect: Rurban Studio Principal architect: Li Li Design Team: Huang Yuqing, Liu Chang, Hao Jing Construction Drawings: Nanjing Yangtze River Urban Architectural Design Co. Ltd. Planned Land Area: 8,843.88 square meters Total Floor Area: 6,243.27 square meters Total Floor Area of New Buildings: 5,603.8 square meters Preserved Floor Area: 639.47 square meters Floor Space Ratio: 0.5 Building Density: 25.8% Design and construction period: December 2018-present Photography: Tian Fangfang Site plan

With a total area of about 5,600 square meters, Huanghua’an Inn is a medium-sized boutique resort hotel. It is located in the woodland west of the third entrance to the expo park for the 2021 Horticultural Exposition of Jiangsu Province. To the north, the project site is backed by the Huanghua’an geological section of Bangchui Mountain, while to the south across the valley it faces a mountain cliff.

The original site lays on a gentle slope at the southern foot of the Bangchui Mountain, with a height difference of nearly 12 meters between the northern and southern end of the construction area and hosting a natural path connecting the main road of the expo park to a hiking trail leading towards the geological section. Apart from dozens of Chinese parasol trees growing on the slope, a red brick building with a single corridor stands on the north side of the site; its style is elegant, it’s in good

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condition, and was formerly used as a field trip dormitory by a geological institute in Nanjing.

The architects chose to respond to the site’s cultural and natural conditions in a positive way, developing its potential to the fullest while preserving its original characteristics.

On one hand, the overall form of the new building follows the profile of the hillside, with staggered units planted in response to the terrain, while the roof surface was opened up in some areas to allow space for the Chinese parasol trees; on the other hand, the old dormitory of the geological institute was renovated, so that the project’s old and new elements could complement each other.

The building’s highest point, a rock-shaped observation deck on the west side, breaks through the building’s gentle, low-key skyline and forms a harmonious proportional relation with the horizontal width of the roof. Here,

visitors can view the surrounding panoramic landscape, including the mountain cliffs, geological fault lines, and incoming visitors.

Furthermore, the hiking trail towards the geological features of the Huanghua’an section was improved upon, enabling visitors to climb the mountain and experience the wonders of nature. In addition, the building hosts a pipeline bringing in water from the nearby hot springs of Mount Tangshan. After their tour of the expo park and the mountain, guests will not only be able to relax in the cascading hot spring pools on the east side of the inn, but also have the opportunity to experience this same comfort with their own private baths.

External rendering of Huanghua’an Inn

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BANSHAN HOTEL HKS ARCHITECTS

Architect: HKS Architects Project manager: Cao Bin Principal architect: Zhang Jian Project architect: Tan Dan Design team: Wang Huaichang, Shao Yi, Li Haoyuan, Xia Xin, Shi Sheng, Guo Kangjian, Shao Jingyi, Yu Yue, Zhong Yunsen Area: 18937 square meters

Site plan

The Banshan Hotel is located in the northwest of the Expo Park for the Horticultural Exhibition in Nanjing’s Jiangning District. Easily accessible from the city through the future Mengbei Station of Nanjing’s Metro Line 4, it is part of the urban renewal master plan’s garden area, and lies close to the intersection of Third Ring Road and Mengbei Road. Located halfway up the mountain, which is the definition behind the Chinese word “banshan,” and to the east of the natural chasm that marks Entrance No. 1 to the park, the project is surrounded by natural hills and forests, and faces a terraced “sea of flowers” to the south, thus possessing excellent natural landscape features in its vicinity.

The project has a total land area of 24,136 square meters, a total floor area of approximately 18,937 square meters, and fulfills the standards of a five-star boutique hotel. With 85 rooms, the design aims to limit the buildings’ construction height in an effort to preserve the 152

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mountain’s contour in the background.

The design concept is based on the idea of an “urban paradise.” People who have lived in the city for a long time always yearn to live in a natural paradise. While it’s hard to achieve that, escaping from the distractions and bustle of the city on a day off is comparatively easy. The design provides the tranquility that people long for, allowing their bodies and minds to feel the power of nature.

With the concept of an “urban paradise” in mind, the building volumes were broken down as much as possible to provide the best landscape views from the public and guest room areas. The hotel’s buildings resemble a village growing organically from the uneven terrain. To the south, the site faces large terraces of blossoms named the “sea of flowers.” Guests reach the hotel drop-off area along a winding path, followed by a canopy

that leads to the hotel lobby, which sits directly in front of a central waterscape. The hotel’s all-day dining restaurant is cantilevered on the second floor like an overhanging rock, echoing the surrounding hillside. To meet the needs of guests, a multifunctional hall, a specialty restaurant, and a gym and swimming pool are arranged in the northwest of the site. The guest rooms on the south side are cantilevered off the ground, providing great views of the sea of flowers. The rooms on the north side are elevated higher than those to the south, and are connected by a water system. These rooms on the north side of the courtyard are mainly two stories high and lifted off the ground, with the rooms on the ground floor having their own independent courtyards, while the rooms on the second and third floors hang over the water features. Guests can thus enjoy the hotel complex’s internal water landscape and also take in the distant natural scenery through the raised elevation of their rooms.

Rendering of hotel courtyard

First floor plan 1. M.E.P 2. M.E.P 3. M.E.P 4. Locker 5. M.E.P 6 M.E.P 7. Reception 8. GYM 9. Garden 10. Swimming pool 11. M.E.P 12. M.E.P 13. M.E.P 14. M.E.P 15. M.E.P 16. M.E.P 17. M.E.P 18. Staff rest 19. Pantry 20. Lobby lounge 21. Lobby 22. Luggage 23. Toilet 24. Admin 25. Fan

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