Some people say architecture is like a solid form of music. Others say it is a philosophic poem, lingering at the convergence of technology and art, rationality and sensibility.
Today, the villas at the Commune by the Great Wall, with their modest architectural footprints, penetrating views of the landscape, simple use of materials, richness of space and distinctive colors, present us with a new residential concept of "experiencing in buildings the beauty of architecture and nature".
Since September 7, a model of the Commune by the Great Wall has been on exhibit at the Venice Biennale as part of the 8th International Architecture Exhibition. There, developer Zhang Xin was awarded the 'Special Prize to an individual patron of architectural works' for building the Commune.
Forest
House
Designed by Nobuaki Furuya (Japan)
Design Concept:
The design adopts a novel architectural approach to create a unique living space.
Looking out from the house, which has many rectangular-shaped vertical windows,
you can view the vistas from various levels. This creates an effect as though
the scenery is following the viewer's movement. After all, people are very active,
rather than passive, when choosing a place to live.
Cantilever
House
Designed by Antonio (China)
Design Concept:
The Cantilever House is a natural consequence of not the specific site, but
of the slope of the mountain. The house could be attached to any slope of the
valley's hill. The access road could run up or down along the hillside, with
little change made to the original topography.
Suitcase
House
Designed by Gary Chang (Hong Kong)
Design Concept:This scheme attempts to rethink the nature of intimacy, privacy, spontaneity
and flexibility. It is a simple demonstration of the desire for ultimate adaptability
in pursuit of a proscenium for infinite scenarios, a plane of sensual pleasure.
You can use this 40-meter-long space as a single room, or, if needed, raise
the floor at different points to partition the space for various functions.
Split
House
Designed by Yung Ho Chang (China)
Design Concept:The house is "split" right in the middle to create various angles
and spaces, and in the meantime, offers a "sense of existence between the
mountains and the rivers." There is a small stream that meanders up to
the front door at which point it flows beneath a glass walkway into the entrance
hall of the house. The two wings of the house encircle the mountain slope creating
a courtyard that is half natural, half architectural.
Bamboo
Wall
Designed by Kengo Kuma (Japan)
Design Concept:
Depending on the density and diameter of the bamboo, this wood makes it possible
to have variety in the partitioning of space. In order to make the most of these
characteristics, we decided to place a bamboo wall along the site's incline,
similar to the real Great Wall.
Shared
House
Designed by Kanika R'kul (Thailand)
Design Concept:
The house should expose the owners to the positive aspects of the surroundings
(the mountainous environment, a view of the Great Wall, fresh air, etc.) and
in the meantime be able to shield them from those natural, yet unacceptable
elements. Therefore, this house creates a strong sense of harmony between the
hillside and the courtyard, between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Airport
Designed by Chien Hsueh-Yi (Taiwan)
Design Concept:
The most striking aspect of the structure is the two stone walls that are set
into the sloping land of the site. The walls not only somewhat resemble the
Great Wall of China, but also suggest a spinal column - providing the basic
structure for life.
Furniture
House
Designed by Shigeru Ban (Japan)
Design Concept:
The design not only saved building materials, labor and space, but also shortened
the construction process by using furniture for the structure and exterior walls.
The most interesting thing is that the process of making the furniture is indeed
that of building the house, which means once the furniture is completed at the
factory, the house is almost finished.
"See"
and "Seen" Villa
Designed by Cui Kai (China)
Design Concept:
People go to the mountains for the scenery. The villa was designed to look out
onto the scenic vistas to the north and northeast of the home. The living room
and dining room were designed to face the scenery to the north, while the bedrooms
were left open to the vistas in the northeast. The living and dining rooms are
built on a sunken terrace, which gives them the appearance of "crouching"
in a thicket of trees. The sunken terrace itself has been covered with soil
and greenery, transforming an otherwise unremarkable hillside into a "hillside
of glass".
The
Twins
Designed by Kay Ngee Tan (Singapore)
Design Concept:
The ambiguity between nature and "the man-made" found in many traditional,
painted renderings of Chinese landscapes forms a point of departure for the
design of the house. A stone found in the original site has become an element
of the house. The "L"-shape formed by the main building and the smaller
annex smoothly blends in with the valley.
Commune by the Great Wall
Brief:
Situated in a valley of 8 square kilometers, Phase I of the Commune consists
of 12 buildings, including one clubhouse and 11 villas, all of which have been
completed. The designs of the buildings, which were created by 12 well-known
Asian architects, are representative of the architectural thought and art in
"a rising Asia". The master planner of the project is the renowned
Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim, and the landscape designer is Mr. Ai Weiwei,
a famous contemporary artist in China. The project was funded and developed
by Ms. Zhang Xin and Mr. Pan Shiyi.
Features:
1) The Commune made its debut at the 8th International Architecture Exhibition
of la Biennale di Venezia, which was the first time a Chinese architectural
project was invited to this event.
2) After its showing at the Venice Biennale, the Commune will officially open
to the public as a Boutique Hotel, with a rate of $1,000 per night for each
villa.
Location: Near the Shuiguan exit on the Badaling Expressway, 40 minutes drive from downtown Beijing.
Architects at the Commune
Shigeru Ban (Japan)
Born in 1957. He once built a church using paper cylinders for people who had
lost their homes in the Kobe earthquake.
Gary Chang (Hong Kong)
Born in 1962. He has been dubbed the "producer of precision equipment".
Rocco Yim (Hong Kong)
Executive Director of Rocco Design Partners, Architects and Engineers
Yung Ho Chang (China)
Chief architect with Atelier Feichang Jianzhu; Head Director and Professor,
Graduate Center of Architecture, Peking University
Kengo Kuma (Japan)
Major works include KIRO-SAN Observatory; Water/Glass, Shizuoka; Bamboo House,
Kanagawa; etc.
Chien Hsueh-Yi (Taiwan)
Born in 1954. Manager of Chu-Chien Architects and Associates.
Kay Ngee Tan (Singapore)
Born in 1956.
Cui Kai (China)
Born in Beijing, 1957. Deputy Director & Chief Architect at the Architecture
Design Institute, Ministry of Construction of P.R. China.
Nubuaki Furuya (Japan)
Born in 1955. Professor at Architecture Department, Waseda University.
Antonio (China)
Born in 1956. Chief architect with Redstone Industrie Co., Ltd.
Kanika R'kul (Thailand)
Born in 1962. Set up her own atelier in 1996.
Seung H-Sang (South Korea)
Born in 1952.
La Biennale di Venezia has a history of over 100 years. As one of the oldest art festivals in Europe, it is as important to architecture as the Oscar Awards or Cannes Film Festival is to film. The Biennale dates back to 1895. It is regarded as the "Olympics of the art world" and is listed together with the Bienal International de San Paulo and Kassel Documenta as one of the three major visual arts conventions in the world. The theme of this Biennale is NEXT.
