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Architects: RoarcRenew
- Area: 465 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Arch-Exist, Shuang Han, Wen Studio
Text description provided by the architects. Located in the heart of Chengdu, a major northwest city in northwest China, the project was supposed to be a 20-day temporary installation to celebrate the eighth anniversary of Taikoo Li, an open, low-density neighborhood-form shopping mall, Roarc Renew designed it as a foundationless building, defining it as a "time-limited building" practice.
After the exhibition, the prefabricated elements of the building will be disassembled and assembled as chairs to achieve recycling from buildings to public facilities. Taking this as a starting point, the building chose bamboo as the main material, because bamboo is the cultural representative of the city, but also the hair of the earth, two or three years can complete a round growth cycle, and it is endless, after the completion of the construction mission of bamboo, the material body can achieve recycling and reuse. The architectural element used as a bamboo chair was designed with 550mm as the main module of the element, the same scale as a chair.
1- Building with clear expression, character knows its form - The building is inspired by the Chinese character "八/eight", which symbolizes that Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li in Chengdu has entered a new stage in the concept of time implied when it is written. A stroke also constitutes the "入/entrance" of space, which means openness and linkage; Or "人/people" that represents endowment and creativity, which means diversity, inclusiveness and people-oriented. The architect hopes that everyone who comes to the space can directly understand the cultural expression of the building through the expression of Chinese characters, and people from all streets, alleys, regions, and cities will gather here.
As we write the three Chinese characters, we can find that they are common in the form of a stable triangle, which is also in compliance with the mechanics principles of a building. Therefore, it’s natural for us to choose the triangle form for constructing the building.
The constructing principle of the left-falling stroke and right-falling stroke is the same, three groups of carbonized curved bamboo beams were connected in sequence, and at the insertion points a "stroke" like traditional Chinese calligraphy is naturally formed: "a pause and a transition".
The left-falling stroke is divided into 3 segments from top to bottom, the bamboo poles used decrease by the number of 8, 6, and 5 for each section respectively from the top. The bamboo poles of the right-falling stroke start with 6 poles, then 8 poles, and then 12 poles. The stroke weight was perfectly presented on the form of the building.
2- Column and Tie in Crisscross Traffic - Column and Tie structure originated from Sichuan, ancient people used it as the carrier to support the oblique beams. On the first floor, eight art spaces are set to be an arena for trends. The second floor is a steel veranda for visitors. Standing on the terrace of the third floor, visitors may look over the tablet of the holy Daci Temple in the north and modern Taikoo Li alleys in the west. Standing on the platform, it feels like a time channel from which you can experience both ancient and modern things. Column and tie construction forms another vertical crisscross system.
3- Modular Beams and Removable Bamboos and Steels - Several bamboos were spliced together to become a bamboo framework, then a bamboo span and eventually bamboo beams.
Steel bolts are used to connect bamboo poles and steel inserts are used to connect ranks of bamboo beams. In EMCC Yancheng Plant, 42 ranks of bamboo beams were prefabricated and delivered to Chengdu for final assembly on site. Bamboo beams are erected in an open-frame truss structure. Cavity lightens girders, which helps in long-distance transportation and site assembly.
4- Sustainable and Renewable Greenhouse Films and Bamboo Benches - Some semi-transparent film covers the top of the structure. We welding and scalding technology to finish the patchwork, realizing a horizontal size of 1.3m and a vertical size of 10m. The starting point and ending point are fixed with a 3mm steel rope, which is connected to the steel bots through hoop collars and tightened up through turnbuckles.
Upon expiration of the 20-day exhibition, Roarc Renew will turn the raw material of the building into outdoor stools to accompany passersby on this land, which also fulfills the idea of sustainable development of Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu. Or if possible, it may implement its other mission as a “building member” for certain parks in the city of Chengdu.
