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Architects: Not A Studio
- Area: 1500 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Y³ STUDIO, Qinfang Liao
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Manufacturers: Nippon
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Lead Architects: Yi GU
Provide shelters for the villagers every day and night
The design concept for Living Room of Dawu Village draws from shades of banyan trees.
The original site was a quadrangle courtyard with a two-story teaching building, a one-story building with auxiliary rooms for teachers on one side. The entire school building is placed under a tall banyan tree of 300 hundred year old. "After witnessing this banyan tree, we had an inspiration that people in the village liked to gather under the tree for various activities such as chatting, eating, drinking tea, and enjoying natural breeze. This tree has become the soul of social interaction for the village. Therefore, the core ideal of renovation is to open up the entire courtyard, simulating a huge shade of trees ", said by Gu Yi, when he recalled his direct inspiration of the design a year ago.
The space starts from the 300 year old banyan tree and extends outwards by dismantling a few walls and regenerate in advanced steel and wood structures to build a borderless communal center. Adhering to this design philosophy, the architect reorganized the original two-story teaching building by demolishing the public toilets near the river and the auxiliary rooms into corridors. An interesting curve extends from the platform on the first floor to connect with the second floor, creating a three-dimensional space resembling a bleacher, forming performing experience of people sitting under the banyan tree.
A dialogue between old and new，
A thought for the traces of time
Another highlight feature for Living Room of Dawu Village is the coexistence of new and old elements, interspersed in a completely new structure and form. The architect has preserved the plaque of the "Songchang Teaching Building" that has weathered 40 years, as well as a brick wall with graffiti paintings by children and a green wooden door. Chaozhou is close by the sea, so the wall tiles are made by mixing powdered shells with sand and then pressed into bricks, which is a unique construction technique in the area. When building a new door and window system made of washed stone material, the development of the materials also followed local traditions. At the same time, old objects such as stone tablets, nameplates, wood carvings, and stone pillars have been preserved to punctuate the importance of protection and sustainability in the new architecture. By this method, the architect pays tribute to the traditional ritual system embedded in Chaozhou culture, which emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage.
Whether on the first or second floor, traditional wooden window frames and a large amount of wooden furniture has been introduced to create warm amibiance, and to reflect Chaozhou's appreciation for craftsmanship and nature as a city that inherits intangible cultural heritage.
From a distance, this is a newly risen building. But when the villagers walk in, they will perceive the sense of familiarities through many details.
Let the suns shine every day，
Let the "shade" seep into daily lives of the villagers gently
Building a seemingly lightweight and load bearing 'tree shade' structure is not easy. The entire span is almost 20 meters without a single exposed pillar. Ultimately, the structure was completed with a scale of 22 centimeters, creating a highlight spot for the project. "This should be considered as the most difficult project I have ever worked on", said Wang Jin from the structure team.
A school building that has been sealed off by time has been opened up and renewed ingenuine details by Gu Yi's team. Villagers from Dawu or visitors who came here out of admiration are gathering here, a multi-functional architecture for everyone. The first floor ia planned in corridor, theater, handicraft workshop, and shared kitchen while the self-study room, tea house, and cultural heritage experiential room are placed on the second floor. Children study and play games here after school when parents could have tea here. The elderly spend time together while aunties who enjoy singing Chao Opera could rehearse and perform informal dramas. During festivals and holidays, everyone gathers here to worship ancestors, dance lions, sing Chao Opera, and have dinner party.
Living Room of Dawu Village under the banyan tree is served as the public center in the town. Villagers can enjoy all their leisure activities outside their homes here. At the same time, it can also become the most ceremonial space to treat and entertain guests.
Architect Gu Yi aspires to design this public space to be open, inclusive, and peaceful. The renovated building should not be defined and can meet diverse requirements, applicable to any scenario. "You don't have to deliberately find any design techniques, what you ultimately experience is just an architect's original intention." This is a building for every village and indeed accommodate their daily activities, accompanied by breeze, sunshine even rain of every day. Just like Gu Yi and his friends, as well as the team of 'Dream home' cherish this big, old banyan tree, the new space could be adored by everyone.
