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Architects: Devolution
- Area: 200 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Zou Xunkai
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Lead Architects: Jiansong Tang, Qi Wang
Text description provided by the architects. Swimmers climbed ashore. Fishermen carrying plastic buckets filled with daily necessities for going out to sea boarded their boats. They met in the middle of two small buildings. This was originally an ice-cutting room next to the ice factory. For many years, it delivered ice to fishing boats that were about to set sail. Now, it is a coffee shop called LOCAL FISH, delivering coffee to strangers who arrived. Motorcycle traffic is frequent. Suntanned local men in the corridor on the second floor of the dangerous building of the ice factory opposite and watched and said: "LOCAL FISH, damn! We have so many of them (the name of the cafe is also a type of fish name) and they still want them", "This is a coffee shop", "Do we have a discount for coffee?"
How should a cafe that appeared on the dock due to the transformation of the town be understood and introduced to the local area? This was the consensus that the operators of "LOCAL FISH" Yasan and Amei and we, as the designers, initially needed to reach. After several twists and turns, we defeated a competitor who intended to paint them pink for photos. We tried our best to preserve and restore the original appearance of the building – walls corroded by sea salt; exposed steel bars; ice-making, professional cranes, crew introduction phone numbers on the wall, and dense names of ship owners and fishing boat numbers are the dense information network of the fishing port.
Because it was originally a space for processing ice, the small building has a unique scale and spatial feeling. We imitated this scale in the design – narrow doors and stairs, small passages and turning platforms, but opened large windows to input the surrounding port scenery into the room. The original lifting platform for transporting ice cubes, one was sunk on the first floor, and the other was lifted to the second floor as a small exhibition space.
We made a more restrained treatment on some details, so that they are not inconsistent with the rough interface but show a sense of quality. The owner's choice of lamps, furniture and artworks also adds to the decorative style and interest of the small building. Next to the two small buildings, the skeleton of a ship was disassembled and reassembled into the skeleton of a shed. The colorful fishing nets woven by local fishermen were stretched between the skeletons and sparkled in the sun. This is a shady place shared by people waiting to board the ship, people fishing, people from the rescue association, people who swim in winter and people who drink coffee.
Next to the two small buildings, the skeleton of a ship was disassembled and reassembled into the skeleton of a shed. The colorful fishing nets woven by local fishermen were stretched between the skeletons and sparkled in the sun. This is a shady place shared by people waiting to board the ship, people fishing, people from the rescue association, people who swim in winter and people who drink coffee.
