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Architects: YUANISM ARCHITECTS
- Area: 505 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Qingshan Wu
BACKGROUND
Zijin County is located in the middle east of Guangdong Province, southeast of Heyuan City, and the east bank of the middle reaches of the Dongjiang River. More than 80% of the county is mountainous and hilly, known as eight mountains, one river, and one field. Feng'an Town is located 56 kilometers southwest of Zijin County, which is known as Dreamlike Feng'an and looks like Lijiang River, featuring the phenomenon of ten miles of different styles and hundred miles of different customs. Huilong Village, which is located in a low-mountain and hilly environment, is one of the most remote villages in Feng'an Town, Zijin County, with a pleasant climate and beautiful mountains and clear waters. The texture of the village is both sparse and dense, and the buildings follow the road as they please, dotted among the green hills and green forests.
At present, with the continuous innovation and development of grassroots party construction, Party Service Center has emerged. The construction of Party Service Centers across the country is in full swing. The original Party Service Center in Huilong Village was transformed from two-story houses in the village, with backward functions and closed spaces. At the invitation of the Shenzhen Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Shenzhen Military-civilian Integration Office at the end of 2019, we, as the aided design unit, had the honor to participate in the construction of the Huilong Village Party Service Center.
Based on field investigation and survey, most of the residential buildings in Huilong Village are newly built two- and three-story peasant houses and few original residential buildings are retained. The overall village varies greatly due to the undulations of the topography, and the residential houses are arranged in a linear decentralized layout according to local conditions. The village lacks a multifunctional service activity center with centripetal and locality. After many twists and turns in the site selection, the site was finally selected as a square plot with an area of about 237 square meters adjacent to the primary school campus currently in use. The villagers have good accessibility, high terrain, and wide views of the landscape. There is also an abandoned site on the east side that can be used.
SITE
The south side of the project plot is adjacent to the primary school teaching building in the existing village; the west and north sides are surrounded by woods and separated from the mountain landscape on the north side. Standing in the middle of the site, people can overlook the surrounding mountains through the woods. After arranging the building of the Party Service Center, we hope that the building and surrounding landscape elements can be integrated to form a semi-enclosed place. Therefore, a long and low wall is set on the northeast side of the site to extend the building boundary and define a new outer courtyard with the building as an outdoor activity square. Therefore, the Party Service Center faces the event plaza and constitutes an important interface of it. The internal function of the building needs to form a space and line of sight interaction and dialogue with the external plaza during a specific period, which constitutes the relationship between seeing and being seen. The outer courtyard plaza is equipped with a stage for villagers' gatherings, festival celebrations, outdoor movie screenings, and other functions. As a result, the formerly abandoned site has also been regenerated and vitalized.
SPACE
As a rural public place in the new era, the Party Service Center is not only an effective carrier for party members to contact the masses to perform their duties but also a place for villagers to gather and exchange daily and obtain information, featuring both public and daily. We hope to create an open and regional space to accommodate the various activities and daily events of the villagers. The plan continues and refines the spatial prototype of the local dwellings, using courts and courtyards to organize architectural functions and form internal and external spatial order. By dissolving the duality boundary between the interior and exterior space, the fluidity of the interior and exterior of the building space is strengthened. The limitation, transformation, interweaving, penetration, and integration of the interior and exterior of the architectural space present a variety of spatial states and the possibility of activities. As the main body of the building, space forms a tangible space carrier and intangible place spirit into the construction logic of the space itself, demonstrating the tension of the architectural space.
FUNCTION
In the standard construction guidelines, the functions of the Party Service Center generally include a convenience activity room, office hall, comprehensive service room, office and meeting room, etc. In the process of investigation and plan exchange, it was learned that Huilong Village is rich in local specialties such as high mountain green tea, black tea, passion fruit, citrus, dragon fruit, and other organic foods. Therefore, functions such as display of agricultural products and sales training have been added. On the ground floor of the building, the exhibition, reception, office hall, comprehensive service room, and convenient activity room are set up around the light court to open to the outside world. The plane space on the ground floor is flexibly partitioned by arranging folding doors. If necessary, all the folding doors can be opened to form an enlarged and connected external exhibition hall or multi-functional activity space. Offices and meeting rooms are set on the second floor of the building. The different sizes of windows and openings in the building constitute different forms of view frames for mountain viewing. The multifunctional hall with full floor-to-ceiling glass is located on the north side and has the best view of the mountain landscape. With the green hills in the distance, people can have a panoramic view. At the same time, the ground floor space of the building is connected with the bright atrium, the first-floor outer courtyard, and the outer corridor, which has the best ventilation effect.
PLACE
The Party Service Center has both spirituality and publicity. Based on the duality of the inside and outside of this place, the concept of inside and outside court is proposed: a spiritual inner court and a public outer court. The inner courtyard is the spiritual core space of the entire building. It is composed of a full-height wall and a surrounding staircase. The wall grows upward to form a curved skylight to introduce skylight, project and highlight the signs and themes on the wall, expressing and strengthening a kind of the spiritual memory of the place.
The public outer courtyard is cascading and progressive: the first outer courtyard is the villager activity square outside the building, where villagers can gather for exchanges, square dances, watch performances, and other activities. Entering the building, going through the inner courtyard, and climbing up the steps, people can reach the hanging tree yard on the first floor. The view of the landscape can cross the woods on the west side to see the distant mountains surrounding the village. Walking around the hanging tree yard’s suspended stairs and going straight up, people can reach the second-floor outer yard, that is, the movable roof terrace. The sloping roof platform strengthens the penetration and continuity with the first-floor courtyard space, allowing people to walk naturally. The large steps on the leisure roof can be used for villagers to climb, see the scenery, and chat here. In addition, the internal and external interaction of the place is reflected in the path selection. In addition, the internal and external interaction of the place is reflected in the path selection. People can choose to walk indoors or walk to the outdoor hanging straight stairs to get in close contact with the natural forest on the west side. While watching the natural mountain scenery in the distance, they can naturally reach the first floor and turn to the indoor space to meet the indoor light garden again. Although different routes lead to the same end, inner and outer space switching will bring different experiences, creating a spatial experience that moves with different sceneries.
Space is the body of the building and the carrier of activities. The multi-relationship between the interior and exterior of the architectural space also presents a state of ambiguity. We hope that this practice will break the inherent closure of the Party Service Center with the boundless interior and exterior space in the ontological sense of the building, showing the close integration of party members and villagers’ activities in the new era and creating an open, dynamic and natural people-friendly public place
