Curated by 韩双羽 – HAN Shuangyu
CULTURAL ARCHITECTURE, RENOVATION • LUOYANG SHI, CHINA
Architects : W+W architects
Area : 500 m²
Year : 2019
Photographs : Lucy Chen
Lead Architects : Ace Ren, Jackson Guo(Nihall)
Collaborator : Nihall
Client : Sancai Art
City : Luoyang Shi
Country : China
Textual content description offered by the architects. The mission is positioned in Luoyang Sancai Pottery Village and consists of five-hole cave dwellings and a public bathroom. The fireplace-resistant bricks used to construct conventional pottery kilns are used within the renovation of outdated cave dwellings to provide them new vitality. The pure and plain cultural heritage of the western Henan area, the standard cave house, and ceramic firing know-how are totally built-in right here.
Caves are typical conventional dwellings in Shaan-Gan-Ning and western Henan. The soil on this area is extremely viscous and has good compression resistance, and naturally meets the structural necessities. As a result of dwelling in cave dwellings is heat in winter and funky in summer time and in addition could be very low cost to assemble, many native folks stay in cave dwellings for generations. The proprietor hopes that we are going to renovate these cave dwellings at a really low price and switch it right into a public artwork plaza.
A part of these cave has begun to break down, so it’s mandatory to completely think about the structural security of the renovation plan. A safer strategy is to make use of concrete like shaping mountain tunnels or use arched metal frames, however neither manner meets the native circumstances. After repeatedly discussing with the proprietor and structure consultants, we determined to make use of double-layer fire-resistant bricks to construct arch constructions for cave renovation and invited native skilled staff to assemble them. Fireplace-resistant bricks are the very best materials for conventional ceramic kilns due to their extraordinarily excessive density and energy. Along with the energy that may meet the structural demand, it additionally matches with the traits of the pottery village. The mottled and wealthy heat colour of the bricks can also be the expression of the earth colour in western Henan.
We designed the caves to be fully open to guests, making them an extension of the plaza. They are going to be used as short-term exhibition house. In line with the present circumstances of the cave dwellings, we have now expanded the unique caves in numerous sizes to make these caves numerous in peak or width, or depth. The hole between the brick arch and the curved earth is stuffed with a cement layer to additional strengthen the general structural energy. We preserved the soil texture on the skin cliff as a panorama and in addition designed a sequence of platforms alongside the cliff to separate crowds strategy the cliff. The doorway of every cave is specifically handled and expanded in rhythm based on the module of the brick, which presents a wealthy layer of sunshine and shadow, and the cave’s sculptural determine is additional emphasised within the vertical course.
There was a chimney room for burning tobacco leaves within the middle of the plaza initially, which was later transformed into a short lived restroom for vacationers. After totally speaking with the proprietor and considering the great administration of the park, we determined to maintain this restroom perform on the unique web site however in a brand new type. It not solely defines the boundary of the sq. but additionally turns into a sculpture within the centre plaza.
The newly designed restroom is 7.2 meters lengthy, 2.four meters large, and a couple of.7 meters excessive. The plan consists of two semicircles. Stagger the arcs in reverse instructions on the intersection, separated entrances on reversed sides are shaped. Fireplace-resistant bricks are used to assemble the wall, however the clear ceramic glaze is utilized to the underside layer brick after which re-fired to type a water-resistant floor. The specially-cut bricks are trapezoidal on the quick sides, which is handy for masonry to assemble the transition on the arc. Reversing one another on the straight line backwards and forwards, the brick physique kinds a woven texture with giant and small heads. The brickwork and the plan format of the restroom additionally metaphors the standard idea of yin and yang circulation.
The roof is fabricated from 5mm weathering metal, which is separated from the highest of the wall by a slim slot. The hole makes the entire building look mild and might present a panoramic view on the excessive aspect whereas permitting daylight to mission inside. The inner weathering metal partition can also be specifically designed and customised. Along with the design, we additionally participated in the whole building of this mission, from bricklaying, door panel set up, sanitary ware set up, to roof straightening, and the set up of door bolts and hinges, so far as doable with no skilled building crew. The standard of the ultimate product was beneath management.
Lastly, we sprinkled ceramsites on the plaza. When folks foot on, click on sound retains similar to the sound of ceramics cracking after firing. When these ceramsites are fully crushed, they are going to flip into powder and soften within the soil.
The mission goals to rethink and suggest new expressions of conventional cave dwelling building strategies. Discover the opportunity of rural building observe beneath the great consideration of superb design, low-cost guide building, and correct operation and administration mode.
© Lucy Chen 
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