Project Overview

The traditional Chinese aesthetic of the Song Dynasty, which has led the standard of beauty for 1,000 years, is still elegant and beautiful even by today's standards, and this project draws on it. Now "Song Dynasty charm" is no longer just the name of the dynasty, it has evolved into a unique aesthetic symbol in the history of art.
As an ancient cultural city with a long history, Chengdu witnessed economic and cultural prosperity from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Tang and Five Dynasties and then to the Song Dynasty, and was renowned as the "promised land in the world" at that time. When the time came to the Southern Song Dynasty, Chengdu's reputation became even more significant, "the ultimate luxury and prosperity, ranked the best in all the land".
SHUXIANGYUNJIN is the first project in Chengdu with the theme of "Song Dynasty charm", which is a romantic representation of the aesthetic experience of the Song Dynasty. The design process witnessed several breakthroughs from the conventional methods used to create Chinese-style products. It is not limited by the solemnity of traditional culture but adheres to the simple way of "the greatest truths are the simplest" of Song Dynasty style, popularizing "elegance" in every detail of daily life.

Organisation

HZS

Team

Yi Wenyuan, Zhang Qiang, Dong Liangchen, Wang Jiarui, Yuan Chao, Luo Ye

Project Brief

Located in Qingyang District of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, the project is a life club built by C&D Group, a traditional oriental aesthetic brand. It is surrounded by several excellent primary and secondary schools, and the rich educational atmosphere and the life club’s Song Dynasty style well complement each other. As a life club with a large floor area in the residential area, it contains two parts: the above-ground space and the underground space. The above-ground part adopts a triple-courtyard style to reflect the Chinese Song aesthetics of the courtyard connecting with the gate, the underground part features two entrances for pedestrians and vehicles, which converge to the reception hall through the above-ground club and the underground light hall respectively. There are reception room, teahouse, parent-child activity area, and winding Chinese garden aboveground, and the underground space is arranged with an independent teahouse and fitness room, private banquet hall, and other club facilities.

Project Innovation/Need

The "Song Dynasty charm" has created a historical precedent of combining pure Song Dynasty style with contemporary classic dwelling. The project innovatively integrates "Song Dynasty aesthetics" with modern architectural aesthetics to create an aesthetic experience of "lightness and elegance, exquisiteness and delicacy".
Lightness and elegance: The Song Dynasty charm freehand brushwork style is used to draw the iconic outline of the roof, the cornice is carefully designed into a hollow-out upward curved golden line, which not only expresses the extended posture of Song style architecture but also conveys the beautiful meaning of extraordinary elegance.
Exquisiteness and delicacy: The square eye window is combined with another classic window type (“a window where the mullion bars connected at intervals by three sets of horizontal bars”) to create a wind shelter with Song Dynasty charm and simple modern style at the same time. Azure ceramic plate decoration brings a fresh and elegant "sunshine after rain" type of azure look and feel, which will instantly bring us back to the peak of the Chinese civilization. The six characteristic architectural symbols of the Song Dynasty are integrated into the construction details to pay tribute to classical aesthetics.

Design Challenge

The first challenge is to fit a 70-meter street image into a plot that is only 50 meters wide. The way of advancing and retreating secondary landscape wall can avoid the buildings on both sides of the entrance, enrich the spatial level of the facade, effectively extend the street image of the entrance, and greatly improve the utilization rate and value of the land.
"Song Dynasty aesthetics" is not only a visual inheritance but also the exploration and presentation of a new lifestyle that integrates traditional culture. The biggest challenge is to express this aesthetic core in space design.
To this end, the designers conduct a dozen rounds of communication and discussion and finally determine the traffic line with the garden experience as the core and features integration of indoor and outdoor experience. Various garden buildings full of Song Dynasty charm are used to skillfully connect courtyards with different functional scales.
"Borrowed scenery", "point view" and other techniques can create a rich space experience that is sometimes open and grand, and sometimes delicate and pleasant, so as to create a progressive garden-style home-returning ritual order.
In terms of spatial layout, the project integrates the elegant things of the Song Dynasty into the space: "decorative hanging pictures", "incense furnishings", "Zen tea making", "elegant plants", etc., paying tribute to the aesthetics full of ancient charm with details.

Sustainability

We hope to create a constant flow of fashion that, together with oriental traditional aesthetics, will reflect the ongoing dialogue between tradition and innovation. When it comes to the use of functions, the large open space is suitable for various scenarios, which can provide convenience and more possibilities for future users, and the value and life cycle of the building will be significantly improved and extended.
The use of harmless building materials and a central ventilation system ensures fresh air indoors. Measures such as water-saving equipment and recycled water are adopted, and recycled water is used for greening irrigation, flushing toilets and other purposes. Materials selection, construction, operation, maintenance, and other links realize the effective use of resources. The building won the "Three-star Green Building" certificate of China.
Based on the design principle of sustainability, the rich materials and imaginative collocation will bring a more natural experience and a more vibrant life to the community in the future.