Five Scattered Houses
Ningbo, China · 2003-2006
Photo · Photo by Lang Shuilong
A precedent for combining heavy, traditional rammed-earth construction with a light, modern steel-and-glass canopy system over water.
Materials
- rammed-earth
- steel
- glass
- stone
- bamboo
Visual identifiers
- rammed-earth-wall
- steel-frame-canopy
- water-reflection
- stone-plinth
- glass-roof
Style tags
- critical-regionalism
- contemporary-chinese
- tectonic
Visual tags
- waterfront-architecture
- tectonic-contrast
- heavy-and-light
- chinese-modernism
- earthen-construction
- Geometry
- An L-shaped pavilion structure defined by a dark steel frame, containing a solid rammed-earth core wall, elevated on a stone-faced plinth directly over water.
- Facade system
- Steel-framed curtain wall and structural glazing combined with load-bearing rammed earth.
- Structural guess
- Steel post-and-beam frame resting on a masonry/concrete foundation plinth.
- Spatial scale
- Single-story pavilion with a human-scaled walkway and protective bamboo balustrade.
- Lighting
- Soft, diffused twilight with warm interior light reflecting on the water's surface.
- Atmosphere
- Serene and balanced, contrasting the weight of earth with the lightness of steel and glass at dusk.
- Environmental context
- Sited on a calm body of water at a park or campus edge, with distant urban high-rises visible on the horizon.
- Spatial experience
- The building hovers over a lake, creating a transition from open water to a sheltered, semi-transparent glass and steel gallery, anchored by a heavy, textured earthen wall.
- Composition rhythm
- The repeating vertical steel columns establish a steady rhythm that frames the textured, continuous horizontal band of the rammed-earth wall.
- Style reading
- Critical Regionalism
- Program
- Cultural pavilion or teahouse
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- rammed-earth, steel, glass, stone, bamboo
- Visual identifiers
- rammed-earth-wall, steel-frame-canopy, water-reflection, stone-plinth, glass-roof
- Style tags
- critical-regionalism, contemporary-chinese, tectonic
- Visual tags
- waterfront-architecture, tectonic-contrast, heavy-and-light, chinese-modernism, earthen-construction
- Geometry
- An L-shaped pavilion structure defined by a dark steel frame, containing a solid rammed-earth core wall, elevated on a stone-faced plinth directly over water.
- Facade system
- Steel-framed curtain wall and structural glazing combined with load-bearing rammed earth.
- Structural guess
- Steel post-and-beam frame resting on a masonry/concrete foundation plinth.
- Spatial scale
- Single-story pavilion with a human-scaled walkway and protective bamboo balustrade.
- Lighting
- Soft, diffused twilight with warm interior light reflecting on the water's surface.
- Atmosphere
- Serene and balanced, contrasting the weight of earth with the lightness of steel and glass at dusk.
- Environmental context
- Sited on a calm body of water at a park or campus edge, with distant urban high-rises visible on the horizon.
- Spatial experience
- The building hovers over a lake, creating a transition from open water to a sheltered, semi-transparent glass and steel gallery, anchored by a heavy, textured earthen wall.
- Composition rhythm
- The repeating vertical steel columns establish a steady rhythm that frames the textured, continuous horizontal band of the rammed-earth wall.
- Style reading
- Critical Regionalism
- Program
- Cultural pavilion or teahouse
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture