Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art, Phase II
Hangzhou, China · 2004-2007
Photo · Photo by Lv Hengzhong
An interior circulation precedent demonstrating how a concrete ramp system can wrap an atrium, using staggered, deeply recessed rectangular openings to control daylight and create a dynamic play of light and shadow.
- What we like about this project
- The balustrades feature vertical bamboo infill panels, introducing a natural, textured material to the raw concrete environment.
Materials
- exposed-concrete
- bamboo
- steel
- screed-flooring
Visual identifiers
- concrete-ramp
- staggered-windows
- bamboo-balustrade
- exposed-concrete-wall
- deep-reveals
Style tags
- brutalist
- regionalist
- expressive-concrete
Visual tags
- circulation
- ramp
- brutalist-influence
- chiaroscuro
- institutional
- academic-building
- Geometry
- A series of sloping ramps wrap around a central void, bounded by a thick concrete wall punctured by staggered, rectangular openings of varying proportions.
- Structural guess
- Cast-in-place concrete load-bearing walls and ramp slabs
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional circulation, featuring wide ramps and high ceilings with exposed services.
- Lighting
- Low ambient light contrasted with intense, direct daylight streaming through deep-set rectangular wall openings.
- Atmosphere
- Somber, cavernous, and contemplative, defined by the heavy concrete mass and dramatic shafts of daylight.
- Environmental context
- An interior circulation zone or atrium core within a large institutional building.
- Spatial experience
- The user moves along a dark, compressed ramped corridor where daylight enters through deep, irregular wall punctures, casting sharp geometric light patches onto the floor.
- Composition rhythm
- A syncopated, irregular rhythm of vertical and horizontal rectangular punctures along the sloping concrete wall.
- Style reading
- Contemporary regionalist brutalism
- Program
- University academic building
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- exposed-concrete, bamboo, steel, screed-flooring
- Visual identifiers
- concrete-ramp, staggered-windows, bamboo-balustrade, exposed-concrete-wall, deep-reveals
- Style tags
- brutalist, regionalist, expressive-concrete
- Visual tags
- circulation, ramp, brutalist-influence, chiaroscuro, institutional, academic-building
- Geometry
- A series of sloping ramps wrap around a central void, bounded by a thick concrete wall punctured by staggered, rectangular openings of varying proportions.
- Structural guess
- Cast-in-place concrete load-bearing walls and ramp slabs
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional circulation, featuring wide ramps and high ceilings with exposed services.
- Lighting
- Low ambient light contrasted with intense, direct daylight streaming through deep-set rectangular wall openings.
- Atmosphere
- Somber, cavernous, and contemplative, defined by the heavy concrete mass and dramatic shafts of daylight.
- Environmental context
- An interior circulation zone or atrium core within a large institutional building.
- Spatial experience
- The user moves along a dark, compressed ramped corridor where daylight enters through deep, irregular wall punctures, casting sharp geometric light patches onto the floor.
- Composition rhythm
- A syncopated, irregular rhythm of vertical and horizontal rectangular punctures along the sloping concrete wall.
- Style reading
- Contemporary regionalist brutalism
- Program
- University academic building
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture