- 2022 Silver Prize
- From Architectural Design
White Orchid Pavilion: Exhibition and Display
Projet Description
An everyday living aesthetic gallery is, at its essence, a brand experience for real estate developers. It is a type of exhibition building, in which the goods displayed are the houses, property, and services to be sold by developers. We approached this project as if it was an enlarged exhibit booth, with White Orchid Pavilion as a particularly unique display space. When visitors walk by the “booth”, the functionality aspect of the building is weakened, and they perceive the abstract blocks on the booth; that is, the exhibit items we want to present.
Yuyao City is rich in orchids. The “booth’s” appearance and color happen to coincide with the orchid’s sense of elegance and purity, hence the name White Orchid Pavilion. White often brings about active imaginations in people because of its simplicity. In the design, simple colors are matched with simple shapes, and a sense of distance is deliberately created between people and daily life, guiding people to recover their original feelings toward the exhibits.
The “booth” is a curved, inwardly structured space. One of the reasons for this is due to the site’s cluttered surroundings and its proximity to the expressway. The curvature elements give the building a low-profile external perspective. Another reason is that the enclosed form allows for greater immersion by visitors. When soft lines are drawn into the interior, the central courtyard instantly creates a unique tension and sensory experience. Walking around the water courtyard, the dark-colored waterscape and white buildings form an unforgettable visual impression. With the passing of time, the shadows of light and water give the façade a rich expression. This booth is not only about exhibits, but also about time and nature.
The choice of materials and construction methods was limited by the short construction timeframe and strict budget. After several rounds of technical discussion, we chose a light steel structure, with a cast-in-place roof that has removable formwork. To ensure the purity of the building’s exterior, the floor is made of white microcement, which has a fast construction cycle and provides a uniform and seamless look.
Architects are people who can unite their inner rationality and romance, and present the two to the world in the form of design works. However, behind every good result is a succession of problems to be solved, one after the other.
UrbanFabric is a local architectural studio that practices under different urban scales and contexts, and adheres committed to the design with the problem-oriented thinking mode through a serious process of research and creative design. Focus on the contradictions of urban construction with a more rational attitude, facing the problems of the post-growth era in China after the urbanization process has become deeply mature.