Hi Ladders High Pavilion

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Hi Ladders High is a non-profit project launched in the summer of 2018. In the Summer Camp of Tanghe Primary School in Luotian County, Hubei Province, One Take Architects and college volunteers, together with left-behind children designed and built this pavilion.
Kid without professional architectural training could be involved in the whole process of designing and building, which is what we call 'an indeterminate participatory open ended situation'.

Dimensions & Packaging

Width 5600mm x Depth 10500mm x Height 2900mm

Tags

Education, Open-Source, Low-tech, Low-cost, Non-profit

Production Technology

The architects and children collectively made Hi Ladders High into a stage for a three-act space drama where events such as a carnival or camp closing ceremony take place. The children interact with Hi Ladders High not only by playing games in the structure, but also by making changes to it through their creation.
As an indeterminate building, the blank part of Hi Ladders High can only be filled by its users, that is, the children of the construction camp. The children proposed over a dozen ideas for Hi Ladders High. One of them even sketched 15 designs all by himself.

Design Challenge

Kids designed and built those pavilion all by themselves. The most important thing is safety. The cost was only 1000 dollars. All the main materials for Hi Ladders High are objects common in the country, such as wooden ladders, transparent tablecloths and cardboards. But this time, these common objects are given completely different functions through their construction.

Project Duration

Tanghe Primary School in Luotian County, Hubei Province, China

Operation Flow

Hi Ladders High consists of twenty independent wooden ladders. This kind of ladder is one of the most common and easily accessible tools in China’s rural areas. Its main body is cut or polished from China fir. Since each ladder has a completely independent and relatively stable structure with a highly adjustable angle of inclination, these ladders present plenty of possibilities of spatial combination. Even children without professional architectural training could be involved in the whole process of designing and building.

Research

Reyner Banham proposed the concept of 'an indeterminate participatory open ended situation' in which you could create space suited to what you are going to do next. As a relatively stable open-ended structure, Hi Ladders High provides a place of variable spatial forms. Without preset functions, it could trigger or respond to events happening inside. It changes in indeterminate ways over time, continually manifesting new properties.

Inspiration

In recent years, lots of kids in mountain villages are left behind to their older grandparents. They are called left-behind children. Architects want to use architecture as a medium to help children grow, and show a new world to kids - working in factory is not the only choice in the future.
Hi Ladders High was set up to provides a place of variable spatial forms, it could be designed and built all by kids. Common things such as wooden ladders, transparent tablecloths are given completely different functions through their construction. Therefore, the children have the chance to view them from a brand-new perspective, and try to be an architect or artist.

Colors of Hi Ladders High Pavilion