Born With Legend Centre Comunitari by Shanghai PTArchitects

Born With Legend Centre Comunitari by Shanghai PTArchitects is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award d'Or in Disseny d'Arquitectura, Edificació i Estructures Competition Category.

OrArquitectura· 2021

Born With Legend Centre Comunitari

by Shanghai PTArchitects

Client: Shanghai PTArchitects

A' Design Award d'Or Winner in Arquitectura Category

23,578

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #116204

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Born With Legend Centre Comunitari

Born With Legend és un centre comunitari al districte de Gulou de Xuzhou, Xina. L'edifici dona servei als barris antics circumdants, que manquen d'equipaments públics. L'espai interior i el recinte exterior formen dues àrees rectangulars unides per un pla corbat. Les cantonades arrodonides i les plaques d'alumini esmaltat blanc unifiquen la façana. L'entrada està marcada per pilars en forma de paraigua coronats amb una gelosia metàl·lica blanca i una paret de blocs de vidre massís. La segona planta està tancada amb panells de vidre que arriben fins al sostre.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award d'Or

Born With Legend Centre Comunitari és un guanyador del guardó A' Design Award d'Or, un reconeixement immensament prestigiós concedit a dissenys de primera categoria, meravellosos i extraordinaris. Els guanyadors d'Or són creacions summament innovadores, molt visionàries i gloriosament enlluernadores que reflecteixen el prodigi, la saviesa i la destresa dels seus dissenyadors. Es preveu que Born With Legend Centre Comunitari sigui un invent molt elogiat, pioner en tendències i monumental, que aporta un valor sense precedents. Aquest disseny guanyador del guardó A' Design Award d'Or és un projecte espectacular i respectat que beneficia molt i fa avançar els límits de l'art, la ciència, el disseny i la tecnologia. Born With Legend Centre Comunitari crea sentiments intensos de desig, evoca passió, fomenta la creativitat i ens fascina.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The project is located in the Gulou District of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Built in 1938, Gulou is the oldest urban district in Xuzhou and still retains its historical and cultural importance amidst the current modern way of life. The community center lies next to the east side of the city center. Urban services cover the surrounding old neighborhoods, making up for the lack of public facilities in these historic communities. With the establishment of the community center, we hope to revive the neighborhood and reestablish communal connections.
Dimensions & Packaging: Site Area: 2237.92㎡
Floor Area: 751.57㎡
Tags: community Center, public facilities, visual landmark, white
Production Technology: To ensure that the community space remains accessible and that the building appears clean and clear, the façade is dominated by regular lineal elements. White enamel aluminum plates serve as the basic element unifying the various materials used throughout. The entrance is characterized by umbrella-shaped pillars topped with a grille made of white metal, forming a semi-enclosed space that connects the ground floor with the entrance, which further extends into the urban cityscape. The building itself uses curved aluminum plates as corners, rounding off the edges and establishing an overall frame for the architecture. The second story is enclosed by ceiling-high glass panels, whose reflection of its surrounding creates an echo of the nearby aluminum panels, giving off the effect of a monumental sculptural piece.
Design Challenge: As the main supportive facility serving the surrounding residential areas, the community center takes into consideration its function as both a physical space for public venues and as a visual landmark of the city.
Research: The entryway leads naturally through the gate into the garden, connecting the interior with the exterior, allowing for a sense of openness, integration, and community. The naturally curved lines found throughout the complex serves as a tribute to classical geometry.
Inspiration: The project creates an open space within a confined urban fabric while also meeting the architectural demarcation requirements of urban planning. The interior space and the exterior venue are divided into two distinct rectangular spaces but are joined together by a curved plane that forms between the two areas. This combined with the curvature introduced into the corners of the spaces creates a fixed and distinguished enclosure around the complex as a whole. The entire effect further allows for the rigidity of the complex to soften and expand. The public entryway is unified with the rest of the structure by the white metal grille placed above. The integrated organization of the linear elements forms simple shapes that produce rich effects of light and shadow, endowing the community center with various spatial experiences that are nevertheless part of a larger whole.
Project Duration: The project started in August 2019 and finished in May 2020 in Xuzhou, China
Operation Flow: The architect uses modern techniques to re-contextualize classical aesthetics. Traditional brick elements of the ancient city walls are introduced into the entryway. Using old procedures with new techniques, the entryway wall is made of solid glass bricks, improving the visibility and the recognizability of the space. Simultaneously, the light transmitted through the glass bricks allows for a translucent and inexpressible visual effect. With the addition of directional sunlight reflecting off the pool, a similar effect of light and shadow is produced on the walls of the building. The conscious effort to use fewer columns and beams in the interior creates an open, fluid, and luminous space within the community center.
Team Members: Shanghai PTArchitects
Image Credits: IMAGE by Yuan Yang