Born With Legend מרכז קהילתי

Press Kit

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.

Image Credits

IMAGE by Yuan Yang