Utopia Ntlo Ea Bolulo by Fei Zhao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award in Moralo wa Sebaka sa Ka Hare le Dipontsho Competition Category.

SileveraKa Hare· 2023

Utopia Ntlo Ea Bolulo

by Fei Zhao

Client: 323 Studio

Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award Winner in Ka Hare Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About Utopia Ntlo Ea Bolulo

Leseli le khanyang la tlhaho ke mohloli oa sebopeho sa sebaka sena. Sebaka sa tlhaho, se kenyelletsoeng e ne e le baqapi ba maikutlo ba neng ba batla ho theha, kahoo ba boetse ba bapisa mekhoa e mengata ea sebaka sa tlhaho, ho kenyelletsa le ho behoa ha litšoantšo tsa kaho. Sebaka sa pele sa kamore e ka tlaase se ne se nka halofo ea sebaka sohle, empa mabone a neng a le teng kamoreng e ka tlaase a ne a lumella mong'a lona feela ho etsa sebaka se se nang thuso ho sona. E le ho ntlafatsa sekhahla sa tšebeliso ea sebaka sohle se ka tlas'a lefatše le ho eketsa mabone, moqapi o batla ho theha mohaho o mocha o potolohileng leseli ka tlung.

The Recognition

About the Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award

Utopia Ntlo Ea Bolulo ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang haholo e fuoang meralo e phahameng ka ho fetesisa, e ntle le e tsosang maikutlo. Bahapi ba Silevera ke mesebetsi e khanyang haholo le e nang le boqapi bo ikhethang e bontšang botsebi, talenta le bohlale ba baqapi ba eona. Utopia Ntlo Ea Bolulo e lebelletsoe ho ba mosebetsi o motle, oa mohlala, o nang le boprofeshenale bo bonahalang le mehopolo e mecha e tebileng. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award ke mohopolo o hlokomelehang haholo le o ratoang o tlisang molemo mme o sutumelletsang meeli ea bonono, mahlale, moralo le theknoloji. Utopia Ntlo Ea Bolulo ke mosebetsi oo batho ba bangata ba o lakatsang, o tsosang litakatso, o tlisang maikutlo a matle le o tsosetsang ho makala le ho hlolla.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: As a narrow north-south facing townhouse, the original building has 4 floors, 2 above ground and 2 below (the basement has a height of 5.5m and can be divided into 2 floors with only a small patio to provide light). Facing south as the main direction of light, it relies on a stairwell to connect the various floors and comes with a lift. After observing the site and realizing that no well landscape was around the site, we decided to make an Inward facing construction within it.
Dimensions & Packaging: Indoor area 420 ㎡
Tags: Organic, light and shadow, lighthearted, sculptural, textural contrasts
Production Technology: The curved wall and the laminated cast-in-place revolving staircase were a very big challenge for this project in terms of landing. First of all, the curved wall is an irregular shape, and the boundary of each floor has different positioning dimensions. In order to keep the errors to a minimum, the builder used ropes to locate the 2 layers connected to the basement at multiple points while positioning according to the drawings, just to ensure the coherence of the curved walls.
For the construction drawings, we refer to the positioning method of Toyo Ito’s construction drawings, the contour grid positioning method.
Design Challenge: Guiding the constructor to land our project, and connecting with the structure and electromechanical team, both are hard nuts for us to crack. There are many first attempts for us, also for our constructor.
Research: We focus on the impact of light on the residential environment, taking sunlight as a case study, by observation of the duration and direction of sunlight at the winter and summer solstices.
Inspiration: The radiant natural light is the source of the form of this space. An organic, inclusive space was the feeling we wanted to create, so we also compared a lot of organic space practices, including the positioning of the construction drawings.
Project Duration: The project started on October 17th 2020 and finished on August 1st 2021 in Zhengzhou, China.
Operation Flow: In terms of functional distribution, we clearly divide the functional areas of each floor, which are both independent and well-connected.
The 1st floor and the 2nd floor underground are the main floors for daily access, serving as public spaces, while the relatively independent 2nd floor serves as residential spaces. Owners also have the need for daily gatherings, so we try to make each functional area larger.The staircase has been redesigned to provide a more comfortable connection of traffic flow between the functional areas on each level.
Patents: Design copyright: 323studio
Team Members: Designer: Ran Chen
Image Credits: Photographic institutions：WMstudio