Hi Ladders High 展亭 by Hao Li is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 铜奖 in 建筑与结构设计 Competition Category.

铜建筑· 2020

Hi Ladders High 展亭

by Hao Li

Client: Program SPARK

A' Design Award 铜奖 Winner in 建筑 Category

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Verified Award Winner

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The Design

About Hi Ladders High 展亭

《嗨,梯子高高》是一座建于中国湖北省罗田县一所小学夏令营中的展亭。其结构由二十把以杉木切割打磨而成的独立木梯构成。每把梯子都稳固可立,且倾斜角度可调,因而能够形成丰富多样的空间组合。未受过建筑专业训练的孩子们参与了从设计到搭建的全过程。梯子、透明桌布、纸板等乡村中常见的物件被赋予了全新的功能。这座展亭为游戏与营地活动提供了一处开放的场所。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铜奖

Hi Ladders High 展亭是 A' Design Award 铜奖得主，这是授予以创造力、独创性和敏锐见长的杰出设计的极具声望的认可。铜奖得主是技艺娴熟、创意惊人的作品，印证了其设计师丰富的经验、想象力与机智。预计Hi Ladders High 展亭将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的物品，兼具显著的专业性与创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铜奖的设计融入艺术、科学、设计和技术领域的最佳实践，并因注重细节而出类拔萃。Hi Ladders High 展亭出色地满足需求，触动渴望，迷住情感，并吸引好奇心。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

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.
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.
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.
Team Members: Wang Xiaoyang
Kang Wei
Zhou Xueer
Cai Xinyuan