Hi Ladders High 梯高 by Hao Li is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 銅獎 in 建築、樓宇及結構設計 Competition Category.

銅建築· 2020

Hi Ladders High 梯高

by Hao Li

Client: Program SPARK

A' Design Award 銅獎 Winner in 建築 Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About Hi Ladders High 梯高

《梯高》係喺中國湖北省羅田縣一間小學嘅暑期營度建成嘅一座涼亭。整個結構由二十條獨立嘅木梯組成,以中國杉木裁切打磨而成。每條木梯都好穩固,並且傾斜角度可以調節,因此可以組合出多種空間形態。冇建築訓練背景嘅小朋友全程參與咗設計同建造嘅過程。梯、透明檯布、紙皮呢啲常見嘅鄉村物件,被賦予咗新嘅功能。呢座涼亭為遊戲同營隊活動提供咗一個開放嘅場所。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 銅獎

Hi Ladders High 梯高是 A' Design Award 銅獎得主，這是授予以創造力、獨創性和敏銳見長的傑出設計的極具聲望的認可。銅獎得主是技藝嫻熟、創意驚人的作品，印證了其設計師豐富的經驗、想像力與機智。預計Hi Ladders High 梯高將成為一件備受推崇、令人欽佩且被珍愛的物品，兼具顯著的專業性與創新性。這件贏得 A' Design Award 銅獎的設計融入藝術、科學、設計和技術領域的最佳實踐，並因注重細節而出類拔萃。Hi Ladders High 梯高出色地滿足需求，觸動渴望，迷住情感，並吸引好奇心。

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