MO U N TA IN HOUSE IN MIST (拾云山房 ) N E A W LL
The entire base of the building is elevated to create a positive space beneath as a gathering node for activities while establishing a strong visual connection between the adjacent levels of different heights. It also provides an alternative circulation pathway through an outdoor staircase that connects to the children’s playground, instead of having to take a longer route up the ramp on the stone wall.
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The roof is constructed using grey clay tiles which is also used by local dwellings. It is similar to the traditional roofing materials of Southern Chinese architecture which portrays the idea of being humble, modest and a simple lifestyle. The grey clay roof tile roof of the book house blends in nicely with the surrounding context.
C PL HIL AY D R G RO E N U N D
Opening in gable roof, creating an airwell that allow rainwater to enter and accumulate in the patio.
The book house aims to create a serene reading space, adding colour and freedom to the daily lives of the locals, mostly the elderly, by introducing reading as a new alternative to their past-time activities which also complements the introverted personality of this ancient Chinese village. The building sits is in a triangle area, with the main walkway on the south and a three-meter stone wall on the north.
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BUILDING MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS
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The book house adopts the local Zhenan vernacular architectural pattern, depicting a rectilinear base that supports a gable roof, slightly deflected at angle to break the visual rigidity and add an interesting twist to this rather modest village. The form integrates nicely into the local context whereby almost all neighbouring courtyard houses and buildings are gable-roofed as well. This allows architecture and people to remain close and friendly to each other, rather than the house being too prominent which might cause people to shy away instead.
SPACE ORGANISATION AND ACCESS HIERARCHY
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The Mountain House in Mist by Shulin Architectural Design is located in an ancient mountain forest in Wuyi County, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. The village maintains complete features from old inhabitants in this area, with buildings scattered in different altitudes along the mountain line and dense trees with history of over a 100 years at the entrance. The book house sits not far from the square at the entrance, beside which are well-preserved rammed earth courtyard houses.
FEATURES RELATED TO THE FORM OF BUILDING
WA L K WAY
I N TRO DU CT ION
ESTHER WONG JIA EN
Alternative circulation route through the building which is more convenient compared to having to go around the building to reach the playground.
The book house employs elements of classical Chinese timber frame construction, where the timber frame is load bearing, enabling the walls to act as infill panels. The house is elevated on ten structural columns, creating a sense of lightness. The weight bearing frame is constructed using timber, and sun panels for the infill panels, a rare sight in local context. This accentuates the lightweight, translucent feel compared to the visually heavy rammed earth courtyard houses.
Grey clay roof tiles Modular pine wood bookshelf Translucent sun panel
Airwell of local courtyard house.
Load-bearing timber columns The initial idea of placing a timber building with sloping roofs.
SKYLINE, COMPRESSION AND HEIGHT The book house is located in a secluded valley among mountains. The skyline is still dominated by the natural sinuous lines of the mountain range, while the village is tucked away comfortably within this enclosed volume created by the mountains, hence evoking a sense of containment and protection.
A patio is placed as the core, similar to airwells that are found in traditional courtyard houses. It allows sunlight, rain and air into the semi-open space through the opening on the roof, at the same time its setting makes it seem like its waiting to capture a specific moment in time.
Rainwater accumulates in the patio, as a sign of nature entering the indoor space.
Despite the small space, all these delicate touches make the house more relevant to nature, time and space, showing sensitivity towards preserving the essence of rural architecture which is for people and space, people and nature, and people and time to be in coexist harmoniously.
The entire structure is elevated to create positive usable space beneath for activities and establish visual connection with its surroundings.
Relationship between the roof and bookshelves.
The timber frame structure of the buildings is also exposed, portraying the art of classical Chinese architecture as the aesthetics of wood. The choice of materials shapes the interior to have a warm soothing feeling with adequate natural lighting, but also having just a hint of privacy for the users inside while still having a semi-transparent spatial experience.
DIMENSIONS OF HISTORY AND SOCIAL MEMORIES Ever since ancient times, the town of Liucheng has been blessed with the culture of reading that had originated during the Song Dynasty. The people also had high regards for education, recognizing the value of being equipped with knowledge especially during the revolutionary era of China. Hence, the Mountain House in Mist is designed as a book house or community library right in the heart of the town, as a way to remind and pay tribute to this particular aspect of the local social memory.
HEIGHT
The gable-roof form of the book house also pays respect to the historical context of the village, with houses already being built in this traditional Chinese vernacular architectural form since traditional times, and some of these houses have survived until today.
The bookshelves are constructed using a modular structure of thick pine wood, and controlled by a unified modular scale language. The vertical frame of the bookshelf and the structural beam of the roof corresponds to each other in a 1:1 ratio, forming an overall language logic system. This is adapted from classical Chinese timber frame construction that also employs a modular language in constructing their buildings with a structured bay “jian” as a standard unit.
An outdoor staircase connects the ground floor open space to the first floor reading area and the children playground which is on the same level. Bookshelves relevant to status of reading.
On the ground floor of the book house, there is an overhead semi-outdoor open space, and ten structural columns hold the entire house. The closed spaces are on the second floor, connected to the outside with an outdoor staircase. There is only a tiny water bar on the first floor for water and beverages, the other places are totally open for villagers to drink, chat and for kids to play. The open space connects all the possible activities, sparing room for the villagers as well.
VISUAL MAKING ELEMENTS The facade of the building is derived from the exposed timber frame structure with irregular spaced openings positioned to face certain views to break the rigidity of the grid pattern. This is a stark contrast to the local street facade view where the entire facade is a solid enclosure except for evenly spaced openings as windows and doors. The vernacular form of the building allows it to blend into the surrounding context, but the materials used and façade profile sets it apart from the them at the same time. The distinctive difference in facade profiles of the book house to the surrounding neighbouring context is intentional so as to differentiate the spatial function of the book house as a communal recreational space from the masses of domestic housing, also to introduce a mass “without volume” that evokes a sense of lightness and honesty amongst the predominantly solid landscape.
Comparison of local traditional house forms with gable roofs to the Mountain House in Mist.
COMPRESSION
Even though the house is elevated, its height is kept to a minimum, responding to the heights of the surrounding buildings so as to not interrupt the articulation of the village profile.
Existing traditional courtyard houses in the village that have survived until today.
Enclosed private space
Circulation pathway through outdoor stairs
Semi-outdoor public space
View directions
Comparison between the solid enclosed facade profile of a local traditional rammed earth courtyard house (right) to the more translucent facade of the Mountain House in Mist (left).