01 | Escape · Encounter

Thermodynamic Architecture Prototype

Design of Youth Apartments in Beijing Old Town

In the eyes of old people in Beijing, Hutong is the vein of the old city, containing ordinary and happy life. In the eyes of young people, Hutongs are the place of artistic feelings. As Jia Zhangke said, "In the 1990s, our youth was in Hutongs". With the renewal and transformation of the old city, more lifestyles are being implanted into hutongs in different forms.

The significance of travel is to escape from the complexity and troubles of current life and seek for temporary freshness and happiness. Especially under the perplexity of COVID-19, this need for "escape" has become more urgent. The purpose of escape is to encounter, come out of the original life, encounter another kind of life, and feel living in a new atmosphere with a new identity. In the old city block around the White Pagoda Temple in Beijing, according to the two keywords of "escape" and "encounter", a youth apartment is designed to make it a place for people to live.

Residential design

Personal work

August,2022

Beijing,China

Instructor:Wenda Xiao (incity_lab@126.com)

Traditional quadrangle dwellings: surrounded by four sides, with courtyard in the middle, relatively closed.

COVID-19 makes it difficult for people to go out. Working from home makes people's psychological state gradually worse, becoming lonely and anxious.

Deformation: Open a path, the central courtyard will become a public area, and the interaction between people and residents will be greatly improved.

The proximity of the White Pagoda Temple to the old city block makes the surrounding area of the base present a diversified population type, including the elderly, young people, children, locals, tourists, etc.

Select two complete quadrangles and demolish some of their buildings to different degrees.Based on the above deformation ideas, open courtyard shape will be built on the site.

Compared with the original work life, the short escape and solitude make people feel calm and peaceful, and relieve people's long-term anxiety.

With the improvement of the epidemic situation, people can go out of their homes, but the pressure of work still makes people nervous.

Escape is often based on demand. In order to get rid of a certain predicament or uncomfortable state, accompanied by a fidgety and negative psychological state, the design needs to respond to the question of how to create a calm and comfortable living environment to eliminate discomfort. Encounter is the result of escape. It is a purposeless behavior that suddenly breaks into a certain atmosphere and scene, making people feel surprised and comfortable. Aiming at this point, the design hopes to create some unconventional space scenes, such as the private courtyard of the quadrangle becomes a public space, and some outdoor scenes have a certain degree of indoor space sense, etc.

After experiencing solitude, people can receive others with a more positive and peaceful attitude, communicate better with others, and return to a happy social atmosphere.

1.Delineate the base area and select the demolished/partially demolished quadrangles.

3.Adjust the architectural form. Subsidence, overhang and partial expansion/contraction are used to create rich architectural spaces and functional types.

2.Plan the distribution relationship between buildings and public space on the site where houses are demolished.

4.Select the location where the building and public space are easy to communicate, and set windows to facilitate interaction between tenants and others.

5.Set guiding nodes (corridors/ landscape nodes) to gather people to reach the site

6.Integrate the above operations and design the outdoor flooring and covering. Add details.

Exploded Diagram

The "window", a space at the junction of buildings and courtyards, often brings more opportunities for communication and interaction between people. And this kind of communication is often easier, which can occur between people of different ages or identities.