MEDIUM
ARCHITECTURE
COMPETITION: NATIAN CUP INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION (ENTRY PRIZE WINNER)
CURATED BY UED, BEIJING
The two stage competition was seeking proposals for an observatory at the Flower Farm in Suqian - a prefecture city. The project was conceived as a counter narrative to the ever expanding metropolis. The intervention is not a definitive standalone architectural element but rather a Medium to experience the existing flower farm.
The intervention is at different scales - from freely distributed furniture units on the grid to punctual informal gathering platforms, semi disconnected tea houses and an observation deck. Instead of proposing a singular definitive architectural item and a corresponding program, it is divided into multiple units and distributed along the site at close proximity.
The distance between the discrete volumes represents different conditions from a lane to a street to a boulevard to a plaza. Fragmentation and dispersion of program units implies there are no start points or end points; instead there are only thresholds and margins.
This deliberate fragmentation of programs and their corresponding volumes creates an immersive experience. The function of the architectural elements is merely to intervene and create new sensory impressions of the flower farm.
