Deep in the Deep House: A designer under 35 years old’s thoughts on returning to the garden

Reminder: This article contains many pictures, estimated reading time: 8 minutes

A designer under 35 years old "I was born in Lanzhou, a small town in northwest China, a city of immigrants from the west. It has both the folk customs of the wild west and the cultural atmosphere brought by a wave of intellectual immigrants. It is a city that is both "literary" and "wild" The influence of my growth environment is that I am wild and fierce at heart, but at the same time I am extremely sensitive to literary and artistic things. The reason why I do architecture is that I don’t like to follow the rules. And architecture is one of the things that can give me this "energetic" feeling."

The project base is located in the Jiangnan region of China. The place where traditional Chinese gardens were born. The architect hopes that this design will respond to the premise of modern construction technology and living comfort, and how to meet the spiritual needs of traditional Chinese people, that is: to pay attention to the mountains and rivers, to live in seclusion in the fields.

Therefore, in the already long and narrow site, the architect lengthened the flow line, line of sight and time through the turning and progression of space, and finally the spatial sequence formed a The result of planting deep houses and deep gardens.

The prototype of the building comes from the "pavilion" in traditional Chinese garden architecture. The building structure adopts a steel structure. Like the wooden buildings of traditional Chinese architecture, they are all supported by rods. force system. The large cantilevered roof blends the building's boundaries with the courtyard. Finally, the entire courtyard presents three levels of deep, deep, deep house.

▽Architectural panorama

Preface – the first “deep”

Jiangnan has always had a tradition of gardening. Different from traditional gardens, the current owners are no longer literati who are attached to the landscape, but are constantly in touch with the society. Collaboration connects modern people. The need for a garden is no longer a visual tour, but a physical escape from nature. "Returning to the garden and living in the fields" requires a place carrier that can connect the current reality and traditional feelings.

▽Building appearance, hidden in the countryside

The site is located in the typical Jiangnan Plain In a corner of the countryside, due to farming needs, the flat land is divided into elongated rectangular grids from north to south. "Shen Shen Zhai" is located in one of the grids. The east and west sides are bounded by water canals, and the south side faces the country road, which is the main entrance. . The biggest feature of the base is that it is very "deep". The base itself already has a spatial scene of "deep courtyard".

▽The base is located in a corner of the countryside and is very deep

Pattern – the second "depth"

In specific site planning, the starting point for thinking is not how to place the "physical" dimensions of the building volume. ”, but how to organize “empty”. "Empty" is both a scene and a function, a courtyard and a building. "Void" is the basic unit of site organization. Different "empties" are arranged in the base according to the use needs, and the boundaries between the inside and the outside are demarcated in each "empty". Finally, four buildings of different sizes and shapes and ten courtyards were sorted out.

▽Volume analysis of functions and courtyards

▽First floor plan

▽General plan

▽Four building blocks

The second level features a central pond As the core, it is a private space for meeting friends. The previous level is separated by a "T" shaped opening. The upper part of the “T”-shaped opening is hollowed out with a wooden grille, suggesting the structure’s lintels. At this level, a "pavilion" with transparency on all sides is placed at the waterside to connect the inside and outside of the garden, the front and back of the garden. A longitudinally extending wall is also arranged at this level to separate the private space of the guest room courtyard.

▽Private meeting space centered on the pond

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The third level is the owner’s activity place and back garden, and a small basketball court is arranged according to the owner’s hobbies. Three levels are advanced step by step, eventually forming the result of a deep house and deep garden.

▽The deepest back garden

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Line of sight – the third “deep”

The boundaries between each courtyard are blurred, and the courtyard space is in a zigzag shape. Staggered, they may suppress, penetrate, open, or isolate each other. In the process of visiting the garden, the line of sight keeps turning, and every time you stop, you can catch a glimpse of the looming scene in the space ahead, and your eyes drive your steps forward to explore. Originally a rectangular base, due to the zigzag spatial pull, the entire spatial sequence is further deepened, becoming the third "deep".

▽The zigzag space brings a deeper visual experience

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▽Details

House

In gardens, the form of the building is not the focus. Because the architectural logic in traditional gardens is simple: use the most universal construction system and the most appropriate functional volume to make it appear where it should appear. And gave them different names: pavilion, platform, pavilion and pavilion.

In "Deep Deep House", the boundary and location of the building have been determined by the garden, and the remaining problem is: "covering". The structural system of ancient Chinese architecture is very clear. The beams and columns are just to set off the roof trusses, that is, to complete the covering; while the walls only separate the space and do not play a supporting role at all.

Considering that Jiangnan is warm and rainy, people spend more time walking and staying outside the house than indoors. The external covering of the building - the eaves is particularly important. The eaves are a careful shelter for people. It blocks rain but not steam, and shades the sun but does not block wind. The design hopes to make this coverage light and invisible. Therefore, the architectural posture is sheltered in the garden with a "far-reaching" overhang.

▽Large overhangs and glass walls make the building appear light and invisible

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▽Indoor classical furniture contrasts with the modern architectural structure

▽You can enjoy the pastoral scenery through the huge glass wall

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▽Aerial view of the back garden, huge overhanging roof

In order to distinguish covering and separation, in terms of architectural form and construction system, the functional volume adopts brick-concrete structure, and the roof part adopts steel-wood structure. The roof of the building is made of two staggered thin plates. The overlapping part forms a high window facing north to increase ventilation and lighting.

Visual perfection must be structurally precise. In order to make the far-overhanging roof look surprisingly light, special designs have been made in the structure and structure, so that the roof is still thin enough without sacrificing thermal insulation.

▽Cantilevered roof construction

▽Roof structure

▽Cutaway perspective view

Water management

The location of the water garden was originally a small fish pond behind the old house. It has been renovated. and enlargement, and has been connected to the east side water canal. In the entire garden, the only part without a wall is the east side facing the water. Traditional gardens are introverted and closed, with clear boundaries. The "deep deep house" in the countryside needs to breathe with the surroundings. The breath of water, the breath of sight, the breath of breath.

▽Before the renovation of the water park

▽After the renovation of the water park

< p> There is no downspout on the large roof of the building. Only a gap is made in part of the bluestone slab on the ground to expose the cobblestones. On sunny days, you don’t pay attention to it. On rainy days, the rainwater flows down from the preset drainage outlet and falls into the gap covered with cobblestones. In the middle, the falling rain forms a line. The roof and the ground are connected in a soft way by gravity and water.

▽The cornice and the cobblestones below

▽Rainwater Falling from the eaves to the pebbles to form a waterline

Path

< p> We have long been accustomed to the straight and smooth roads brought to us by modern construction, and have forgotten the deep, shallow, and looming mountain paths. The path is actually directly related to the body. It is driven by the eyes and touched by the feet. It is the contact surface between people and the earth. The road is made with feet, so it should return to the scale of feet. The road is stepped on with feet, so the path needs to be modified so that it will not be muddy. The garden itself is domesticated nature, with equal emphasis on culture and quality. The boundaries between culture and quality, nature and decoration may not be so clear.

▽Grass, gravel and bricks combine to form a natural path

▽Aerial view of the building Different paths within

▽ Sectional view

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Postscript

When the ancients built gardens, they were creating an ideal place to live in their hearts. It was inspired by literature ( poetry) to images (landscape paintings) to the physical realization of gardens. So, the same question arises: “What is the ideal residence for modern people?” It has always been the core clue of the entire design process of "Shen Shen House". However, until it was completed, there was still no answer that could be summarized.

It was not until a few years after it was completed that I accidentally saw the "Dongshan Silk and Bamboo Pictures" painted by literati from the Yuan Dynasty, and suddenly discovered that somewhere in the background, there was something painted by the ancients 700 years ago. In fact, the picture has already subtly influenced modern practice. In the painting, there is almost a one-to-one correspondence between the spatial structure, narrative elements, and even the prototype of the building.

▽Correspondence between architecture and ancient gardens

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Modern man-made gardens cannot be like ancient man-made gardens. Almost all the realities of life have changed. So what is the ideal residence for contemporary Chinese people? We know "skyscrapers", we know "garden villas", we know "returning to the garden to live in the fields", we know "facing the sea". But when it was finally discovered that the ideal place that popped up from the subconscious was actually hidden in the scrolls of nearly a thousand years, this might be an unconscious return.

▽The deep courtyard hidden in the countryside

Designer: Su Architectural Design Office

Project Type: Private Residence

Location: Jiangsu, China

Lead Architect : Ma Keyuan

Design team: Guo Shaoxun, Li Shuo, Yu Qingyuan, Zhou Fengfeng

Structural engineer: Zhang Mingyi

Photographer: Su Shengliang, Su Architecture

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Structure: brick-concrete structure + steel structure roof

Land area: 2600m?

Building area: 650m?

Design period: 2012 -2013

Construction cycle: 2013-2015

*Pictures and texts are compiled from the Internet