A World in a “Wall”

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Sitting at the west suburb of Kunshan, a booming industrial city, the Lake Yangcheng Park of 42.5 hectares is the largest public green space on the lake shore, visited heavily by central-city residents during the week ends. The linear building site lies between the main public parking lot and a curved boardwalk which leads people to the waterfront and other attractions.

By its nature, a visitor center is the front door of a place. But a door presumes the existence of a wall. Considering the linear shape of the site, I feel that it is appropriate to make the building a “wall.” Indeed, people getting out of their cars will see a curved “wall,” 99 meters long and 7.75 meters high, along the entire north side of the parking lot, Three doorways of varied sizes are punched out from the “wall,” opening up passages into the Park. Being accentuated by the surrounding “wall,” the sceneries revealed in the openings appear particularly enticing,

But one will soon find that this is not a simple solid wall. A layer of wood trellises runs parallel to an inner concrete wall. The trellises and future climbing plants make the “wall” appear light and ever-changing. At the west end, the trellis layer deviates from the concrete wall and forms a unique gesture, nodding to the nearby lake shore which is invisible from the parking lot.

The big surprise comes when people enter the doorways. Looking east and west, they will find that the “wall” in fact contains complex spaces between its two concrete exterior shells. Because few solid crossing partitions exist in the building, one can see various spaces, bright and dim, indoor and outdoor, high and low, orthogonal and diagonal, juxtaposed along the longitudinal direction of the cavity. For example, the sunken court under the ramp recalls a shadowy valley studded with trees.

The first floor provides an exhibition space for tourist orientation and several retail shops. A ramp leads visitors to a roof court which connects to a café and another shop. The café has its own roof deck that enjoys the best view of the Lake. The pairing of indoor and outdoor spaces to serve a function is one of the fundamental characteristics of Chinese traditional space.

Visitors passing through the “wall” will find a quiet wood deck connecting the back of the building and the existing boardwalk. Under the shades of dense trees, arriving and leaving tourists can get beers from the nearby shop and enjoy them here.

Project Data

Location Lake Yangcheng Park, Hu-bin Road, Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China

Project Period 2009-2012

Floor Area 844 square meters

Client Kunshan City Construction, Investment and Development Co., Ltd.

Designer

Architecture: Miao Design Studio (Design Architect), Pu Miao; Hanjia Design Group, Shanghai (Architect of Record), Jiang Ninqing

Structure: Shanghai Yuangui Structural Design Inc., Zhang Yewei, Liu Xiao

Engineering: Hanjia Design Group, Mu Lixin, Yu Yang, Wu Qiuyan

Photographer Pu Miao

Publication

New Architecture (China, 4/2014), Architectural Review Asia Pacific (Australia, No. 140, 2015), FuturARC (Singapore, Jan.-Feb./2016), archdaily.com

”墙”中世界

昆山是一个飞速成长的工业城市。位于昆山西郊的阳澄湖公园占地42.5公顷，是该市在湖滨的最大一片公共绿地，每逢周末游人众多。本建筑基地为条形，位于公园最大的游客停车场及一条曲线木栈道之间。沿木栈道走可到达湖边及其他景点。

游客中心的本质是一个地方的大门。但要有门就必须先有墙。考虑到基地正好是线型的，为什么不把本建筑就做成一道“墙”呢？人们现在从车上下来，会看见沿停车场整个北边沿是一道99米长，7.75米高的“墙”。“墙”上开了三个大小不一门洞，提供了进入公园的通道。在周边墙面的衬托下，这些门洞中揭示的风景显得特别诱人。

但人们马上会发现这不是一道简单的实墙。它由里面的混凝土墙及外面与之平行的一层木格栅组成。木格栅及其上将长成的攀援绿化会使这道“墙”显得轻盈多变。格栅墙在建筑西端偏离后面的混凝土墙，形成一个独特的造型，向附近的湖滨（从停车场看不见）致意。

最大的惊奇发生在人们进入门洞时。向东西方向一望，他们会发现在这道“墙”的两面混凝土外壳之间藏着复杂多变的空间。由于建筑内部没有多少横隔墙，游客可以看到沿着建筑内部的长向罗列着各种空间，包括明亮与幽暗的，室内与室外的，高与低，水平与斜面的等等。比如说, 坡道下的下沉庭院让人联想起一个树木林立的浓荫峡谷。

一层包含一个为游客导游的展览空间及多个商店。人们通过坡道可以上到一个坐落在茶室与另一商店之间的屋顶庭院。茶室有另一个自用的屋顶庭院，是望湖的最好地方。把室内外空间配成对来服务于一个建筑功能是中国传统建筑的基本特点之一。

人们穿过“墙”后将发现一个幽静的木平台把建筑背面与现有的木栈道连接起来。刚来或将离去的游客可以从旁边的商店要一杯啤酒，在浓密树荫笼罩下的平台上享用。

工程资料

地点 江苏省昆山市湖滨路阳澄湖公园

时间 2009-2012

建筑面积 844 平方米

业主 江苏省昆山城市建设投资发展有限公司

设计

建筑：缪朴设计工作室 缪朴; 汉嘉设计集团 蒋宁清

结构：上海源规建筑结构设计事务所 张业巍，刘潇

设备：汉嘉设计集团 穆立新，于洋，吴秋燕

摄影 缪朴

发表

《新建筑》(4/2014),《Architectural Review Asia Pacific》(澳大利亚, No. 140, 2015),《FuturARC》(新加坡, Jan.-Feb./2016)，archdaily.com