“As we ascended Dapi Mountain for the first time, we encountered limitless rocks, moss-covered grounds, guiding pine timber, and a sequence of historic temples. Standing amidst the normal temple cluster on the positioning, we deeply felt that the model new constructing would inevitably play a secondary place, integrating itself humbly into the millennia-old historic ambiance.”
Origin – Inside the early summer season of 2022, we had been invited to participate inside the ‘Heritage Illuminates Our Hometown Henan’ constructing event. When contemplating of Henan, large fields of wheat, profound agricultural custom, and a deep-rooted simplicity come to ideas. With a means of awe and anticipation, we boarded a northbound put together, embarking on a journey of architectural constructing. Dapi Mountain is positioned in Xun County, Hebi Metropolis, Henan Province. It’s renowned for housing the earliest and largest cliff-carved Buddha statue in China, and to the north of the mountain lies Guanyin Temple, which dates once more to 700 years prior to now and is surrounded by historic cypress timber. On the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month, people flock to the mountain to want. The problem website online is positioned on the northern fringe of the cliff, adjoining to Guanyin Temple, the place an abandoned bungalow as quickly as served as a resting place for friends. The proprietor wished to revitalize this location proper right into a station, providing friends with an enhanced experience whereas showcasing the native intangible cultural heritage and craftsmanship. All through our preliminary go to to the positioning, we discovered that Dapi Mountain had an exact peak of 135 meters, reverse to our preliminary notion of towering peaks. In its place, it stood as a solitary peak rising abruptly from flat terrain. Your full mountain was composed of grey stone, ascending in gentle steps, exuding a serene and stylish ambiance with lush greenery all through. What left an everlasting impression was the presence of these pure grey stone formations. There have been no artificially constructed roads near the positioning; instead, the panorama was dominated by the rugged look of the mountain itself. This naturally expressive setting stuffed us with anticipation for the architectural character. Standing contained in the website online, we traversed quite a few concepts, in the long run specializing in smart design challenges. How can we create an space that showcases intangible cultural heritage on this historically very important mountain? How can we take care of the pure changes inside the mountainous terrain contained in the website online? How can we maximize the northward views for friends? And the way in which can the construction work together in a pure and understated dialogue with Dapi Mountain?
Traits of the positioning – The distinctive entrance to the positioning was positioned on the west aspect, comparatively hid and slender, with solely a zigzag-shaped double-sloped bungalow contained in the website online. After analyzing the topography of the positioning and considering the circulation of people shut by, we decided to put the precept entrance on the east aspect, the place the mountain terrain underwent dramatic changes, resulting in a peak distinction of roughly 2 meters. Accompanied by a well-organized staircase on the doorway, we aimed to create an construction that can greet friends ascending the mountain in in all probability essentially the most exhilarating technique. The architectural construction adopted the enclosed affiliation of the distinctive website online, utilizing a light linear amount that linked the doorway areas on the east and west sides, whereas moreover providing ample courtyard home for resting on the south aspect. To forestall the within home from exhibiting cramped and elongated, we added a small amount in probably the greatest place for northern panorama views. It seamlessly built-in with the precept building, enhancing the seen richness of {the japanese} entrance, and presenting a contrasting front-back and high-low state. The junction of the volumes grew to turn into notably superior attributable to irregular contours, with three ridges and one valley converging at a single stage. Not solely did they intersect and be a part of with each other in relation to mathematical relationships, nonetheless moreover they various in peak. This technique aimed to bolster the architectural kind’s selection whereas guaranteeing appropriate drainage.
Ascending the steps alongside the precept entrance, vacationers stroll earlier a grey stone wall adorned with pink maple timber and enter an open leisure house. On the southern aspect, there are regular steady wood doorways with elegant window frames that provide views of the skin yard courtyard. Looking out from the north-facing dwelling home windows, an unobstructed mountain view stretches sooner than us. Opening the doorways leads to a terrace the place they’ll stand, leaning in direction of the railing, and gaze into the house, allowing the mountain breeze to brush earlier. Coming into the positioning by the use of the secondary entrance provides a really fully completely different experience. Passing by the use of a path of grey stone steps amidst a grove of cypress timber, people stroll leisurely alongside the coated corridor. On the left aspect, a richly textured curved rammed earth wall presents itself, whereas on the most effective aspect, there’s an expansive view of the courtyard environment and a half-height stone operate wall. Because the street of sight step-by-step lowers, people step into the station home. The assorted experience beneath the coated corridor diminishes the prominence of the service house on the alternative aspect of the rammed earth wall. Stepping contained within the station, the furnishings turns into an extension of the partitions. Bookshelves, reception counters, and storage racks observe the contours of the partitions, further emphasizing spatial delineation. If the roof serves as a element that brings collectively the design elements, the furnishings acts as a result of the structural ingredient inside the home, utilizing a unified vocabulary to depict fully completely different ranges of variation. Shifting from the skin to the within, the home transitions from enclosed to step-by-step clear, slowly merging the skin panorama into the indoor setting.
Fading into the Mountain – Taking a panoramic view of the whole website online, the construction should present itself in a discreet technique inside this historic mountainous panorama, resonating with the shut by historic constructions such as a result of the Guanyin Temple and Bagua Tower. Whereas preserving the sloping roof kind of the encircling historic buildings, the precept building was constructed using stylish constructing methods to achieve a lighter architectural kind. The construction continues the language of historic buildings with upturned eaves, step-by-step elevating the eave heights of {the japanese} and western entrances to create a means of grand entrance, whereas holding the center portion as little as attainable, merely enough to stay away from bumping heads. In distinction, the terrain of the mountain slopes step-by-step decreases from the center, transferring within the different means of the construction, making a noticeable strain between them. With a view to larger mix the construction into the encircling setting, the height of the setting up was precisely managed, not exceeding the height of the precept gate of Guanyin Temple, presenting a humble and modest posture in entrance of the normal buildings. On the same time, inside the alternative of setting up provides, many native provides had been used, much like grey stone from Taihang Mountain, regionally used preserved wood, rammed earth partitions with a rustic atmosphere, and slate tiles to bolster the texture of the roof.
Inheriting the Customized of “Clay Gugu” – This charge was a semi-propositional job, with the proprietor hoping for the construction to operate a promotion of the native intangible cultural heritage. After rigorously reviewing assorted native intangible cultural heritage practices, we in the long run chosen “Clay Gugu” because the precept theme for this problem. “Clay Gugu” is an ordinary clay toy that will produce a “gu gu” sound when blown into, sometimes depicting the image of a cuckoo hen. As a handcrafted art work kind handed down for a whole lot of years, it not solely showcases the craftsmanship of artisans however as well as aligns with the spirit of experience in architectural creation. We aimed to immerse people inside the permeation of intangible cultural heritage all by means of the whole construction, from its normal design to the smallest experiential particulars. On the doorway, the stone platform features a Gugu hen, setting the thematic tone correct from the start. Subsequent to the large rammed earth wall, vacationers can actually really feel the native artisans’ mastery of shaping the clay, paying homage to the skilled craftsmen who create the “Clay Gugu”. All through the enclosed yard courtyard, a present of real and copy “Clay Gugu” installations catches the eye, as if glimpsing a Gugu hen flying within the path of the mountaintop and gracefully perching beside the normal temple.
It’s worth mentioning that we used slate tiles for the roof, a material that blends seamlessly with the earthy tones of the atmosphere, evoking a means of sunshine akin to a flying hen. Whereas there are quite a few selections in relation to shade and provides for cement tiles and ceramic tiles, with thicknesses ranging from 2 centimeters and above, slate tiles are remarkably skinny, typically that features slight imperfections on the edges that harmonize correctly with the ground of the mountain. All by means of the event course of, we repeatedly collaborated with the event employees to ensure the right roof arrange, the desired eave projection distance, and the drainage system of the gutters, aiming to maximise the safety of the slate tiles on the roof whereas holding the metal edging or gutters as minimal as attainable. As a result of the photo voltaic strikes from east to west in the middle of the day, the roof tiles shimmer and replicate gentle, resembling the glossy feathers of a hen in motion.
Rooted inside the Mountains – Ensuing from its location halfway up the mountain, the problem posed very important challenges to structural design and constructing operations. The Dapi Mountain is a geological heritage website online, prohibiting deep excavation for foundations. On account of this reality, explicit particular person excavations had been carried out for each column base, with the muse depth calculated based on the assorted rock layers. Each foundation pit was photographed, numbered, measured, and calculated on-site. After quite a lot of adjustments and optimizations, the event proceeded effectively. The muse depths various, with the shallowest being solely 300mm and the deepest positioned on a 2m cliff edge. Your full foundation resembled a person’s fingers, working collectively to firmly grasp the mountain. Whereas stationed on Dapi Mountain, we had intensive discussions with the event employees to deal with nearly every design aspect. These discussions ranged from the event layers of the roof to waterproofing measures on the ridge. We delved into detailed cures of eaves boards and the connection constructions between rafters and gate boards. From on-site secondary bending of steel constructions to simulating the overlapping of slate tiles, on-site administration carried out an important place inside the completion of the problem. Moreover, all through our time on-site, we witnessed the craftsmanship and artisan spirit of native artisans. The stone craftsmanship for the stone cladding, slicing, and precise stacking of each stone inside the grey stone partitions, arrange and manufacturing of steady wood doorways and residential home windows, and picket tile shingles for the panorama pavilion—these processes had been all carried out by them, eschewing the precision and uniformity of producing facility mass manufacturing in favor of the delicacy and variability of handmade craftsmanship. It’s by the use of their efforts that the setting up, emphasizing a means of experience and a wild aesthetic, was in the long run completed.
Reflections – The event of the Station has been a journey that spanned an entire yr, experiencing the whole cycle of seasons from spring to winter. Arriving at Dapi Mountain inside the midst of summer season, the breathtaking implausible factor in regards to the mountain environment and the profound cultural heritage left a deep impression. As constructing began, we step-by-step entered the merciless winter, the place the troublesome constructing conditions reminded us of the ruggedness of nature and the delicate craftsmanship of human intervention—a contrasting however complementary interplay of two forces. We wanted to respect the mountain and proceed with warning. Approaching the completion of the problem, it’s now the season of spring, the place the whole thing comes alive, and the setting up, similar to the model new leaves on the branches, exudes vitality. Welcoming the approaching summer season is a brand-new Dapi Mountain. Dapi Mountain Pavilion is an architectural work that launched collectively the efforts of the native authorities, constructing employees, and artisans, with many individuals investing their time and energy into it. We hope that after it’s completely operational, it’ll operate a cultural platform, repeatedly shining a light-weight on the promotion of native intangible cultural heritage.