ÜRÜMQI, China––Design plus Hope (D +H) design firm’s spiraling brick garden pavilion reflects both the modern and traditional architectural characteristics of the region. Featured at the 11th China International Horticultural Expo, The Urumqi Garden was the design firm’s first expo project, and even scored the firm first place, the company writes.
With the sudden boom of the garden expo in China recently, local gardens that represent individual cities tend to be stereotyped to miniature landscapes or traditional gardens of local landscapes. Keeping this in mind, Lab D+H participated in the competition at Urumqi Garden with a reflection perspective and won the 1st place.
D + H explains they strived to express local Urumqi identity in new and unique ways. First, the pavilion’s facade were inspired by traditional Urumqi ‘ayiwang’ houses reimagined in brick form––whose intersections yielded light dispersing apertures––and secondly, as DesignBoom writes, the meandering garden pathway features archways which also borrowed from traditional residential housing, and seamlessly traversed outdoor and indoor space–– a route which drew inspiration from the traditional Urumqi stringed instrument the rawap.
The entire circulation experience of the pavilion is an expression of the outdoor landscape expansion. For example, the rotating ramp brings the outdoor ‘string’ garden into the interior area which blurs the boundary between inside and outside space. the modern corridor and the hidden pillar structures give more possibilities to the overhangs and opening of this brick pavilion.
About D + H: Design plus Hope (D+H) is an inter-disciplinary design practice committed to affecting positive change in society through design and planning. Working across cultures and at a wide range of scales, D+H approaches every project with deep commitments to craft, thoughtful solutions, and sustainability.
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