Second Place Winner
Guan
Design by
Yu Li
The proposal starts with good research and good diagrams of meditation techniques. This is a refined scheme, that is well incorporated into the treed site. The drawings are well crafted and appropriate to test the intentions of the project, though the atmosphere is labelled more often than drawn. It is unclear why the planning is formalist and why the building a modernist white given the context.-
-Sand Helsel
A very well thought out proposal with attention to detailing and structure which was refreshing to see! The project alo stands out for me for its sheer consistency and unification between experiences.
-Sidra Khokhar
Yu Li
Li Yu
Celebrating Creativity & Vision
Winner’s Spotlight: An Exclusive Interview
Discover the story behind the victory — from concept to creation.
Introduction
Hello, everyone, I am an architect and have been working for five years since graduation. During these five years, I have completed some practical projects, but at the same time, I am also very interested in concept design, so I would do some interesting research and competitions in my spare time. The reason why I joined this competition is related to my personal experience. As we all know, the pace of life in China's big cities like is really fast, so young people like me who work in these cities are usually under a lot of pressure. Sometimes these people may question their own choices, and think about what they really want, and it is hard for them to find the space to concentrate on their minds. So I have been thinking for a long time, whether I can create a space for young people to escape from this kind of life. Space is not only focusing on the relaxation of the body but also loosing up their spirits. This kind of experience and feelings prompted me to take part in this competition.
Design Concept
In my opinion, the retreat centre I designed is a building that can interact with nature. I want to introduce natural subjects like the sun, the water, the trees and so on into the building, and give the subjects different experiences. Not just watching them, people can use their bodies to smell, hear and touch them. Therefore, I want to translate these behaviours into my space to enrich the visitor's experiences.In terms of how I created the healing space, I was inspired by some ancient paintings. In my design, I want to introduce the natural subjects like the sun, the water, the trees and so on into the building, and give the subjects different experience. You know, not just watching them, people can use their bodies to smell, hear and touch them. At the same time, I want to transform some healing behaviours like meditation and mindfulness into my spaces to enrich guests’ experience. After determining the design direction combined with nature, the murals in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, China inspired me more. These murals record the life of ancient Chinese people for thousands of years. They are great works of the combination of ancient Chinese history and art. The murals in Cave 172 record sixteen activities that helped the ancients to introspect, also known as sixteen views. After studying the sixteen views, I found six views including the sun, flowing water, the earth, the tree, the pool, and the tower can be introduced into my design. The retreat centre is located on a ridge within the National Forest Park in Chongqing, China. Its surrounding conditions are very interesting, first of all, there are 5 maple trees on the site, which have beautiful views, and at the same time, the site is surrounded by horsetail pine forest and there is a reservoir on the back. For me, how to organically combine natural subjects with architectural space is a unique challenge.
Healing Architecture
In my design, I want to make full use of the five senses to perceive nature. For example, people can hear the water dripping onto the stones in the dark room, and touch the moss spreading into the building. These spaces form a sequence as terrain descends, and people would be attracted by these spaces and willing to explore them. The feelings of different spaces and the interactions with natural subjects can help people to achieve inner peace and self-acceptance from multiple angles.When it comes to specific elements in architecture，I think the most unique spatial element in my design is water. The water creates two distinct Spaces, the pond-watching hall and the dark room. In the pond-watching hall, people can see water flowing down the eaves constantly, while in the dark room, people can hear the sound of water dripping onto the stones. Therefore, different ways of interacting with nature form different kinds of spaces and the final architectural image. What‘s more, the main materials of my building are fair-faced concrete and wood. In my opinion, concrete, although cold, can create a pure and clean space, while wood can add warm feelings to the building.
Interaction with Space
I use contrast techniques to shape and strengthen the interaction between space and people. Firstly, contrast is used inside each space. Take the Ground View Room as an example, this room introduces the sloping ground with moss into the building, and the roof of the building is gradually lowered, leaving only a line of sky light between the slope and the roof, and people will gradually change from standing posture to sitting posture due to the reduction of the building height. The lowering roof leads the eye to the slope in front of the people, not only to see the color of the moss, but also to touch the texture of it. The contrast between different senses gives people a different way of thinking about nature. Secondly, I also use contrast techniques between different Spaces. For example, the Lecture Centre and Meditation Centre are both designed with maple trees as the center. The difference is that one space is open and the other is closed, so people's behaviors and experiences in the space are also different. Since ancient times, the relationship between Chinese people and nature has been very close, and nature brings people spiritual comfort and helps people reduce psychological pressure. Therefore, I believe that the design concept combined with natural subjects can be adapted to various types of self-renewal.
Design Evolution
At the beginning of the design, I have confirmed the design direction of combining with nature, but the breakthrough point of the design is not so easy to find. At first, I looked for answers in traditional Chinese culture. I analyzed classical Chinese gardens and found that the sequence of Spaces in classical gardens can give visitors different emotional experiences. In addition, in an exhibition, I learned about the sixteen views in Dunhuang murals. I think this way of meditating on nature not only brought peace to the ancients themselves, but also brought the direction of inner exploration to contemporary citizens. Therefore, I combined spatial sequence with sixteen views to carry out my design. At the end of my design, I named it 观（Guan）. Because in Chinese context, Guan is not only a verb means watching or reading something, but also a noun means a pure place for meditation.
Community and Environmental Impact
In the design, I tried to minimize the impact on the surrounding ecosystem and hoped that the existing environment would have a positive effect on visitors. For example, I retained the five maple trees that originally existed on the site and used them as an exclusive meditation subject of the building. In the interaction with maple trees, visitors can not only gain an awareness of themselves, but also obtain an awareness and respect for nature.
Guidance for Aspiring Designers
In my opinion, there is no the most perfect answer to an architectural design, and every architect is searching for the best design solution constantly that matches the site and concept. For the healing buildings, the first stage of health care is the healing of the body, and the next stage is the healing of the mind and spirit. People in different cultures may have different ways of healings and self-renewal, which requires architects to take more consideration according to the reality. In this case, I believe that a successful design project is not only a thought of single aspects, it includes multi-angles considerations about history, culture, environment and human beings.
Reflections on Winning
I am really pleasant and honored to be recognized by the jury members. This winning experience will inspire me to explore more design possibilities. Thank you!
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