那香海 Beach Changing Facility
2019- Area: 603m2
- Completion Date: 2019
- Location: Rongcheng, Shandong, China
- Collaborators: Li Li, Rurban Studio, Tongji University; Hu Haining, Zhang Zhun
- Construction: Rong Cheng Construction
The building is located at a popular public beach right beside a busy street in Rongcheng, China. Summer here has long become a special occasion when people celebrate their outdoor life. The location of the building is not ideal in that it interrupts the beach. To minimize the interruption, the building takes the form of a hollow frame and a reflecting surface, serving as a background of the city life.
The building is a concrete frame elevated on an upside-down pyramid structure, allowing only one touching point to the beach. Within the concrete frame, oblong and cylindrical geometric objects organize internalized functions and interstitial spaces. The central interstitial space draws pedestrians to the sea while composing their views in the transition from the urban to the natural. The building façade facing the sea takes the form of a curved mirror, reflecting the sea, framing the reflections, and eventually suggesting the intention to make the building invisible. Additionally, a spiral staircase leads people to the roof garden where an expanded perspective of the sea unveils.
The building pays homage to modern architecture master pieces, such as the ground condition of Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth and the roof garden promenade of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, acknowledging the inescapable imprint that generations of architects bear from their forerunners.
Videography Credit: Li Ji
Photo credits: Chen Yong, Yu Lei, Li Ji, Weiling He
