A Permeable Pavilion in Dialogue with Historic Architecture
For the 8th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen), Leon Liang Xu, lecturer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Architecture, created the Double-Wall Pavilion at the centuries-old Dapeng Fortress. Here he shares more about the project, which was inspired by the ancient structure and its context
Design Anthology: How did the opportunity to design something as part of the biennale come about?
Leon Liang Xu: My relationship with the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB) in Shenzhen can be traced back to 2011, when I was a member of the curatorial committee. One of the primary agendas of the Shenzhen UABB is to renovate places like urban villages and former industrial buildings into temporary exhibition venues and give these places a new life through the biennale. I met Yang Yong, the curator of the Dapeng Fortress sub-venue, in 2017 when I was the production manager in the biennale’s curatorial team. Following that biennale, we collaborated on a photography exhibition. Yang knew my architectural background and invited me to participate in the 2019 biennale as an exhibitor.
Can you tell us about the structure you created?
The structure consists of two wall pieces, a roof and several stools. These two parallel wall pieces, extensions of the existing barn’s two walls, were the inspiration for the name Double-Wall. Above the walls stretches an inverted vault roof, which looks almost like I’ve flipped the barn’s vaulted roof and replaced its bricks with metal mesh. Together, the walls and the roof reframe the views towards the two ends of the structure. The other component of the installation is the stool, which shares similar formal features with the pavilion. Visitors can rest on the stools or children can climb and play on them.
Can you tell us about the location and context?
The sub-venue Dapeng Fortress is a walled town in the western corner of Shenzhen, next to Daya Bay. It was built during the Ming dynasty and in 2001 it was listed as one of the country’s protected historical sites. Within the walled town you find traditional lane systems, residential houses and the remains of some feudal government facilities. To be able to build something on this site was incredibly exciting for me.
When I first saw the curatorial proposal, I was drawn to the historical barn and decided to design an installation in dialogue with it and its surrounding townscape. The structure was to be erected in an end corner in front of the barn, on grey brick paving. Within this context, my first question was whether this installation could contribute to redefining the dynamics between people and the space.
Given that it’s a historical site, we weren’t permitted to lay any foundations and had to keep in-situ construction minimal. What’s more, the dimensions of the town’s four gateways meant that transportation of prefabricated components was a challenge.
What was your concept behind the design?
My design concept is a contextualised integration of three parts: form, material and elements. The pavilion is a four-and-half-metre cube in a rather straightforward form: two parallel wall pieces and an inverted vault roof, both borrowed from the historical barn. However, with the insertion of the two wall pieces, the original corner is now divided into layers and zones. Meanwhile, in the other direction, the repetitive rhythm of the barn’s structure is emphasised by framing the view toward a single bay.
The structure is made up of two materials — steel plates and metal mesh. The metal mesh, used for the roof and large wall surfaces, is essential for viewing the landscape and human movements, which are filtered and overlap to create an inexplicit spatial ambience. The whole structure is painted white, standing in striking contrast to the surroundings — the barn, village houses and mountain in the distance.
We duplicated the same wall piece (with an opening carved out) and rotated one of them. In this way, the doorway becomes a window frame. These two openings direct the visitor’s bodily and visual experience. As one walks through the layers, the framed scenery changes depending on their position.
As told to Suzy Annetta
Images / Leon Liang Xu
