Interior Design/Earthly Studio of the Research Center for Native Architecture and Culture (Xi'an)
生土建筑与文化(西安)研究中心室内设计 / 土上工作室
空间组织的巧妙运用：该项目最引人注目的亮点在于其对空间组织的精妙处理。设计巧妙地区分了公共展览区和相对私密的实验与办公区，并通过一个双层通高的共享空间连接，形成了一个核心的“空间枢纽”。这种设计不仅满足了功能需求，也创造了丰富的空间层次。在双层通高空间内，新增的会议室和开放走廊的设计，巧妙地模糊了公共与私密的界限，延伸了私密空间，并在视觉上创造了“悬浮”的效果，提升了整体的空间体验。这种对空间关系的精心编排是项目成功的关键。
材料的诚实表达与构造的朴素美学：面对有限的预算和可能的施工挑战，设计师选择了“寻常”的材料，如钢结构、红砖、胶合板和木条。这种策略体现了对材料真实性的尊重。设计摒弃了不必要的装饰，着重表达材料本身的质感和构造的逻辑。项目采用了加泰罗尼亚拱顶结构，将钢结构与红砖结合，这种技术在西北地区有悠久的历史。这种克制的设计理念，虽然看似简单，却展现了材料的原始力量和朴素之美，体现了“用物质操控，直至精神从中升华”的设计哲学。
对传统与现代的融合：该项目巧妙地将现代建筑的钢结构与传统的建筑材料和技术相结合。加泰罗尼亚拱顶的应用，是对中国西北地区窑洞文化的致敬，也是对当地建造传统的呼应。这种融合并非简单的复制，而是对传统文化的当代演绎。设计师在有限的条件下，创造性地运用材料和结构，展现了建筑师对在地文化的理解与尊重。项目在功能性、经济性和美学之间找到了平衡，展现了建筑师在实际约束下的创新精神和对建筑本源的深刻理解。
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
From the architect. The original building features a steel frame structure with a rectangular plan, elongated north-south and shorter east-west. It is composed of two immediately adjacent volumes of differing heights: The lower southern volume is a single-story, forming a large, undivided space, while the taller northern volume spans two stories, incorporating a 9-meter-high double-height space at its junction with the lower volume.
来自建筑师。The original building features a steel frame structure with a rectangular plan, elongated north-south and shorter east-west. It is composed of two immediately adjacent volumes of differing heights: The lower southern volume is a single-story, forming a large, undivided space, while the taller northern volume spans two stories, incorporating a 9-meter-high double-height space at its junction with the lower volume.
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
The internal spatial organization is driven by functional requirements, divided into three zones: exhibition, experimentation, and office. These are further grouped into two areas based on public accessibility: the exhibition space, occupying the entire southern volume on the ground floor, is designed to be regularly open to the public, acting as a deliberate indoor extension of the neighborhood's public realm. The relatively private experimentation and office spaces are distributed across the ground and upper levels of the northern volume. The double-height space, serving as a shared boundary between these two areas, naturally emerging as a pivotal spatial nexus in the design.
The internal spatial organization is driven by functional requirements, divided into three zones: exhibition, experimentation, and office. These are further grouped into two areas based on public accessibility: the exhibition space, occupying the entire southern volume on the ground floor, is designed to be regularly open to the public, acting as a deliberate indoor extension of the neighborhood's public realm. The relatively private experimentation and office spaces are distributed across the ground and upper levels of the northern volume. The double-height space, serving as a shared boundary between these two areas, naturally emerging as a pivotal spatial nexus in the design.
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Diagram
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Within this double-height boundary space, we introduced two new volumes on the upper level: One is a meeting room and an open corridor facing the void; The other is a small office positioned at the northern edge of the double-height space, separating the public zone from the open office area. The meeting room and corridor, act as extensions of the private zone, seemingly floating into the public area. This design not only blurs the boundaries between public and private, but also enriches the spatial experience of this interface.
Within this double-height boundary space, we introduced two new volumes on the upper level: One is a meeting room and an open corridor facing the void; The other is a small office positioned at the northern edge of the double-height space, separating the public zone from the open office area. The meeting room and corridor, act as extensions of the private zone, seemingly floating into the public area. This design not only blurs the boundaries between public and private, but also enriches the spatial experience of this interface.
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Ultimately, all spatial experiences rely on the tangible reality of materials, requiring the design to confront specific practical issues. With a very limited budget, material choices were all "commonplace" items readily available in the building materials market: structural steel, red brick, plywood, and timber slats. Furthermore, anticipating unpredictable construction quality, we were highly vigilant from the outset about any details or techniques that couldn't guarantee a basic finish. This meant construction details had to be as simple and direct as possible, utilizing conventional methods.
Ultimately, all spatial experiences rely on the tangible reality of materials, requiring the design to confront specific practical issues. With a very limited budget, material choices were all "commonplace" items readily available in the building materials market: structural steel, red brick, plywood, and timber slats. Furthermore, anticipating unpredictable construction quality, we were highly vigilant from the outset about any details or techniques that couldn't guarantee a basic finish. This meant construction details had to be as simple and direct as possible, utilizing conventional methods.
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Within these low-tech strategies, born from practical constraints, lay architect's habitual desire to embrace new challenges. Take the added meeting room floor slab, for example: we chose to construct it using a structural steel-ribbed brick vault (Catalan vault). Ten H-shaped steel beams (120x85mm), spaced 630mm apart, formed the skeleton, with red bricks laid in vaults between them, topped with a concrete infill. The history of brick vaulting is ancient, with a tradition in Northwest China of constructing "gu yao" ( Hoop kiln) vaulted cave dwellings using earth bricks. The entire new slab is supported by a large H-beam and a solid steel column (14cm diameter).
Within these low-tech strategies, born from practical constraints, lay architect's habitual desire to embrace new challenges. Take the added meeting room floor slab, for example: we chose to construct it using a structural steel-ribbed brick vault (Catalan vault). Ten H-shaped steel beams (120x85mm), spaced 630mm apart, formed the skeleton, with red bricks laid in vaults between them, topped with a concrete infill. The history of brick vaulting is ancient, with a tradition in Northwest China of constructing "gu yao" (箍窑) vaulted cave dwellings using earth bricks. The entire new slab is supported by a large H-beam and a solid steel column (14cm diameter).
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
We decisively omitted any elements deemed non-essential. This restraint allowed the design to focus more intently on honestly expressing the materials and construction. Though perhaps appearing clumsy and laborious, it was a natural balance of logic and intuition. Materials, as physical things, express themselves, and when "crafting" is done appropriately, a raw power and poetry emerge. As architect Liu Jiakun observed, "Architecture is about manipulating matter until the spirit emerges from it.
We decisively omitted any elements deemed non-essential. This restraint allowed the design to focus more intently on honestly expressing the materials and construction. Though perhaps appearing clumsy and laborious, it was a natural balance of logic and intuition. Materials, as physical things, express themselves, and when "crafting" is done appropriately, a raw power and poetry emerge. As architect Liu Jiakun observed, "Architecture is about manipulating matter until the spirit emerges from it.
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
Courtesy of OnEarthStudio
