Location: Baitasi, Beijing

Completion: 2017

建筑性質

項目位于北京市西城區白塔寺文化保護區內，臨近魯迅博物館。原建筑功能以居住為主，我們將其改造為包括藝術家起居、工作室、公共展廳等場所的藝術空間。

自然界入

在保留原建筑主要結構的基礎上，將其劃分為南側藝術家生活區和北側公共展區兩個部分，并根據場地肌理和環境，植入兩個室外院落，承載自然光影。在室內空間中，留出部分邊角縫隙，使光線滲入，并在地面做綠化與之呼應，成為豎向拉伸的自然角落。

空間分布

在南側藝術家起居部分，以置入功能盒子的方式，形成一層的書房、餐廚沙龍空間和二層的臥室，滿足居住的需求。同時二層延伸至北側一間藝術家工作室。北側其余部分，則是開放的公共展廳，樓板打通，空間高度起落，并連接兩個室外庭院。室內主要墻體向上延伸至屋頂，成為屋頂花園的田埂。屋面邊界結合邊角縫隙的秩序，以透明玻璃的形式圍合出整個屋頂公共區域。

建筑表達

白塔寺承載著深厚的歷史文化，項目中的弧形語言和白色紋理，向胡同中延伸了白塔的印象。屋頂花園的植物棚架，則反映了胡同里的生活氣氛。在歷史文化和環境現狀的影響下，這里將成為一個胡同展場，實現片區的有機更新。

Over 700 hundreds years ago, a 50 meters-tall giant white Pagoda with its Nepal Buddhist temple – Baitasi - was built in ancient Beijing. Ever since then this temple and pagoda have merged into the surrounding hutongs and courtyards living with religious ceremonies and activities and eventually became part of the historical context for contemporary Beijing.

This giant white volume brings dynamic magnetism into the typical hutong fabric and courtyard life and is the most important context in our design for converting a 2-story cement residential building into a hutong gallery in the Baitasi area.

Most of the cement residential buildings in this area were built after 1980s, when some local residents tore down courtyards to larger living area and a modern lifestyle. Cement block buildings have become a common typology with a larger scale than courtyards in hutong fabric. A conversion from residential into a public program including a gallery and three artist residencies will host community exhibitions and facilitate artists living and working in Baitasi hutong area, introduce new elements to integrate with local community, and bring a new transforming process into the region.

Under the hutong preservation regulations, the building volume will remain intact, the original structure and layout will be reorganized to fit in new programs that include a double height gallery facing north, a salon and office on ground level and artist rooms above. In order to achieve sufficient light quality, a system of vertical voids is inserted into this dense block. Two corner yards are brought back for light and air, open to the sky and neighbor’s tree canopy, as well as reintroducing traditional the courtyard context. Skylights peeling off from the roof or floor corners are another light strategy. Both corner yards and skylights are articulated with curve segments, indicating a continuous circulation. This is also a reflection of the experience when walking in the Baitasi hutong area. The visual of the pagoda is cut on and off by hutong scale and orientation. The curve fragments of form and light in this white interior bring the memory of pagoda into the dark grey cement block. The rooftop is open up as a public platform with a plant pavilion configured from vertical voids. The articulation of the plant pavilion will add in another layer into hutong skyline of cables and tree canopies.

The building is a connection of historical context with future programs, and will provide new possibilities into the hutong community life.