Back to Basics in China:
W+P’s first project in China is nearing completion! We
designed three small tea pavilions for a corporate client. They will serve as hospitality
spaces for entertaining VIP guests that consist of international, high-level
government officials and Fortune 500 companies.
Hospitality is invaluable for this high tech company. In
Chinese culture, the Tea Ceremony is a cultural activity to express friendship
and gratitude for long-term relationships. It involves the ceremonial
preparation, presentation and drinking of tea.
I’m proud to have had the opportunity to assist in the
selection of three separate sites for the tea houses. Each pavilion was
modified to take advantage of its location and views. Our approach infused the client’s desire to use natural wood and
organic materials.
This led to our discovery that wood construction is
something of a lost art in China. During the Song Dynasty
(960 -1279), temples and dwellings were built with wood using pin connection. Architect
Li Jie wrote “Yingzao Fashi” (that
is, “Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standard”), which Emperor
Huizong of Song Dynasty had published in 1103 in order to standardize architectural
construction techniques for builders, architects, and engineers. But in modern
China, suitable wood material is not readily available and almost all new
construction in the country utilizes steel and concrete.
Our client, inclined to use an uncommon construction
material, had project management staff seek out a Chinese contractor that was associated
with a wood supplier in Canada. The contractor’s framing crew was taught the
art of working with wood in construction.
The tea pavilions now serve as examples of how this “lost
art” can be successfully built in today’s China. Through such projects, people
can rediscover the natural beauty to the Architectural order documented by Li
Jie. We at W+P are privileged to have contributed to a renewed hope of bringing
back this forgotten piece of Chinese culture.
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