Project: Dacheng – Floral Elegance of Jiangnan Sales Office
Architects: YI Design
Location: Hebei, China
Area: 12,916 sf
Year: 2022
Photographs by: Wukong Architectural Photography
When we cannot incorporate the landscape into architecture and yet want to create a space closely connected to both nature and life, what attempts can design make? In Oct, 2022 Dacheng · Floral Elegance of Jiangnan, completed by the design team at YI Design, broke through the constraints of a box-like space from within —
Drawing energy from the creation of the universe and the origin of life, intervening with Eastern curves, the space becomes like nature gently turning indoors. The curves constitute the entire universe within.
In the creation story of China, the universe begins with a rotating chaos. Behind seemingly boundless myths, there are hidden underlying codes of every culture — the natural world and the origin of life are two eternal dimensions.
In the endless rotation, cell replication, particle acceleration, the blossoming of life, the birth of parallel universes…
We recreate a warm vortex in space
That is our reverence for nature and life
It is our gaze into the universe
Within the structured 1200 square meters, whether it’s a living habitat or a spiritual panorama, design abandons right angles, hardness, and stubbornness, instead pursuing the freedom of curves and flowing lines. These are the curves in rivers, at the crests of waves, on the edges of clouds, and on human faces. The curves constitute the entire universe imagined in this project, a curved, Einsteinian universe.
The designer uses structural columns and two layers of nested soft curves to support a large, downward-hanging core structure. Connected to the top and facade, this serves as the streamlined core and visual focus of the entire space. The contact points between the structural columns and the dome and floor support a more open central space and form a larger span, something traditional arch structures cannot achieve. It’s like a house with only a roof and floor, standing on solid black ground.
In the designer’s concept of Eastern curves, an “infinite” and “natural” beyond Western parametric aesthetics is emphasized — the space built by curves flows like water, disappearing in the distance, but at some moment, it turns into a downpour. Movement is stillness, and an instant is eternity. This kind of infinite and unity of nature and humanity is unique to the East.
Two sets of curved structures naturally form two relative openings in the center, serving as the necessary path for initial and subsequent visits, and the core area carries the functions of diversion and guidance. The foyer, negotiation area, water bar, activity area, VIP room, and washroom naturally follow the flow on the periphery. F1 is like a large street-centered park, where people scatter around the central landscape in groups according to the type of activity, the spatial scale making it perfectly separate and blend.
The experiential dynamism and freedom come from the orchestration of space. Smooth curves and folds spread from the center to the periphery, forming indoor landscapes, hydrology, and mountains. The abstract but more poetic sculpture naturally accommodates all activities of people, and the balance between space function and form reflects the intersection of nature and life, looking at each other, strange and varied.
On the simple black and white and transitional color bands, the sculptural interior is more upright and powerful, and the entire sandbox of Jiangnan’s floral language floats like an oasis in the vast land of consciousness. The steel staircase rises from the ground, connecting the second-floor office area, finance room, VIP room, and other private spaces. The upward-twisting structural body forms a fascinating tension against the white background.
The diffused lighting not only outlines the curve hierarchy but also creates an artistic scene from daylight to the night sky. The bright skylight in the void seems to reach the sky directly, and it converges over the bar at night, leaving only the imprint of starlight.
In the vast space of artistic background, almost all decorative languages are hidden, only doing the grand brushstrokes of nature. The washroom space breaks tradition, with smooth surfaces enveloping dark striped panels. A group of jellyfish installations illuminate, splashing frozen water droplets from the roof, immersing people as if in the deep sea.
“Its freely flowing space is entirely different from Mies’s modernism but equally powerful.”
— Architectural critic Michael Sorkin
In the spatial scenes created by Eastern curves, architecture opens up an imaginative space transitioning to an unknown form: the formless within form, the utmost strength and flexibility. From the mother’s womb to the grand view of the universe, everything gradually finds its own scale in the chronicles of curves. The designer projected the curves more concretely onto natural imagination and spiritual perception, presenting the limited representation of the infinite in the Eastern way.
During the design process, the team applied parametric modeling to assist the design process. Based on the initial foundation, a series of geometric, material, and mechanical performance parameters were set, combining the characteristics of form and function to achieve unity. It brought new value and passion to the living experience of local people in Xingtai.
-Project description and images provided by YI Design
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