Folding Form
Tianyi Pavilion, Zhejiang Province, China UM Architects, China
The project is located at Tianyi Square, Ningbo. The building presents an irregular geometrical form as a whole. The intention of facing the main entrance towards the entrance of the Tianyi Square is to enrich the city interface of the Square while keeping the commercial atmosphere intact.
The roof ridge of the building conforms the direction from the entrance to the central axis of the Square. Considering the temporary nature of the pavilion and its costs, the form of folding surfaces is adopted instead of using curved roof, and the turning of the roof shows dynamic changes according to different functions. A semi- outdoor sheltered space is formed with a suspended lightweight structure to attract the crowd into the private interior display area.
The effect of space flow between indoor and outdoor
ELEVATIONS
MASTER PLAN
Photo credit: FangFang Tian
is achieved within a limited land area. ‘ Human interaction through architecture’ is a key point of design. The way to use architecture here is to ‘ watch’.
The wall of the building corresponds to the turning angle of the roof. The side wall of the building constitutes a special space, and it looks like a light filter as a whole which naturally transfers the inside and outside of the building and produces visual changes between virtual and real space as people move.
In order to naturally integrate the form into the environment of the Square and also to give the Pavilion a more delicate and abstract appearance, the main building material is decided to be aluminium plates. So that it can not only reflect the surroundings of Tianyi Square, but can also ensure the privacy of the internal space.
In addition, the owner hopes that the landscape view of the Pavilion towards the fountain will not be affected, so the continuous glass curtain wall is used on the north side of the building.
Due to the extremely tight construction period of the project, the architects deepened the design of the structural components and skin materials through BIM, and then assembled them on site after processing and prefabrication in the factory. The design and construction process of the Pavilion was completed in only one month.