BWAO repurposes chinese hutong to host student exhibition for beijing design week 2019

BWAO designed a temporary exhibition pavilion to exhibit a group of tianjin university student work for beijing design week 2019. in the ‘hutong with life’ exhibition, the fayuan temple area was re-envisioned, inspiring works from the studio at the university. the work is exhibited in no.2 nanbanjie hutong in beijing, china. 

an entry gateway connects the pavilion space back to the main courtyard as an intervention piece that is part of the exhibition.

BWAO’s temporary exhibition pavilion was needed to accommodate one extra group of student work. situated at the corner of no.2 nanbanjie hutong, the edges of the site are defined by very rough edges: well furnished brick walls, poorly plastered cement walls, and seasoned brick walls from which mortars come off. 

panels and drawings are hung on the walls, to show the student’s work.

five new walls were carefully inserted into the plan, reorganizing the irregular shape of the yard as well as providing vertical surface for exhibition panels. three small courtyards were created as a result: one ‘tree’ courtyard to the west, one ‘wall’ courtyard to the south, and one ‘corner’ courtyard to the east. 

natural sunshine comes into this pavilion through the ‘tree’c ourtyard in a specific time during the day.

these courtyards not only frame the themed elements for people to view into, but also serve as apparatus to channel sunlight into the exhibition space. the pavilion uses lightweight steel frame as structure. wood panel boards and colored paint are applied as cladding and final finish. the entire structure sits on a raised foundation that existed previously on the site. an entry gateway connects the pavilion space back to the main courtyard as an intervention piece that is part of the exhibition.

the ‘corner’ courtyard at the east shows the old brick wall that is shared with nerighboring building.

expressive sunshine comes into pavilion, as well washing the ‘wall’ courtyard at the south.

dark colored paint makes the whole pavilion a perfect stage for the light to contrast.

this temporary exhibition pavilion was built with the sole purpose of exhibiting student’s work.

these courtyards frame the themed elements and serve as a way to channel sunlight into the exhibition space.

project info:

architecture: BWAO

location: beijing, china

event: beijing design week 2019

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: cristina gomez | designboom