benyuan design and research center builds 'dom-ino' house at UABB 2017

a pavilion ‘dom-ino’ designed by benyuan design and research center is presented at the 2017 bi-city shenzhen biennale of urbanism\architecture (UABB) — an international exhibition in shangwei village, china. different from conventional buildings, this pavilion has no walls, but 24 huge iron doors. doors can be either opened or closed at any angle by rotating, which allows the space to ‘breathe’.

‘dom-ino house’ proposed by le corbusier in 1915, brings infinite possibilities of free plan and elevation to architectural design. 100 years later, an old building left with unfinished concrete structure frame, found abandoned in an ordinary village of southern china, is strikingly similar to the ‘dom-ino house’ prototype, and is demonstrating its application of the ‘domino system’ in the shangwei village, like a specimen.

benyuan design and research center has carried out a series of renovation strategies to this old building: retain the original structure of the concrete frame; use 24 giant iron doors to create a space with different spatial combinations for the multi-functional use for art and education.

the dom-ino pavilion becomes a flexible platform for communications between different groups of people and different cultures. the ground floor has a studio, which can be used as the client’s office or public educational space. the newly added 16 rotatable doors on the second floor can enclose and split space for various activities, like art exhibitions, community meeting and small performances, etc. the roof terrace serves as a community social area.

project info:

location: shenzhen
completion year: 2017
gross built area : 303 sqm
architect: benyuan design and research center
lead architects: meng jianmin, chen xi, zeng fanbo design team: jiang nan, liang jingyi, lei jianhua
photography: chao zhang photographer’s website: http://www.cargocollective.com/zcstudio,benyuan design and research center
collaborator: future plus academy
contractor: shenzhen fengrun construction group co.,ltd
consultant: shenzhen ye sheng da metal products co.,ltd
brand: hui zhou
waterproof ceiling panel brand: ye sheng da
hot rolled plate brand: sheng yuan

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: maria erman | designboom