wutopia lab's community center in china links to visitors with its nature-like facade

china’s residential development, in particular within large cities, has matured at an impressive rate. the resulting communities are unfortunately self-centered, meaning residents often remain to themselves. the lack of attention towards developing neighborhood centers and committees make it difficult for residents to meaningfully interact with each another. wutopia lab‘s ‘6xn yard’ project aims to revive a more romantic sense of community through its design proposal.

the goal is to design a proposal that may revive a more romantic sense of community

the landscape portrayed on the facades of chinese based wutopia lab‘s ‘6xn yard’, in fact, have a close relationship to its resident’s cultural aesthetic. this refined mountain scenery has always been the ideal setting for people in china. this facade will ideally create a sense of nostalgia and yearning for nature in people living in a concrete city. both the literati of jiangnan and modern city residents will agree isolation from nature shackles the human spirit, making gardens and landscapes vital spaces.

this refined mountain scenery has always been the ideal setting for people in china

though community gardens are beautiful, they lack the privacy of gardens on independent property, a luxury in large residential developed areas. therefore, wutopia lab has built three small courtyards as a middle ground on this spectrum. one garden contains a tea house — a space for life, another is connected to a more private room — a space for thought, and the third is a spice garden that can be handpicked. these gardens are the borders of the neighborhood, connecting private space — home — to public space — city streets.

‘6xn yard’ has a close relationship to its resident’s cultural aesthetic

through empirical research zoina land, one of china’s top 20 real estate companies, and architects have reached a consensus regarding the needs of modern residents. these needs are: a space for entertaining guests, a space for work, the availability for quality production, the presence of convenient dining options, a social atmosphere, and a space for kids.

01 community living room: for meeting friends, morning coffee, afternoon tea, open study space, etc.

02 community canteens: for casual dining from breakfast to dinner

03 open kitchens: for parties and cooking courses

04 kid’s heaven: for play, learning, extracurricular, and theatrical performances

05 fresh supermarkets: for quality produce and daily necessities, includes delivery options

06 reading space: for book sharing, studying, reading, remedial classes

each function is contained with a 6×6 meter box. this is the meaning of 6xn yard.

each function is contained with a 6×6 meter box

zoina land asked wutopia lab to setup the model representation of ‘6xn yard’ in three days, with the final product available for only one day. the design team decided to use an art installation approach to create a surreal representation of the idea. this required the architects to jump out of the mold for the design. since the second floor can no longer permit visitors, wutopia lab decided to place it on the ceiling so visitors, when the look up, may easily see the design of the second floor.

the second floor is placed on the ceiling, so when visitors look up they can see its design

the plane inverted on the ceiling is a mirror image of the design. this way visitors on a single level may experience the change of space between the two floors on a single level thus creating a new surreal experience of reality. with semitransparent material enclosing the interior, the translucency of the material allows for the interaction of light and shadow that obscures the limited volume of the internal space.

the plane inverted on the ceiling is a mirror image of the design

the furniture within ‘6xn yard’, is pared down to its most basic and practical form and then painted white. the floor is made black so the white of the interior is intensified making it even more surreal. the pared down dimensions of the furniture further heighten this sense of surrealism in the interior and draws the attention of the visitors. the mountain landscape is retained as the visual symbol of the architecture. wutopia lab has used black, grey, and white polycarbonate boards to create this seemingly ink painted landscape facade of the project. each piece of the facade is suspended in order to seem like it floats in space.

the furniture within ‘6xn yard’, is pared down to its most basic and practical form and then painted white

wutopia lab has created a minimalist six-part product. the final form of product is much different from the original design, but its essence remains the same. both designs create an ideal spiritual lifestyle where each person can wake up and look forward to each new day on the horizon.

the final form of product is much different from the original design, but its essence remains the same

the furniture further heighten this sense of surrealism in the interior and draws the attention of the visitors

ideal spiritual lifestyles where each person can wake up and look forward to each new day on the horizon

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: apostolos costarangos | designboom