The Yard by Xihai

 

(Interview)

Shuo Wang - Architect

 

00:31 There's a Beijing saying that means "to receive energy from the earth." Only someone who lives in this yard can really feel this kind of communion with nature and their surrounding environment.

 

01:01 This friend of mine grew up by Xihai. At the time, he said to me: although this is a factory building, I hope we can make it into a space that reflects the uniqueness of living in the hutongs.

 

01:17 So we started by cleaning up the factory space. We demolished some of the southern part of the building that was of poor quality and fixed up some of the temporary structures in the eastern part of the building. And that’s how we created the dynamic sections in this long and narrow space.

 

01:57 The second step was to insert connecting elements like corridors, cornices and screen walls.

 

02:19 We also added a big gate facing Xihai. And a big door facing Deshengmen Inner Street. These five things have divided the space into a multilayered space, a siheyuan.

 

02:48 To transform the yard, we chose natural materials with some kind of cultural resonance, but we used these materials with new building techniques. For example, grey brick is a traditional building material for siheyuan. We actually tried out five different types of volcanic rock with different types of ground volcanic ash. So that they formed five different shades of brick. Just like the five different shades of ink in traditional Chinese painting.

 

03:23 We used stacked tiles to make an enclosing wall in the yard. Each tile is placed on a slightly different angle. So that when they are combined, the effect is that of an enclosed space with dynamic changes in light and shadow.

 

04:08 We chose Chinese walnut wood for the doors and windows because this material has a luster of its own. Matched with the grey brick and the tile, there's a feeling of natural harmony. We came up with a whole new set of methods for attaching the windows and doors, choosing the right veins in the walnut wood, and putting everything together.

 

04:36 Like all things made with raw wood, it will naturally fade and change colors, but this is a natural process. And it will work very well with the atmosphere of the yard.

 

04:59 Usually when people talk about hutongs and siheyuan, they are concerned with their preservation and demolition. I think when something gains a protected status, [After renovation] it loses its life.

 

05:13 But hutongs are constantly undergoing transformation and updating themselves. This siheyuan provides a new kind of record of daily life, so that the people living in it can naturally leave their tracks upon the space. At the same time, these tracks will naturally unfold and extend beyond the space, mingling with the surrounding area of Xihai and becoming part of it.