The Shadow: Reinventing the Beijing Courtyards

人的行为是由两个尺度决定的,既要按照自己的目的活动,又要按照所有物种的尺度活动。行为的特点决定了空间的层次关系。

People’s behavior depends on two factors: their individual purposes and the universal traits of human beings.The character of behaviors effects and decides the relationship between different spaces.

在北京原有的城市肌理中,胡同既是交通空间,也是逗留空间,随着胡同的深入,公共属性渐弱,向着越来越私密的方向发展,院门成为公共空间和私人空间的分水岭。

In Beijing’s traditionalvalue, Hutong is not only a traffic area but also a place to stay. The further you go inside a Hutong, the more private the spaces gets. The doors of each quadrangle dwellings become the divider between private and public area.

在传统的四合院中,庭院是以家庭为单位的私有空间,但当杂院的格局出现后,庭院开始成为新的一级公共空间,但这个关于“公共”的概念是十分模糊的。人们可以在院内加建厨房,坦然地堆放自家杂物,显然并没有把这里当作与街道、广场同一级别的场所来对待。我们抑或可以说庭院本身就具有公共和私人属性共存的空间特质,特别是当它被开放给不同家庭时,这种暧昧的状态便完全地显现出来了。当我们把院子的使用权交还给个人时,这种暧昧感依然存在,并应该通过某种互动的模式来印证这种存在;特别是作为一个不满足于单纯居住功能的空间,更需要融入一定程度的社会职能,即可选择地开放一些个人权利,以获得来自城市方面的关注,而开放的多少可以由使用者自行决定。

Originally, each quadrangle dwelling only holds one family. However, when the dwellings evolve into compounds occupied by multiple households, the courtyards inside each dwellings, which were supposed to be private, have become shared areas. Yet, even so, the concept of their commonality is still quite ambiguous.People start to add shared kitchens and put their own items inside the courtyards. This is a behavior that shows the two-sided characteristic of the dwellings. A neighbor can see a dwelling as a common space because it is shared by many different families, but he or she can also see it as a private space since it gives a different atmosphere than sidewalks or plazas. Therefore, Beijing’s dwellings are special, for they blend the line between public and private. They have created an atmosphere of trust that bounds families together, and thus, have formed the unique old Beijing Hutong community. When we hand down a dwelling to a stranger, the spirit of that dwelling should be preserved, especially for a place that is not just for living but also for other purposes such as working. In our design, the holder can control how much the space is open or personal.

在如此情境下,城市将被有组织地“邀请”进入庭院。这种变化中的公共性从庭院一直延续到室内,生活与工作的范围也可以被自行划定,看起来所有空间都被置于了某种不确定中,但这种不确定性是可以预期且可控的。通过构件在导轨上的滑动可以控制公共和私人空间的权重,也可以任意增加或减少功能,同时调节工作和居住空间的比例。在旧宅的前面增加可自由调节的杠杆,以历史为实,现实为虚,让现实成为历史的投影,构建一座时光穿梭中的“影宅”。

Under this condition, the city or the general public can be invited inside the courtyards in the will of the people who work or live there. This changeable commonality also can be shown in the indoor area. As we create a controllable ambiguity between public and private, we expanded the potential of different possible use of the space and how the place is displayed to the city. The weights of public and private space can be slidably controlled by the movable elements. The function will be casually added or reduced while adjusting the proportion of working and living space. To add the adjustable lever in front of the historical construction, considering the reality as the shadow of the history, webuild a“ Shadow” in the time shuttle.

Project Name

The Shadow: Reinventing the Beijing Courtyards

Type

city renovation

Service

Architecture、Interior、landscape

Site Area

540㎡

Project Area

200㎡

Time of design

2016

Status

Completed

KKL Partnership Architects

微信公众号