Text description provided by the architects
This was an attempt to build a garden in the greenway of Dongguan Songshan Lake 4A Scenic Zone. The design task originated from a real estate sales project. However, the base only covered about 1,000 m2 which was too small to convey a complete sales demand. Hence we freed its design from traditional functions. The core challenge of this design lies in reproducing the charm of misty rain on Songhu Lake. Theme Interpretation — Yin and Yang This site was too small to reproduce a natural scene. Besides, the representation of a collection of elements might also appear lacking in youthful vigor. By asking ourselves endlessly through the mind map, we eventually drew a conclusion—Scenery exists in nature, so nature can be interpreted through changes between yin and yang: scenery of Songhu Lake→nature→ yin and yang. Vision — Two Boxes Featuring Changes between Yin and Yang The contrast between yin and yang in two boxes blends the charming misty rain of Songhu Lake and impulses of nature into the dynamic sightseeing route. Here, one box expands, with vitality bursting out in unbridled flows. Another box retracts, creating an enclosed space for watching the sky and enjoying the condensing mist. One box experiences the vigorous beauty of bright sunshine, while the other captures the gentleness of crystal moonlight. Next, please follow us to appreciate the dialogues between these two boxes separated by a corridor. The Southern Box is the first box adjacent to the city. I don't like interfaces that appear excessively gorgeous at first glance because nature is gentle. On the contrary, I prefer to place the climax inside and touch everyone with internal strengths, such as space and light. Hence this Southern Box has two priorities: absorbing everyone and releasing the masculine side of nature in this process. Firstly, we chose to build the box in the east-west direction, hoping that the light could give play to its maximum effect in a day. Meanwhile, the original eucalypt forest was used as the background. Secondly, we constructed an 81-meter-long interface on the street and dug a "cave" in the center, allowing "water" to flow out. The "water" was black: the black wall, floor, steps, and municipal sidewalks. By creating such real and virtual "water", we planned to simulate a water curtain cave. After walking through the water and being cleansed by light, sounds, and vapor, one can enter another world—the Northern Box will unfold slowly behind the door. Next, we will deeply interpret the Southern Box's system structure from two dimensions: absorption and masculinity in nature. Absorption In the 17-meter-deep Southern Box, we built a 10m-high ceiling and divided the box into three parts. It presents the relations between bright—dark—bright. Meanwhile, we added a wire mesh into the sliding glass door in the first interface. Next, we placed a light-catching device in the last interface—an obliquely-postured tree. In this way, when people stand across the street, they can find a brightly lit scene behind the hazy glass door—As if the Jadeite Cabbage at the entrance of Taipei National Palace Museum, it attracts people to go ahead. Masculinity in Nature Nature is so vast. How can we enslave the wind and moon? How can we achieve what Qing scholar Zhang Chao wrote in Dream Shadow? —"By planting trees, we invite the wind. By building a platform, we usher in the moon…. " Selecting different images, leading one thing with another, and drawing sympathy from nature are inevitable choices for us. Hence we decided to represent nature's impulse and Songhu Lake's freshness with beach stones, dribbling water, high light and shadows, and dragonflies on the lake. Beach Stones Three stones are used: One is placed outside the door; one acts as the bar counter; one holds the obliquely-shaped tree. From outside to the inside and from flat to high then down — these stones attract people to enter. Meanwhile, they jointly form a metaphor: the fengshui structure of one pond and three stones. These stones' surfaces are processed to be rough, bringing in more ecological sense and drawing people back to the lakeside forest to relieve their uneasiness and nurture their temperament. Gurgling Water The water falls in two places. It's quiet outside the door yet restless inside. We planed to leave the sound of gurgling water inside the door in order to cleanse the dust outside the door. When the glass door opens slowly, water vapor surges forward. Once people are brought in by the babbling water, they stand in quiet meditation. To create an intense sense of wrapping, we employed the L-shaped water curtain wall. Meanwhile, we elevated the curtain wall's base by 20cm so that the water would fall with sounds. Then we placed a metal baffle board at the pond's bottom to separate the water's dynamics and stillness. Hence the calm surface can reflect the water's joy. Hoping to create a picturesque water curtain, we folded it again aside from the suspension. In this way, it would be like an unfolding scroll of ink painting and incorporate the above-mentioned trees, stones, and people. Glare and Shadow This is a box filled with light. We planned to cut rays of light with the box and place glaring light, soft light, and shadows in the same space at the same time to reveal nature's breaths. The strong contrast stimulates people's understanding of nature's beauty. People normally come here at noon or in the afternoon. Standing in the box, one can find that light becomes weak after being filtered by the deep eaves and the wired glass. The still water surface and the slot's wall base captivate all the light, leaving the beauty of the soft light at one side of the entrance. In the east of the box, the courtyard lies between the ceiling and the 5. 5m-high wall, allowing the light to pour down. The reflected leaves glare as if they have been burned by the light. Then the green "flames" and the waterfall jointly push people's feelings to the opposite climax. On one side is glaring light. On the other side is praise of the shadow. Northern Box The Northern Box is an everyday part of divinity. Its primary challenges lie in decorating the daily scene suitable for drinking tea and holding private banquets with a delicate lakeside view which nourishes life through the beauty of gentleness. An Exquisite Place — Courtyards The front and back courtyards are combined to connect the architecture. Because of the architecture's permeability, the base is turned into a shoal covered by water. As the vision blends the boundaries between the interior and the exterior, the delicate interior becomes a scene to be appreciated from the outside. Exquisite Site — Postures of Yin and Yang Kun operas are known as orchids of the flower garden. Its every appearance reflects a perfect combination of yin and yang, where there is high and low, inside and outside, and you and me. In the Northern Box, the obliquely-shaped trees are planted by the river to enhance the combination between water and the shore. Meanwhile, the obliquely-shaped trees stand on two sides of the LED screen. One is high, while the other is low. One bows down, while the other sighs with its head up. They strive to freeze the image in the state where yin and yang are balanced. A Lakeside Feel in Another Place — Misty Distance In fact, the Northern Box is very small. Two courtyards are respectively 22m*5m and 13m*6m separated by the building. We hope to portray the misty-distance proposed by Zhuo Han — With a dim mist that hangs aloof, the scene is separated by natural water and seems invisible. Such is known as misty distance. We hope to expand people's perception of Northern Box with the misty spray. Although the misty spray is not rare, where it should be placed needs careful consideration in order to create a misty-distant scene. After several rounds of simulations, we eventually placed it near the architecture, wishing to add a layer of cover between the interior and the exterior, and enhance the perception of the outdoor space from inside. A Lakeside Feel in Another Place — A Borrowed View From the Distance By controlling our vision, we selected the 20-meter-high eucalyptus forest as the first view to be borrowed from the distance. If we were contented with this arrangement, we could not bring our thoughts out of this waterside courtyard. We were inspired by Guo Xi's verses in The Elegance of Bamboos and Springs - Instructions on Landscape — Sitting and appreciating springs without leaving the banquet. Here, we hanged a picturesque landscape painting on the curved wall — The 18m*2m LED screen incorporates all scenes by Songhu Lake and the forest. We hope that the virtual landscape scroll will enable visitors to experience the lakeside sense in the distance. Separation How can we separate these two boxes without breaking, and unfold the view gradually? We hope to create a cave, where one can open the frosted glass door after passing through it, and wait for another world to appear in the front. The entire space is vertical and narrow. The slab stone floats, allowing rays of dim light to penetrate from the seams between wallboards. We strive to create a mysterious perception: two solid boxes on both sides and an empty space in the center. After introducing the Couple's Garden's main framework, I would like to talk about another two points. Dynamic Utilization of Three Distances /Emotional Opening, Development, Transition, and Conclusion/ How to construct views based on Chinese painting theory is one of the topics that I have been thinking about. High distance, flat distance, deep distance, misty distance, vast distance, and secluded distance should be taken as not only six composition elements but also descriptions for six mental states. In this design, I selected high distance, flat distance, deep distance, and misty distance and arranged the former three by dynamic changes, expecting to lay a foundation through different mental states and bring in emotional opening, development, transition, and conclusions. The first municipal interface is about 81m long. On both its left and right, the 36x5. 5m high walls are surrounded by the 22. 5m Terminalia mantaly, which forms peaceful emotions through the flat-distance scene. In the center of the façade along the street, we dug a water-curtain cave with five-layered interface to introduce the overlapped deep-distance scene through obscure feelings. When the electrically operated gate opens, the high-distance pureness pours down from the skylight. The 5. 5m-high wall spring spurts out skyward after reaching the 4m-high ceiling, creating masculine and positive emotions. While after people continue to walk towards the left, they will be absorbed by the profound five-layered scene: the second electrically-operated gate, the indoor framework scene at the back, the waterside LED screen, the high wall, and the 8m-high Terminalia mantaly. When people finally sit down in quiet meditation, they will be soothed by the flat-distance and misty-distance displayed by the courtyard in front of the Mirror Pool, which encourages them to recall the vast scroll of misty rain on Songhu Lake. On the whole, the towering high-distance overlaps with the far-reaching deep-distance, while the flat-distance scene wears away and appears ethereal. The entire journey starts with a soft heart, rises from masculinity, and returns to a peaceful state. Dragonflies We hope that all the scenes designed are full of vitality. Besides, the sculptures inevitably carry the vitality of living. The dragonfly has a light kiss by the waterside. Three scenes are depicted and portrayed with three types of materials. A large stone is placed horizontally in front of the entrance to the Southern Box, with a simple bronze hairpin on it. Between two boxes is a channel slate. Crawling on it is an exquisitely carved dragonfly. On the leaf of the Northern Box stands a dragonfly decorated by jadeite. There are three dragonflies: a freehand one, a half-freehand one, and a moderately expressed one. The metal of the freehand dragonfly implies vitality and liveliness; the stone dragonfly in the center reflects depth and calmness; the last dragonfly is made of metal and jadeite, which symbolizes the balance of yin and yang. It is the clue for our procession and echoes each scene's characteristics by different personality strains.