Changtan Yuanlu

Longchang Yuanlu by Longfor in the Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing sits on the Yulin River bend, beside the Yulin River waterfront park and the Lujia Valley ecological park. The entry approach and the demonstration district differ in level by fourteen meters, and that very drop suggested importing the typology of Chongqing's traditional academies. Chongqing's academies are numerous, broad in distribution and long in historical span, with characteristic gardens and rich humanist associations; Longxing itself is a culturally layered ancient town. The design by WTD extracts the academy's underlying concepts, climbing by steps, four entrances and three courtyards, mountain as source, water as mirror, courtyard receiving ritual, and rebuilds them in a modern language. The mountain gate sets the mood: a curved gate more than thirty meters long, graceful and imposing, with thin decorative columns passing through it whose reflections are caught in layered cascades, directly enacting mountain source, water mirror and courtyard ritual. The mountain courtyard follows: opposite views of overlapping hills imitate natural mountains in continuous, living relation, and enclosing feature walls, alternating solid and void, carry white cylindrical columns whose changing curved shadows move across the ground in sunlight. The mirror courtyard turns unexpectedly: two feature walls are actually one-way mirrors that extend infinitely, projecting every tree, every drop of water and every person, so that visitors search for their own future within the reflections. The water courtyard gathers together water, cascade, mountain and tree, restoring the academy's setting among clear mountains and deep streams, a quiet, refined mood. The sales gallery, academy, pool and restaurant are not closed, isolated boxes but interpenetrating spaces linked by an open, continuous gallery in linear composition, so that circulation flows freely between programs.