HHDFUN is a design and research studio, which consisted of architects, designers, programmers and etc. With interests in bringing knowledge from various fields outside of architecture and applying them into architecture design, they devote themselves into producing some “unexpected” designs which distinguished from the conventional. HHDFUN are cooperating with people from all walks of life, such as artists, fashion designers, mathematicians and engineers etc. They are exploring the new design possibilities by means of this cross-over cooperation.
The International Horticultural Exposition 2014 opened in Qingdao on April 25th; the service center “Earthy Pond”, is named after the extant lake on Baiguo Mountain where the building is respectively located. As the primary architecture of the Expo area, the building undertook multiple functions including circulation hub, activity center, restaurant, recreational landscape, cultural communication, exhibition, etc. The Baiguo Mountain and the Earthy Pond lake where the named project is located have outstanding natural landscape. Given the prominent location of the buildings by the lakes, the design treatment of the relationship between architecture and nature is vital to the deliverance of their organic integration.
The sunken courtyard of the Earthly Pond Service Center is adjoined to the lake wetland. The architecture and landscape heights are set following the natural grade levels, providing multiple accessibilities and viewing experiences at different elevations. The main architecture spaces are lower than the surrounding street levels, facing the central sunken courtyard, thereby accommodating the visitors while affording view of preeminent water landscape. All of the hundreds of trees in the Earthly Pond Service Center area were preserved in their entirety; a rooftop platform and green space were also created, which promoted building efficiency and helped integrated the architecture into the landscape.
The International Horticultural Exposition 2014 opened in Qingdao on April 25th; the service center “Heavenly Water”, is named after the extant lake on Baiguo Mountain where the building is respectively located. As the primary architecture of the Expo area, the building undertook multiple functions including circulation hub, activity center, restaurant, recreational landscape, cultural communication, exhibition, etc. The Baiguo Mountain and the Heavenly Water lake where the named project is located have outstanding natural landscape. Given the prominent location of the buildings by the lakes, the design treatment of the relationship between architecture and nature is vital to the deliverance of their organic integration.
Through the reasonable use of the differences in natural gradients, the architecture and its setting are engaged as an integrated design, where the functions are placed and classed following the different grade levels, minimizing the architecture volume while maintaining the best possible view orientation. Architects also preserve the extant landform, landscape and vegetation to the greatest extent. A multi-trail system has being employed in order to provide maximum visitor experience and accessibility. The multi-trail system is the provision of more than one visiting routes while ensuring maximum accessibility and conveniences, such that the visitors can take different routes back and forth, enjoying the various function and landscapes along the way.
The refrigeration plant is located at Shapowei, Xiamen City, neighboring to the renowned Shapowei wind shelter; Renovation of the refrigeration plant to an art district is an important pilot plot for the city’s old town renovation project. The architect is to tackle with the task of creating innovative design within a relatively limited project budget.
The architects encompass the site with 12 slabs of concrete of varied length, creating a half-enclosed plaza space. The core component to the plaza is a skateboarding rink, offering activity area for skateboarders. The concrete walls join the ground in arc shapes, creating spaces for skateboarding and BMX bike sports. The project itself can be used as multi-functional space of hosting performances, creativity fairs, and etc., to fulfill the activity space’s diverse functions, adapting to a broad spectrum of activities hosted in Shapowei Art District.
The Shapowei Art district is designated as the new name for the refrigeration plant, ever since its completion, it has became a cultural, artistic complex that integrates sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, apparel design, wood crafting, animation, music, paper craft, and video work. Varieties of studios are open for public free of charge; the audience is able to interact with the artists face to face.
The Yuejin plaza is Located in the center of Xijingyu village, which is the main events space of the village. Open market, villager meetings, Long table feast and etc. all happen there. In order to light up the plaza, a 3-armed junction system was developed. Generated and calculated by the computer, the tension structure was fixed only on several points around the plaza, leave the plaza space free but at the same time still provide lighting from above. The low technology construction method allowed 5 villagers installed the lighting network in 4 days without onsite supervision from the architect.
The Village reading center is located beside the Yuejin plaza. It was rebuilt from an old house but using the old materials. The reading center is a place where people come to read, talk, learn, relax, communicate…… it becomes the culture center of the village, Many cultural events also happened such as the exhibition of the shoes made by a 94 years old villager which is her first exhibition in her life.
In order to keep the trees in the courtyard, an algorithm called voronoi was applied on the design, the architects used the position of the trees together with the other functional elements such as circulation to generate the courtyard pattern. The steel umbrella structure was added as shading devices as well as plants climbing structure.
“L.No1” is an installation generated by L-system, a computer algorithm ensure all the complex joints are the same which made the construction process a lot easier, cheaper and faster.
The installation activates the urban plaza, attracts many more people in different age.