More than twenty schools of architecture from China and around the world were selected to participate. The two week, design-build competition commenced on July 31 and concluded on August 15, and was judged by an international jury. The competition site was Xiamutang Village, Jiangxi Province, China. Sponsored by Wan’an County Government and co-organized by CBC (China Building Centre) and UED (Urban Environment Design) Journal, the competition theme was “Q (Fun) Village.”
Congratulations to our team led by Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the MS Program, Fei Wang. The Syracuse Architecture design team includes Minglu Wei (B.Arch ’19); Furui Sun (BArch ’19); Rongzhu Gu (MS ’17); Bingyu Zeng (MS ’18). The on-site construction manager is Yilu Zhang (M.Arch. ’20).
The Syracuse Architecture project, entitled “Fluorescence of Xiamutang,” is inspired by fireflies and the visibility of star constellations in the countryside. The basic structure was made from curved bamboo with grass hay and glass tubes. Following the core principals of the Syracuse Architecture M.S. Program—Design | Energy | Futures—the project had the lowest budget among all twenty-one teams. And yet it still achieved an overall second place award! The project shows how high quality design can be achieved by
using local, low carbon materials.
She is ‘Fluorescence’;
she is straw + bamboo + light;
‘Fluorescence’ seems a simple pile of straw, from outside.
Humbly co-existing with the context, she seems to have been in the village forever.
Circle is the theme: the bamboo structure of every angle, the floor layout, the floor pattern, and the lighting tubes. Lifted up from the north, from the eye level, the interior is not exposed to the outside. One has to bow to enter. After getting used to the darkness inside, the scene above head seems starlight or fluorescent light.
She calm down people and make them lie down and enjoy the starry night.
The night and day inside her is reversed.
‘Fluorescence’ is a breathing architecture;
‘Fluorescence’ is an impressionist; she is the Starry Night + Haystacks by Vincent van Gogh. She is the ‘Fluorescence’ of Xiamutang.
Jury Chair, CUI Kai, Honorary President and Chief Architect of China Architecture Design Group; YANG Baojun, President, China Academy of Urban Planning & Design; LI Zhengyu, Dean, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University; SONG Kun, Professor, School of Architecture, Tianjin University; CUI Tong, Chief Architect, Institute of Architecture Design and Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences; WANG Lu, Professor, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University; CAO Xiaoxin, President, China Architecture Design & Research Institute; PENG Lixiao, Chief Editor, Urban Environment Design Magazine.
