Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects,

Design studio SYN Architects submitted an architecture design for an art center that combines different geometric volumes,

featuring a circular structure that spirals into another rectangular structure towards the Heibei Mountains in China.

The Beijing-based studio named the Tiangang Art Center for the 2,587-square-meter project.

The project is located more than 100 kilometers from Beijing and more than 200 kilometers from Shijiazhuang,

and is located at the foot of Taihang Mountain, next to Yishui Lake.

The aim of the project is for the place to become sculptural in form,

dedicated to knowledge and action, intertwined together to evoke the feelings of the visitors.

The Art Center program contains various functions, such as entrance,

gallery, café, kitchen, patio, gallery ramp, hotel rooms, back area, and logistics located on the ground floor.

On the second floor, the architects placed an open platform,

a celestial platform, a balcony, hotel rooms and an office.

Located in a village in Yi County, Baoding City, Hebei County has undergone massive changes in the past two years,

with 142 square kilometers of land in the area set aside to be used as a kind of playground for architectural experiments.

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

Many new creative projects were launched, developed and consolidated in the countryside.

Forming the basis for an innovative eco-village that fuses current trends in art and culture with the simplicity of traditional rural life.

The location of the project is not far from the city, and encourages an active and participatory lifestyle,

Tiangang Village is a circular art museum and is also the leading example of the changes taking place in the area.

The original semi-circular concrete frame structure is located between mountains and rivers in the area, facing Tiangang Village,

The initial disorganized condition of the site and the cracked structure has left a village in a bind of forced stagnation.

Therefore, SYN Architects demolished part of the original building,

Then continue slender perpendicular volume curves and spirals along the inner arc of the semicircle, gradually completing the shape.

It also creates a diverse relationship between vision and appearance; A continuous and infinite circular structure with balanced proportions.

The building can be considered as a metaphor for the eastern philosophy of nature,

where heaven, earth, mountains, water and people are harmoniously combined.

To form an extension of the landscape, reinforce the existing cultural context, and also relate to art,

linking the industry of the region to the city and the warm associations of the countryside.

Architecture is a means of shaping the landscape, and the landscape is a continuation of architecture.

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

In this sense, this building, which serves as an exhibition venue,

can in itself be seen as a work of land art.

The main body of the building has been painted with white granular paint to maintain the purity of the color,

and thanks to its clean geometry and the absence of linear direction,

It becomes kind of a massive object that catches sunlight.

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

The sculptural presence of the building is also coupled with the rice fields and nearby villages,

creating a strong connection between the building and the natural environment,

This enables him to take advantage of his surroundings to amplify the aesthetic tension between the two entities.

The half arch of the original building faces the shore of the river and the distant mountains,

so 14 rooms are set within it, opening to a private and serene scene.

As for the side facing the village and the main road,

it is considered the main interface between the building and the site.

Therefore, public spaces such as reception and catering are set parallel to the road,

while a large circular exhibition hall is located in the middle of the volume.

Architecture must be adaptable according to the needs of each gallery,

in order to accommodate and display different types of art.

So the exhibition hall, the winding road, the roof terrace, the corridors,

and the exterior areas of the building are spatially connected by a vortex form,

This provides a variety of spaces of different dimensions.

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

As art galleries generally require some separation from the adjacent market outside,

U-shaped tinted glass has been used for part of the exterior walls.

This lets in natural light, while blocking the line of sight and blurring the view outside.

These walls emit a warm, uniform glow when the building is illuminated from the inside at night,

giving the building the appearance of a kind of surreal vortex suspended in the sky.

The guest rooms have increased in value due to their relationship to the ever-changing artwork,

while the exhibition halls benefit from additional reception and service due to the supporting facilities of the hotel and restaurant.

SYN Architects has embedded the concept of sustainability throughout the project from the start.

To include the sustainability of industry, the sustainability of the consumption time of urban visitors,

and of course the sustainability of the physical space that makes up the architecture.

And when visitors arrive at the ground-level arts center and follow the curve’s path,

their experience of space is constantly changing.

This is achieved by passing under a large canopy at the entrance to the building,

bypassing the columns, and then arriving at the starting point of the vortex.

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

The building maintains a spatial ambiguity between the interior and the exterior as the ramp goes up,

restricting some views of the surrounding landscape and focusing attention on multiple changing views of the galleries.

The second surprise appears after reaching the top of the cliff,

where visitors come on an outdoor viewing platform at the highest point of the building.

Building a circular art center spiraling towards the Heibei Mountains by SYN Architects

In the process of walking up to the highest level of the Arts Center,

the observers there in turn become the focus of the people outside the building which becomes the last surprise.

SYN’s architects attempted to take on the ambiguous and disorganized form of the initial project,

turning Tiangang Village into a meaningful, orderly and efficient place of “knowledge and labour”.

SYN Architects has added a new steel structure, taking the concrete structure of the original building as the base for the expansion,

allowing the main facade to Bend and tilt gradually outward and upward, switching from walls to eaves.

Additional columns and a new structural system have been introduced,

as the original building’s column grid is unable to support the load-bearing requirements of the new architecture.

SYN Architects took this engineering imperative and gave the new arrangement of the columns an aesthetic quality,

while also meeting the requirements to withstand the new load.

The concrete floor has been raised and rolled to form the entry desk, at the main entrance,

with the lawn exposed in place, illustrating the natural surroundings.