White Upland Simple dreamy forest in Huzhou
Across this ethereal landscape, a three-petal motif such as blinds, skylights, and screen perforations,
is repeated by Lab Wutopia, located outside a sales office in Huzhou, China.
Design Features
The temporary White Upland project spans 3,296 square meters of land next to the sales center of Shanghai Huijian Investment Co.
in Zhejiang Province, west of Shanghai, the hometown of Wutopia Lab.
The studio’s founder, architect Yu Ting, took this opportunity to create a “non-public” space
that could serve as a “common space.”
It is a surreal garden where people from around this neighborhood, as well as people from Huzhou,
can enjoy.
The scheme is divided into two main parts – one circular and the other bean-shaped in the scheme,
both of which are surrounded by 529 evenly spaced white steel columns six meters high and surmounted by lights.
A pierced wing may rise from the outline, where the figures overlap and divide the two regions.
While visitors are encouraged to meander past or through a series of spatial experiences,
on the path from the entrance to the main building.
The tour also begins at the Ink Garden, located within a circular area planted with 16 Japanese maple trees.
The space revolves around a black mirror basin built in the middle of a low hill,
surrounded by 50 tons of dark rock arranged in a pattern around the reflective surface.
A large opening persuades people to enter the adjacent metal pavilion,
made of white painted aluminum panels across the outside and bright blue on the inside.
The leaves are perforated repeatedly with three petals, spaced at different intervals across the surfaces.
Four huge holes of the same shape were also drilled in the ceiling,
casting distinctive shadows on the walls.
The room on the other side opens to a larger area in the form of grains,
which are almost entirely white and contain “trees” with tops with three petals.
Design shape
They are installed at different heights and sizes, and form a canopy over the rest of the path,
reminiscent of simple forests.
Features called Fragrant Garden and Birds’ Call create sensory stimulation for those who pass by,
weaving between raised stone platforms and ‘trees’.
They then arrive at the theater in the woods,
which is located under a timber structure that provides a sheltered space for events and performances.
In addition to the ethereal quality of the all-white landscape,
the Mist Garden periodically pumps water vapor to coat the architectural elements in clouds.
There is also a circle in the center of the project,
dotted with 117 water jets heading upwards to create the fountain area, which presents illuminated water shows.
The fountains are also based on those at the Jing’an Kerry Center in Shanghai, which the chief engineer admires because they encourage gathering and play.
Bonfire is one of the only non-white features in the landscape.
Raised on a base of circular steps, this red and black cone has been woven with robotic arms using 5,954 meters of fluorocarbon fibers, creating a twisted web meant to spark flames.
Finally, just before the entrance to the sales center is the Carousel,
where the ornamental horses run in circles under a roof of white balls.
The sales center building is still intact, but is hidden by the installation of Wutopia Lab,
which was completed in August 2020.
The company also recently completed a foreign language library in Wuhan and a children’s cafe in Dalian.
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