bird view©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

Place in Times River

The section of Weihe River in Xixian New District has recently restored the original surroundings. The riverfront ecological zone revives great environmental context from the past to the future. PLAT ASIA designed the Weihe River Landscape Pavilion in 2017 on the south bank of Weihe River and west of Shanglin Bridge, which served as public infrastructure for a viewing deck. This project is one of six public buildings in the riverbank area co-designed by three architects from China, Korea, and Japan, devoted to daily exercise needs for citizens.

building in forest©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

northeast view©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

Horizon for People

The building comprises a two-story vistas pavilion with a store and a single public toilet for leisure time. Through the view frame and grilles, River, the city's agricultural landscape, highway, and skyline stretched from north to south. Planters as a part of the building extended to the environment.

frame with vistas©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

facade©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

path to woods©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

Primitiveness

The design tries to realize primitiveness from contemporaneity in architectural expression. The Pavilion opened to everyone, maximized the scenery experience, and created sensible bonds between the inside and outside. Architects consider primitiveness as the nature of the Pavilion, which sheltered: first, it transformed the traditional two-slope roof into a structural elevation by pressing the roof toward the land; then cut the wall, rolled over the inner façade into platforms as ceilings, terrace, seats, and planters, sustain apparent consistency of volume. These skylights and windows in diverse sizes penetrate sunlight and air. Finally, the design adapts to thermal, ventilation, and lighting sustainability principles for low-cost maintenance in the future.

first floor platform©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

greenery appeared in the hole©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

rolled-over roof layer broadens the horizon©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

Contemporaneity

The simple triangle volume became a landmark and enriched the landscape of the ecological zone. The outer surface, applied in the panel with rammed-earth texture, responds to historical context. The inner surface is made of copper plates for unity in colors with rammed earth. Second, echo a contemporary identity compared with a nowadays materials; third, the metal sheen reflects light, and shadow greenery in space, inspiring the River and vision in the wind. Finally, the copper plates mirrored the scenery, blurring the boundary of space and the edge of the building, overlapping the River of time.

view frame©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

skylights©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

inner surface©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

Natural Scales

The Pavilion overlooks the riverfront, with light and green surf on the metal surface. No centralized, untraditional structures, contrast, and tension from metal, light blends positively, environment introduced in, spatial desire whispered, constructed a pattern in contemporary language. Like rammed-earth broken ground, the building reflected in time-scapes. Function followed the original awareness, building dialogue in natural scales. Just as architect JUNG said: only contemporaneity could approach architectural primitiveness.

lights, plants, and metals©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

sunset memories©PLAT ASIA ndn lab

Drawings

site plan©PLAT ASIA

first floor plan©PLAT ASIA

second floor plan©PLAT ASIA

sections©PLAT ASIA

elevations©PLAT ASIA