Winner of the Editor’s Award in the 2020 WLA Awards
Cloud of Hometown is a hotel located in an old village in the chain of Mount Tai. Different from the vitality of the whole mountain range, the village was gradually deserted and decayed for economic backwardness and population migration, and the forests were left with rotten trees and dead branches. On this basis, in this renovation design, we discussed how to adhere to the concept of “building on the ground” in the process, planning to use the most natural and simple language to eliminate the impact of design. We hope that it would look like the natural evolution of the rural landscape, and truly integrate into the life of the residents and the history of the village.
Firstly, the design respects the terrain and the original village texture while keeping the original street texture and big trees to the greatest extent, and reducing the impact on the site to the minimum. We make full use of local materials and traditional skills to restore the simple rural landscape and examined the local culture in a modern way and a unique perspective.
The stone, brick, wood and other materials used in the site are all from the old abandoned house. It not only saves energy and resources, but also creates a landscape with unique historical traces of the site. We also invite the local craftsmen to build it in an ancient handmade way, from the slate road to the steps to the low wall. Behind every landscape with handmade traces, the rich experience and insights of designers and local craftsmen are combined.
The design is consolidated by the use of native plants such as Celtis sinensis Persoon, Chinese Photinia, Chinese Pennisetum, ensuring plant diversity and respecting the forest vegetation. We sort to repair the sparse and degraded mountain forest environment and the internal environment of the site. The natural ecological woodland structure is restored and recreates the beauty of natural landscapes.
In this era of pursuing speed and assembly line, we adhered to the original belief, and emphasized that the whole mountain should return to its original nature, get rid of the so-called design composition of point, line and surface, and activate the rural space with the craftsman like construction without design sense, so that it can slowly undergo the baptism of the years.
Cloud of Hometown Landscape Design
Location: Dongximen Village, Daiyue District, Tai’an, Shandong, China
Design Firm: gad · line+ studio
Chief Architect: Fanhao Meng
Lead Designer: Shangyang Li
Landscape Designer: Jianbo Jin, Xiaomei Chi, Chenjuan Su
Client: Lushang Pusu (Tai’an) Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd
Photography credits: zystudio, Xiaowen Jin