TIANGANG SEED COURTYARD

Tiangang, Hebei, China
2020-2021
Yushui Lake renovation project finalist
Under construction

The Seed Courtyard is a village house renovation project for the Japanese jewelry and ikebana master Oki Agawa. Inspired by strength of stone and fragility of flowers, we created a new living and workshop space by inverting the traditional village courtyard.

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Having the least favorable location, squeezed by neighboring houses, our design gets the new dimension by creating a rooftop public space and a miracle rainbow greenhouse, expanding the available area for new workshop and gallery functions. Our reconstruction principles rely on local history and materials, minimal intervention to existing structure, improvisation and participation.

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The original construction budget of the project is only 180,000 yuan, so "economical" approach is inevitable. We expand the new functional area of building to courtyard space to maximize the value of investment. Meanwhile, the space added is more dynamic, which provides possibility for improving the richness and comfort of the overall space. This newly built transparent greenhouse space works as a buffer zone in the northern continental climate harsh winter, and also takes into account the specific requirements of summer ventilation and shading, adapting to local environment conditions.

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From the seed courtyard, let the art spread in every corner of Tiangang!