MAD Office: Rising House, Beijing

31 May 2008

This is an IT professional‘s weekend house near the Great Wall of Beijing. The driving concept of this scheme is Folding Landscape. The down-slope site facing the hills and river makes it possible to exploit the contours. A continuous volume is being pulled up from the ground level and faces the natural landscape. A glass-enclosed living space is inserted in-between the volume and ground. The rising volume and the levels inside resemble a continuous and undulating landscape, and a courtyard inserted at strategic position connects with the outside on the ground floor.

The ground floor plan follows the example of Mies Van Der Rohe’s (see Wiki) Farnsworth House, and on the upper level the plan becomes reverse – a pool enveloped by glass roof and floor, so the sunlight could shine through the water and the glass floor of the pool and cast upon the ground floor.

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Li Wei Performance Art

23 May 2008

Look at what Beijing Performance Artist (Li Wei)can do. His work is a mixture of performance art and photography, they all create illusions of dangerous moments.

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National Aquatics Center Beijing

20 May 2008

After more than four years of construction work, the Olympic venue in Beijing is ready to join the games.

The blue-coloured National Aquatics Center (NAC), nicknamed the “Water Cube” is a new landmark in Beijing, designed by PTW Architects from Australia. The air cushion structures are the first of their kind to be used in China and the largest and most complicated membrane system in any single project in the world.

With the efforts of various participants, many scientific and technical difficulties were overcome. Among the achievements, nine important self-dependent innovations resolved difficult topics related to the project’s steel structures, membrane structures and inner layout, formulated related work procedures and technical regulations, and filled the gap in China’s field of architecture.

The NAC is the only Olympic venue to be funded by donations from compatriots. It reflects the unity of the Chinese at home and abroad to stage the Olympic Games through joint efforts.

Located on the southern part of the central area of the Olympic Green in Beijing, the NAC has a planned construction area of 6.95 hectares. Being adjacent to the central axis of the city, the NAC is situated on par with the National Stadium, at an equal distance to the axis.

The NAC’s Games-time construction area is close to 80,000 square meters, containing 17,000 standard seats, including 6,000 permanent seats and 11,000 temporary ones. During the 2008 Olympic Games, it will produce 42 gold medals in swimming, diving and synchronized swimming.

After the Olympics, it will be converted into a multi-functional facility for sports, culture and recreation, featuring a “water setting” for members of society.

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