Half Architecture

Half Architecture is one kind of design method we take, trying to balance modern lifestyle and traditional craft in construction project. Architects only do part of a design to optimize critical problems, leaving the rest to local builders. Meanwhile, traditional craft can be developed and evolved during modern construction.

Triangle Site

Located in Dayan ancient town, this 35°triangle site is only open to Wenhua Lane and blocked by adjacent buildings in the other two directions. In local dwellings, rooms connected by corridor are normally closed to street,while with doors and windows open to inner courtyard. Due to this layout, residents are severely disturbed by noises. Therefore, outward rooms are distributed in Triangle Hotel as many as possible and corridor is isolated from rooms to avoid pedestrians’noises. Finnally,there are only eight inward rooms that open to two seperated courtyards.

Wood Structure

After the architectural research of space layout, local Naxi construction team takes over the job. They calculate, cut, process,label all the wood components in workshop,and start to join them together in a lucky day according to Naxi Calendar.Wood structures with 357 pieces of components are erected and assembled barely by hands in one week, without any drawing instructions and mechanical help .

Real Material

Exterior walls with black bricks made by local factory, give a coordinated street facade to public space. Interior walls in white painting without plaster completely remain the touchable texture of this material. With series of interior lighting, varnished roofs without ceilings give residents an actual impression of wood structure system . Equipment wires and pipes are hidden in structure to avoid material distruction by grooving. Benefiting from appropriate utilization of materials, the final investment of this hotel is only $375/m2, including structure construction, interior decoration, equipment and furniture purchases .

Narrative Detail

Most detail problems in this project are pointed out by architects and solved by local builders with traditional craft and experience. In order to give enough space for water groove, they replace one wood girder with two by a wood surport on the top of the column , where two roofs join together. Falling from roof groove above the main entrance, rain water flow through courtyard and hollow brick walls to old drainage system. Communication between nature and architecture is narratively presented by this series of details.