DIEGO PEPIN

« The LiangMeng Primary school faces a beautiful valley located in the rural area of Puan City, China. It is connected by a approximately 4 hours drive to the provincial capital Guiyang and the whole region is home to many Chinese ethnic groups, but the one that inhabits this underdeveloped rural area is known as the BUYI minority. Their economy is mainly based on agriculture and mining and it has been slightly improved by the construction of logistic infrastructures after 1949. Even if their daily life is partially modernized, their culture is still influenced by ancient traditions and activities. »

 

The request was to conceive and design a canteen and library building of 100 m2 that will serve the LiangMeng school complex. Being aware that this is a project in an underdeveloped part of China, so those functions had to be solved in a very rudimentary and pragmatic way.

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The LiangMen School where the project is located is organized around the main playground delimited by the existing building. The project intends to mark a new playground and create a new space to enjoy the exceptional view of the valley and rice fields. The transition is materialized through a rectangular box, a covered pavilion, with a pillar room in its middle, elevated on a wooden floor over a stone slab. The typology of the temple is translated into the entrance to a private garden, overhanging the rice fields, building a serene and calm atmosphere.

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The two symmetric volumes at the edges are looking toward the cliff and compact all the inside functions. While an overflowing roof creates various covered subspaces. The project offers a design outside of the usual working space with grounded stone slabs, which create a dynamic flow and spatiality whilst being furniture. The project calls to the Buyei culture and scholarity, by including traditional construction materials. Thereby recalling symbolic elements thanks to the stone walls, the tiles, and the garden