Huangdu Art Center

Old Beijing is composed of Hutongs, closely woven districts of communal courtyard homes. The basic elements of these districts are one-storey buildings, forming unique geometric patterns that are repeated at dense scales. This traditional urban fabric is increasingly under threat, however, forced to make way for the larger, monumental modern architecture of Beijing today.

The site of this project presents this issue in microcosm. Located near heart of old Beijing, close to historic monuments such as the Forbidden City and opposite the National Art Museum, the site presents a dual condition: small scale Hutongs remain at the Western edge, yet the Eastern edge is bounded by a modern axis of major roads, shopping malls and hotels.

In response to this dilemma, MAD proposes to create a building composed of many small Hutong-scale pieces that culminate in a large overall volume. This will be achieved by stacking different courtyard layers on top of one another, creating an ethereal, semi-solid piece of urban fabric, a vague geometric shape, which maintains the spatial relationships and hollow core of the courtyards.

This proposal extends the city fabric from small to large, stepping up between two scales, and providing a means to reconcile two sides of Beijing. The building is an urban instrument, representing Beijing’s new aspirations to be a forward looking city that also respects its past.