Dom-Ino Pavilion

Project: Dom-Ino Pavilion, 2017
Location: Shangwie Village, Shenzhen, China
Architect: Benyuan Design and Research Center
Lead Architects: MENG Jianmin, CHEN Xi, ZENG Fanbo
Design Team: JIANG Nan, LIANG Jingyi, LEI Jianhua
Collaborator: Future + Academy
Built Area: 303 m² 
 

"Dom-Ino House," proposed by Le Corbusier in 1915, brings infinite possibilities of free plan and elevation to architectural design. One hundred years later, an old building left with unfinished concrete structure frame, found abandoned in an ordinary village of southern China, is strikingly similar to the "Dom-Ino House" prototype. It demonstrates an application of the "Domino System" in Shangwei Village, like a specimen.

Benyuan Design and Research center has carried out a series of renovation strategies to this old building. First, retain the original structure of the concrete frame. Second, use 24 giant iron doors to create a space with different spatial combinations for the multi-functional use for art and education.

The Dom-Ino Pavilion becomes a flexible platform for communication between different groups of people and different cultures. The ground floor has a studio, which can be used as the client’s office or public educational space. The newly added rotatable doors on the second floor can enclose and split space for various activities, like art exhibitions, community meeting and small performances. The roof terrace serves as a community social area.

Take a glimpse through any open door, you will see a unique image of Shangwei Village: a lonely papaya tree; a mottled corner of old Hakka house; a factory building facade with pink mosaic tiles, or houses of European style built by villagers. Through the giant doors, the framed views reveal the vitality and conflicts of this village.

The doors are covered by perforated patterns. In the daytime, sunlight goes through the small holes and leaves shadows on the ground. The light and the shadow, following the rhythm of time, respond to the surroundings in an interesting way.

After sunset, the light coming through the holes will vaguely form the face of Le Corbusier. Through the eyes of this man, who constructed the modern western architecture theory, people will catch a vivid image of this southern village of China.