Aranya Art Center / Archmixing Studio

A conversation between the building and the object. The art center in the mountain is located on the ridge. It stands by a winding path that starts at the foot of the mountain. It connects the typical vast northern mountains as well as the valley community on the other side of the ridge line. When residents or visitors walk up the winding path, this art center will be the first to greet them. Its east and south sides face the mountain road below and enjoy a view of the continuous mountains. Its northern side overlooks the villas stretching down the hill. Its western side is next to the community and plays the role of the end of the street. Thanks to this special location, the art center is both an entrance landmark and a hub for the community.

For the site strategy, this design aims to turn the small building into a suitable landmark in nature. He should be neither too humble nor too arrogant. At the same time, it must be in harmony with the human scale of the public street. The voluminous thick pitched polygonal roof and the voluminous base that wraps around the retaining wall combination give the building a monumental scale facing the mountains. At the same time, the careful design of the height and pitch of the roof gives the building a low facade facing the community, befitting the scale of the villas.

The base of retaining walls enclosing the site along the road is integrated with the building as a whole. It adjusts pedestrians’ sense of scale through its shape and materials. The triangular platform at the base is finished with a shuttle shape 2.1 m high. Between this end and the retaining wall of the neighboring villa are set pedestrian steps. Visitors can walk up the steps to the art center or turn down the community’s inner street. The base forms a small square on the side of the building facing the mountains. The seamless pavement makes it difficult to distinguish between the inside and outside of the building. This place is a spatial completion of this object, drawing people’s eyes to the mountain and the sky.

Sixteen brick pavilions. Another challenge is how to deal with the relationship between the building and nature. Visitors from the foot of the mountain have already enjoyed the full nature, so how can we create a new experience in this building?

The 15 brick pavilions with different functions are organized together to form a large covered brick pavilion. Between the pavilions, the experience of the surrounding landscape becomes an “encounter”. The entire landscape is divided into fragments by the pavilions and then connected in the imagination. This technique of interruption and disruption of the whole creates a special method of looking at the surrounding mountains, while at the same time sculpting a special “insideness”. Massive brick pavilions shape the character of the building, providing an interesting visual and spatial impression to the exterior.

Brick gazebos have different functions. They are a reading pavilion, a children’s hut, a panoramic view, an entrance gazebo, a staircase, an elevator, a closet and a toilet. The interior space is divided by the 15 brick pavilions into three areas: an entrance and service area, a lounge and coffee area, a large event space and an auxiliary space. The remaining spaces are located around the central event space. Spaces of different scales are combined together – a place for two or three people to interact, also a larger gathering space. The “Pillar Pavilion” and the space it forms are everyday and timeless.