Site
The project is located at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP) in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris. This university city has more than 40 school buildings named after and constructed by different countries. It is known in the field of architecture due to several famous masterpieces, such as the ‘Collège Néerlandais’ (The Netherlands College,1926), designed by Willem M. Dudok, the ‘Pavilion Suisse’ (The Pavilion of Switzerland, 1930), designed by Le Corbusier, the ‘Maison du Brésil’ (Home of Brazil,1954) designed by Lucio Costa and Corbusier, and the ‘Pavilion de L’Iran’, designed by Claude Parent (Pavilion of Iran,1969). The ‘Maison du Chine’ is located on the south edge of the university city, with a garden and sports field bordering its north and Paris’ outer ring road to its south.
Program
This is a student dormitory, which includes 300 single rooms and a 500-person cultural activity hall as its main program.
Space
Today when Le Corbusier’s concept of healthy living is being widely accepted, our design arranged the dormitory rooms in the shape of a ring surrounding a central courtyard, in order to allow student life to unfold in a pleasing natural environment.
Landscape
In addition to the central courtyard, the surrounding area and the rooftop of the building were designed as gardens, while the central staircase located in the central courtyard further links a series of planted platforms together, creating a vertical landscape in the building.
Materials
Chinese grey clay bricks are applied as the main material on the exterior façade; through various brick-laying techniques, we will be able to achieve porosity and relief in the wall so that to demonstrate details and crafts as expressive architectural forms. Simultaneously, the undulation on the building facade is devised to improve on the issues of the insufficient natural lighting on the north and the noise pollution from the south. A wood grating lines the interior façade; together with the clay bricks on the outer facade, this material composition reiterates an ancient Chinese definition of architecture that is ‘Tu Mu’ (earth and wood).
Team
Atelier Feichang Jianzhu from China and Coldefy & Associates Architects and Urban Planners from France collaborated to win this international architectural design competition. The design team also invited sculptor, Sui, Jianguo, to provide artistic advices on the landscape design.