Shangen Blossom Pavilion is a part of the Shangen Village Project, a masterplan SpActrum proposed in 2017-2018 to transform the traditional village into a tourism destination. However, the village was hugely cleaned up and lost some of its ancient ambience. Under this circumstance, an empty small plot at the end of the central bridge revealed. The architects seized this opportunity to restore the power of ambiguity.

Digital design strategy was initially used to find the Pavilion’s resonance with the surroundings, and then adapted to the locality with appropriate construction techniques. The general geometry comes from a computer-generated shape that embodies the function and power it needs to deliver. It’s a “flower-like” cone opening towards the sky, supporting the proposed structure both geometrically and pragmatically.

This forms a very complex geometry, but was later manually simplified into triangles and quadrangles to fit the technical capacities of construction in a village. The architects developed a methodology to control the form’s spatial coordinates with simple faceted surfaces, and the resulting geometry was then simplified for the local construction team. Thus, the construction process regains the authenticity of architectural behavior: build for demand, not for desire.

The design values functionality and employs easily accessed local materials. The generic material ensures low construction and running costs. The covered indoor space is a function room; its inner walls rendered with a traditional oyster shell clay technique, forming a very bumpy surface; the heavy platform confers high sustainability on the indoor space. The planter walls of the cone grow naturally and showcase how living creatures can coexist with man-made structures. The Pavilion completely integrates with the rural surroundings under a lost-cost design. It combines landscape features, functional spaces, a communal gathering point and a sensual expression of how nature blends into the built environment.