People, food and home

There are no perfect things that meet all your requirements. If not, how can the sliced fish and the pickles be changed? ——Lu You

This project is located at Jindu Villa, Wenzhou, among the first generation of old villas in Longgang that contain the memory of time. Because of the long-time abandonment without any repairment, the original form of the villas seems to be quite obsolete. In order to make the buildings become vigorous again, designers arrange the courtyard that occupies the most of the space into the indoor space to enrich the interior space. Designers aim to reconstruct the space into a unique canteen which at the same time is able to meet the requirement of commercial service. There are bars, BR clubs, personalized parties around the canteen. The commercial activities are complete thereafter. However, among the environment of flourishing scene of prosperity, there must be short of a place where people can stop for meditation in peace. For this reason, designers try to extract something peaceful from the noisy surroundings. Setting wabi-sabi as the main topic, they adopt natural materials and textures to create theme restaurants and cultural teahouses of tranquility, morality and humanity. 

Virginia Woolf, the British female writer once said that an independent and free soul is the source of happiness and there’s no such thing that’s more important than being yourself. As a female, she desired much more and deeper than the soft appearance of the beauty of life. She tried to make her life road as perfect as possible. Following your own heart, challenging different roles and living an undefined life are the original thoughts of the owner of the canteen.

The Origin| Extracting peace from noise

The beauty of wabi-sabi is benefited from the setting of the green steps of moss and the interior tinged with cyan. The relaxed mind is achieved of flowers being flamboyant without dying and souls being as free at leisure as the water. The pure prospect generated from the space is hidden behind the natural power of simplicity. The green sketch is reflected on the rock beams. It’s like that the passing time also stayed here in peace with everything in the world, excluding all the interruption. It’s the Arcadia where souls can be set safe and sound for the time being. The external façade of the buildings is built with wood, moss. The artistic conception of both the reality and the imagination is the grasp of spatial Buddhist mood. The old trees and the newborn branches make the old and the new concepts mix in the same time and space to create the beauty of roughness and elegance. The winding path leads to a secluded place. The shifting footsteps led by the spatial dynamic lines become the joy of adventure. Every corner there’s different surprise brought by the scenery you see.

Extension | Foggy Scene Near Water

The brightness and darkness of stove five in times of chaos, and the tranquility in times of huge changes finally are reflected onto the food with no trace. Delicious cuisines bring the experience of joy which seems quite short; however, it can leave long-term memory on life. Distinguished guests are seated and served with delicate fine food and drinks. The spatial textures full of sense of times make dining a kind of affection to add strong power and peaceful atmosphere to us.

In thoughts of clouds and fogs floating in thousands of shapes, the gesture of lying towards the door can always make a response. Objects like withered rocks, Shochiku and dripping water are the protagonists of the space from which the Buddhist mood of tranquility and accomplishment can be created. The green landscape makes the interior and exterior scenes a flowing whole with a sense of green runs like water into the indoor space. People are surrounded by the green landscape and the exterior façade is dim like the deep forest and far mountains. The enshrouding natural breaths bring people the sense of being retreated in the woods.

Tree tips perform a poem of the world while the roots are set in eternity. The long time makes trees heal and grow while the interior withered trees in decoration become another scenery. There’s a wall between the indoor and outdoor scenes. They show us two different worlds.

Returning Scene | Careless Sound and Continuous Moments

There are good of furniture for display with a strong sense of the age at the corner. They are deeply connected with modern times; however, with the help of light paintings, they return to the old form. People and space merge and live together within a natural and free space. They exist at the end of the time where they are able to dive into past memories and foresee the future.  The clapboard at the top-story becomes curved lines. There is ingenious construction of parallel and vertical settings where people can communicate. Soft fabric sofa adds a rich feeling of vitality to the scenery. Living here, the gestures become pleased and unconstrained.  

The shadows of green trees rise up and the flickering space shadows become places for concealing to bring senses of coolness for compartments. There’s a strong sense of division of the inside and outside space. The relatively private dining environment can not only make eaters feel the entertainment of enjoying food, but also bring them the psychological peace with the help of the landscape that includes the outdoor scenery. The ocean is vast because it is fed by hundreds of rivers.one should be as inclusive as the vast ocean which admits hundreds of rivers. The site is added with the cultural construction of tea setting. Externally, it’s based on a universal attitude, inviting more people to get aware of tea culture and the cultural basis. Internally, it’s about the commercial techniques, providing unique communicative rooms of culture for themselves and people coming for its fame.