Connecting Vessel
16th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, Freespace
Architecture seems like a seed. From the day of being built, it begins the journey of its true life in growing. Light, wind, views, scales, materials, craftsmanship, atmosphere, and etc, are the spatial genes that architects have embedded into the seed. People are touched, inspired and cultivated by them, and then create their own ways of using the space. Such unpredictable and abundant human activities will nourish the life growth of architecture.
As the main exhibited project of Vector Architects, the Seashore Library has undergone a vivid and peculiar growing progress since its establishment. This 75-seat community library became a hit online with a nickname of "The Loneliest Library in China", and attracted over three thousand people per day for sightseeing. Numerous activities and events such as lecture, seminar, filming, fashion show, concert, and etc, have been taken place inside. We would like to present this phenomenon to the public, since we believe it has a concealed but intimate relationship with the current circumstance of China, and the mindset of its social mass.
Our space installation - Connecting Vessel, is transformed from the spatial language of Seashore Library, located in Beidaihe, China. Concurrently, its material, texture, hue, spiral circulation, and natural light condenser are designed to fit into a specific spot of Arsenale, canalizing the summer sunlight of Venice through a south-facing window. The Connecting Vessel will be in Venice for six months during the Biennale, and it will be disassembled and transported back to China, then reconstructed as a permanent structure. It is a container, also a boat, linking two seashores, two time zones, two spaces, and responding to two different groups of people and cultures at different stages.
The steel floor plate of the installation is raised to allow visitors to walk in and stay with more freedom. While an interactive section model of Seashore Library is the only exhibit here, the major exhibits are placed on the upper level. The architectural space, along with the stories of Seashore Library during the past two and a half years since its opening are revealed through images, films, models, and the material samples. The other two recent projects of Vector Architects, Renovation of the Captain’s House and Alila Yangshuo are presented in the most straightforward way as well.
Location: Arsenale, Venice, Italy
Principal Architect: Dong Gong
Construction Management: Yang Zhou
Project Architect: Han Zhang
Architecture Design Team: Zhoujie Chen, Zhao Zhang, Xiaokai Ma, Liangliang Zhao, Jinteng Li, Lei Tan, Chang Liu
Site Architect: Yang Zhou, Edward Evva
LDI: Mosae
Structure Consultant: Mosae, China Academy of Building Research
Lighting Consultant: Zhangxin Studio, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
Construction Contractors: GR STRUTTURE S.r.l., SICOLFIN SCARL
Structure: Steel Structure
Material: Steel, Metal Mesh, Metal Grate, Glass Brick
Building Area: 60㎡
Design Period: 08/2017-03/2018
Construction Period: 04/2018-05/2018
