Zheng Neng International Financial Center

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Fluid Facade
From Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture on, facade has been seen as the interface between inside and outside. The containerization of architecture reduces facade to pure pursuit of being “looks good”. From the perspective of city, facade is not a interface standing to partition inside and outside but a media to encourage dialogues. It is the penetration of the spatial experiences as well as the internalization of the environmental atmosphere. From Le Corbusier’s Architectural promenades to John Lautner’s Infinity Space, architects are always discussing how to tied people to their environment by allowing them viewing, by which to dispel the bewilderment of being existing. So, in this project, we propose a concept, “Fluid Facade” i.e. the variations and nuances of details of building facade in different heights and directions which evoke the association between human movements, interior spaces, and exterior environment and avoid unconscious transparentizing throughout the facade.

Site Context
Yimeng Mountain lies across the East China plain and Yi River runs from mountain land in middle south of Shandong province, meandering eastwards through Linyi city. Linyi is so named because of Yi river.

The site is located in Lanshan area in Linyi city. It faces Yi River in east, which gives it tremendous vista and in west, it is beside Yizhou road which is a traffic artery of the city. The twin-track Yanshi railway both for passengers and goods lies in south of it and cross-river bridge of Taoran road connects the airport and railway station that are on two sides of the river. So， its geographical location facilitates its importance in the city since it’s in the intersection of waterway，highway，and railway transportation.

Detail：Dialogue with the context
Views of the site are varied. In north and east sides, the straight line of the plan is folded up to the river in the east side, which forms triangular spaces around the margin of the building. The folded surfaces are two kinds and one is transparent glass on long side and the other is aluminum panel on short side , to lead the people’s eye is looking forwards the view from Yi river . Not only enrich the interior space but also strengthened dialogue with its context, Infiltrate the outside landscape into the building. Every folding unit is 2.1-meter long. So, the scale of it is suitable for two to three persons to have rest and enjoy the awesome view around the building.

The east and west sides are folded up perpendicularly to face the river and the urban respectively. Solid aluminum panels in east are sharper and leaving a 1.8-meter glass surface to guide the view to the riverside actively. On contrast, the west is relatively gently and because of the issues of western exposure and views etc., the width of the glass surfaces are reduced to 1.2 meters. Overall, it forms a condition that the fluid facade is relatively more see-through in southeast and more solid in northwest to respond its particular context.

In vertical direction, components run though the whole facade. Around the top and the bottom of the tower, the facade components change from line to surface rhythmically. Near to the ground, the facade of the podium is detailed by folded iridescence aluminum panels in geometrical form. The alternate reflections of natural light and surrounding scenes from the aluminum panels and the glasses gives the facade spatial characteristic， thereby merging the exterior atmosphere with facade itself. Physically, the façade of architecture exists in an unmitigated static state but in environment, the time and space give it correlation between dynamic and static characters.

The detailed facade on podium plus the middle and the top of the tower, shaped the integrity of the building and neutralizing the disadvantage of its proportion.

When people walking around the building, it’s facade seems to compose a cento where light and shadow flows alternately, the void and solid mixes gradually. People, architecture, and environment are no longer distinctive individuals but they produce a vivid scene with their interrelationship. The penetration between the inside and outside and the interdependence of movement and stillness give a sense of ambiguity, which is our exploration of the dynamic facade correlation.