Chi She | Archi-Union Architects

Chi She is an artistic group founded by ZHANG Peili, GENG Jiangyi, whose exhibition space in West Bund Art Exhibition Area characterizes an altitude towards realism, that is, chasing the spatial appeal, harmonizing with integral environment, as well as realizing formal representation  corresponding with the artistic mission embedded inside. It is hoped that the building can provide a delicate and abundant compound art space, where contains various artistic events, such as curiosities exhibition, creative workshop and unpremeditated communication.

We retained the initial exterior walls, followed by the elementary performance enhancement and structure reinforcement, in order to attain the maximum exhibition space. Therefore, under the condition of maintaining the space perception of the whole artistic park, part of the roof has been elevated in order to create an interlayer space, where people could enjoy the intact sky view. Furthermore, the roofing structure has been replaced by a lightweight and more efficient tensioning string wood structure, and part of them is lifted to obtain the skylight indicating the climate change, which presents a sense of harmony. On the other hand, the greygreen bricks coordinated with this ancient building have been applied on the exterior part located on the main interface towards the park. When the wall in the entrance is curled up a lit bit, this generated wrinkle wall texture becomes the impressive part of the form manipulation, which represents the architectural expressions as well, that is, a status that embodies current cultural trends based on tradition.

In order to complete such a masonry process that cannot be precisely achieved by traditional technology, we applied the robotic masonry fabrication technique by Fab-Union, which accomplishes the first endeavor to utilize the advanced digital fabrication technology to construct on site. The external walls of the Chi community were built by the recycled greygreen bricks from the old building and constracted with the help of the advanced technology of mechanical arm, which generates a cambered surface morphology, showing the vitality of the Chi community.

The precise positioning of the integrated equipment of robotic masonry fabrication technique and the construction elaborately to the mortar and bricks by the craftsmen make this ancient material, brick, be able to meet the requirements in the new era, and realize the presentation of the design model consummately. The dilapidation of these old bricks coordinated with the stretch display of the curving walls are narrating a story of people and bricks, machines and construction, design and culture, which will be spread permanently in the shadows of the external walls under the setting sun.