Cloudy Courtyard | (DALE) Li Hao

Cloudy Courtyard is located in Shiguan Xiang, Anqing Yuexi, Anhui. Originally, there was an old house in the base, which was a two-storeyed old house with white tiles.Entrusted by the owner, with 10 courtyards, the architect integrates the orderly and free plan and form of "traditional houses in west Anhui".

The site of this project is at the end of a rural road, while is also the beginning of the mountainous landscape. Through platforms, transitions and openings, the micro-building community introduced the vast mountainous countryside view into the tranquil inner courtyard.

The planning of the cross-shaped courtyard followed the crisscross layout of the "traditional houses in west Anhui", with mountains as screen and water as its neighbours, the courtyard extended along the vertical and horizontal axes. The old vestibule and back hall of the original “traditional houses in west Anhui” evolved into the first public courtyard and an expanded lobby in the new designed architecture.

The residential courtyard constitutes the core of the project. The scattered terraces are stacked on layers of courtyards, and the alley tortuously winded. At every moment of pause,  visitors could capture a unique landscape whenever they stopped. The building was constructed in an ecological and primitive way, such as picking up the pebbles in the mountain stream to make them the base of the wall and cutting down the bamboo from the mountain forest contracted by the owner to build the fence.

The design of the courtyard wall originated from the Ma Tau Wall in the houses, retaining the simple colour tone, emphasizing the tortuous and elegant lines.

Owing to the high altitude of the area, as well as the scattered architectural spaces and the well-designed patios, a stable microclimate was formed in the building, with natural ventilation forming air convection, and natural plants shielding direct sunlight.

Reset the Kitchen God

In Chinese architecture, the dependence and worship of fire have been transferred to the "kitchen"-that is, the "Kitchen God". "The Yellow Emperor Sets the Stove"-People design the spiritual space structure of the building following the culture about God. Around the "kitchen", family and social activities gradually unfold into a vivid picture of daily life during the long time living with fire.

In this project, we once again invited the Kitchen God, the "home fire" that has been burning for the "dry soul" for thousands of years, from the kitchen back to the centre of the building in the hall. Wood, stone, metal, and customized thin steel shelves depicted the warm flames of winter and the imagination of joyful summer barbecue clearly. Material space, decorative elements, daily commodities, as well as mysterious and ancient beliefs gathered together to form a complete system with "home fire" as the core.

Rural landscape with slight sense of strangeness

The B&B is a place with a great sense of drama and power-it naturally mixes the new and the old, the courage and keenness, the bold publicity and the intimacy of the private sphere.

From design to construction, the architect’s concern for the site runs through which affected the materials, structure and final presentation, allowing the site to show the nature and culture, so as to create a slightly strange rural landscape.