Yiwu Greentown Peach Blossom Land | 9M Design

Located in a wooded mountain in Zhejiang, China, Yiwu Peach Blossom Land, owning abundant landscape resources, is a high-end residential cluster. Two plots and a natural mountain with a lake at the feet in the middle composite into the site of our project. The most commendable part of the project is that mountains and water are close at hand while downtown is near, which is naturally in line with our vision of “Taohuayuan”, a typical “Utopia” in Chinese culture. Our team has realized that the greatest value of the project lies into the particularity of the site. Hence, to find out the organic connection among land, landscapes, humanity and the city becomes the biggest theme of the design. We aim to construct a livable space that builds a clever fusion of tradition and modernity in this place of mountains and waters.

The project is comprised of 3 parts: Chinese courtyard housing, modern villas, and a Life & Art Gallery. Chinese courtyard housing area adopts the traditional architectural “community” layout, following the etiquette of axis symmetry, emphasizing the sense of exclusion in the courtyard. Neighborhood spaces are meticulously considered, streets and gardens with various scales interconnected with each other. The streets are the pulse and the courtyards are the heart. The visual changes from the wall, pavilion, corridor, doorway, street, and alley to the house, from public space and semi-public space to the private space, the courtyards and the houses are perfectly blended. The modern villa area shows a different atmosphere from the former, with more transparent and open modernity, but still obeying the overall ritual. Neighborhood spaces are meticulously considered, streets and gardens with various scales interconnected with each other, reinterpreting the transformation of space.

The buildings in the Chinese courtyard housing area adopt the architectural symbols of traditional Chinese residences on the basis of retaining the local architectural technology in Yiwu while setting unique designs for each residential unit according to the different conditions.

The modern villas are four-story residential buildings, interpreting the connotation of Oriental culture in the form of modern architecture. The color of the facades is harmonious with that of the Chinese courtyards. The choice of materials is also an important part of the design. The properties of glass and metal are highlighted in detail. The innovation part lies in the use of thinner eaves and frames, which fits the tranquil atmosphere of the site. The slightly inclined eave brings a great sight through inside and outside while echoing the design of Chinese courtyards. The glass dissolves the barrier between interior and exterior, blending mountain, water, and light into the buildings. The use of column net is reduced as much as possible to make the appearance thin, releasing the interior space to the limit. The transparency of glass, the warmth of Caesar’s grey stone, and the sense of science brought by the aluminum cladding humbly intersect each other, making the building keep a long-term sense of calm and wisdom.

A large number of glass French windows is a major feature of the design. Light and landscape are brought into the buildings through the large-scale glass, reaching a perfect effect of transparency. As a modern residential project, the most important function of the buildings is to serve for lives in it. Traditional lattice windows are not enough to meet the needs of contemporary daily use, hence, large-scale glass is used instead of traditional materials to ensure a modern and comfortable life to a great extent while inheriting a vein of Chinese architectural spirit.