"The design process began with an inquiry into the wall as a primary generative element. In this instance, the wall serves as the sole design driver, dictating how the building interacts with the surrounding wetland. As the vertical surfaces rise, they thicken and shift, creating fissures that allow light to enter the interior."
"The team at TAO shapes the lower sections of the Chenhu Wetland Art Center's walls to bend in direct response to the lake. These curved surfaces rise and fall along the edge of the water to suggest a form molded by the constant flow of water. While there is no strict boundary between the built environment and the basin, the folded bases touch the surface to lend a soft reflection at the horizon."
"The exterior skin consists of white GRC panels embedded with shell and conch aggregates. This material choice provides a granular texture that develops a moist sheen when exposed to high humidity and direct sunlight. Depending on the curvature of the wall and the angle of the sun, the surfaces transition between bright and shaded states, and echo the shimmering quality of the sunlit marshes."
The Chenhu Wetland Art Center, designed by Trace Architecture Office, sits on a triangular site where Wuhan's natural shoreline meets an artificial road within Tonghu Provincial Wetland Park. The design centers on walls as the generative element, with vertical surfaces that thicken, shift, and create light-filtering fissures. The lower wall sections curve in response to the lake's edge, suggesting forms shaped by water flow. The exterior features white GRC panels embedded with shell and conch aggregates, creating a granular texture that develops a moist sheen in humid conditions and transitions between bright and shaded states. Rather than a continuous enclosure, the plan employs dispersed walls creating a porous layout that maintains constant dialogue with the surrounding wetland environment.
Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine
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