Project #3 MeiShan Cultural and Ecological Park

This project is located in Hunan Province, China. It is in the south central part of the Chinese mainland. Hunan is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north.

This project assignment consists of two parts:

- the main building - consisting of public gathering spaces

- a choice of 3 different types of Chinese style architecture hotels/reception buildings

(I chose the Fenghou gable wall style building)

Here is the Main Building Program:

This image is a site map of the entire MeiShan Park, and building locations:

Here is an image of the exterior of main building (a courtyard style building):

Some inspiration photos consisting of Fung Shui symbols, traditional Chinese furniture, embroidered fabrics, and architectural details:

My Concept Statement (still evolving) and other design ideas:

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Space Planning for Main Building:

The next two images are diagrams that show how the sun will enter/hit the building, and at what angle, during different times and different seasons. These diagrams were created using a Sterographic Sunpath Diagram for 25 N Latitude (where Hunan is located).

This is a natural ventilation plan I designed to create a maximum airflow with minimum maintenance and operating costs:

This shows a cut-through of the roof and where solar tubes (mirror-like tubes that capture sunlight and allow natural light to enter the space), and skylights might be added later.

A space plan for the courtyard, consisting of water, stone, vegetation, seating areas, and bridges.
Perspective view of the lobby:

Located on the west side of the building, which represents of distant ancestors and future descendants. The element for this quadrant of the building is metal, and the associated colors are: white, gold, silver, bronze, and chrome. I used white, silver, chrome, bronze, and copper.......but prisma markers don't exactly make a lot of 'metal' markers, so you get the general idea.

These next two images are the bar and casual dining room, these two rooms are open to each other (well, partly divided by a screen). The rooms are located on the south side of the building, which represents fame.

The element for these two rooms is fire, and the associated colors are: red, yellow, and orange.

SEE MATERIALS IMAGES BELOW to get a better idea of how the colors were used.

In the dining area I am actually using 3 "fireplaces!" They are called Vauni Fireplaces, it requires no chimney because of its adjustable bio-ethanol burner, and burns liquid denatured ethanol (which is biodegradable and a renewable energy source). And yes, its safe and harmless. They are actually made of light-weight aluminum, and are as easy to install as a flat screen TV.

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Here is the 2nd part and 2nd building of my project:

FENGHOU GABLE WALL STYLE MEISHAN RECEPTION BUILDING/HOTEL

Building Exterior:

Space planning:

Finalized Block Diagram:

Note: the curvy blue line in the center is the hallway. According Fung Shui, positive energy (Sheng Ch'i) should not travel/flow through a space too fast, so if there is a long straight hallway Ch'i speeds up and becomes destructive Ch'i, which is called Sha Ch'i and/or Ssu Ch'i.

Another important Fung Shui rule is to avoid harsh, sharp corners and angles, which can also create Sha Ch'i (bad/destructive Ch'i).

So, since we couldn't change any exterior walls, I focused on improving the flow of Ch'i by:

creating a curved hallway to slow down positive Ch'i, which also creates softer, more organic angles and corners.

This room is on the north side of the building, so it represents career.

The element for this quadrant is water, and the associated colors are: blue, purple, and black.

The goldfish sculpture on the wall represents luck and brings the most luck when located in the north part of a building. I didn't use black in this room because I wanted to incorporate some traditional Chinese furniture elements (but with a twist of modern interpretation), like the bed and credenza, which are made of local Chinese dark wood.

This is a perspective view looking toward the entry area of one of the family guest suites. The gray circles on the ceiling are solar tubes/light tubes. You can see some of the traditional elements like the wood carving on the windows, wooden furniture, and red lanterns.

Note: the intended shade of purple is NOT seen here, I intended for it to be a deeper purple, even deeper than the purple chairs seen in the previous image.

Presentation Board from March 3, 2010