Wu Ji Academy / Wutopia Lab

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Text description provided by the architects. In 2006, house No. 1, house No. 2 and courtyard No. 3 were completed at the same time in Jiu Jian Tang, Shanghai, which were all designed by famous international architect Arata Isozaki.

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In 2011, the owners of these estates, unbeknownst to the others, invited local architect Yu Ting to transform them one by one. 

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After a long time of disuse, house No.2 would become an academy special for ancient Chinese classics, expanding from 400 to 900 sqm, as the owner’s wish. 

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After bound up the old building with bamboo curtain wall, the architect covered it with a translucent rice paper glass box to weaken the sense of volume. The side atrium, a public space lacking in old building appeared naturally in the gap between these two boxes. The 6-meter-high gate, looks like a dramatic cave made the side atrium more like a courtyard blurring the inside and outside space.

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The new-built classroom is a pure glass box. It suggests functional differences of interior by comparing to old building in symmetry to reach an accurate balance on the façade. For example, rounded and right angle; translucent and transparent, vertical and horizontal grid.

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The façade of Wu Ji is a space not a boundary. Tier upon tier, Architect used Capitalism architecture vocabulary to create Chinese mood as a result in this space. The Isozaki’s work can’t be elucidated in the Wu Ji at last. It is only a distant memory. Wu Ji is a totally new one.

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Those 3 buildings were looked on as whole but humdrum by Isozaki. As a result of different functions, they rebuilt in different methods, finally reached a balance of harmony, which we called Mutation.

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You can find more information on the other two buildings, one is ‘Kaisersaal of Longevity，Kun opera playhouse’，another is ‘painter’s Atelier’.

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