Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography, ForestEmei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography, Windows, Door, Column, CourtyardEmei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Dining room, Table, Chair, WindowsEmei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, BeamEmei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - More Images+ 35

  • Design Director: Minwen Wu
  • Technical Director: Jianxun Yang
  • Project Manager: Mingmei Zhong
  • Lead Designer: Xiang Yang
  • Design Team: Min Li, Jiao Chen, Siying Xin, Liuchun Wu
  • Decoration: Ziyu Li, Ruiyu Lin, Xiaolu Liu
  • Client: EVERBON
  • City: Emeishan
  • Country: China
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Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography
© PIANFANG PHOTO

“Back to the countryside.” Gaoqiao village located in the west of Mount Emei Scenic Area is 40 minutes drive to the urban area. Villagers here cultivated farmlands for generations. Owing to unique spring water and fertile land resources, the village is famous for rice and grass. With the expansion of the city and the development of tourism, it breathes life into the peaceful village. Houses have sprung up all over the rice fields with respect for natural aesthetics. Along the terrain and mountain roads, a cross-season journey has been created. Three buildings are scattered in the green fields silently, close to villages, rice fields, and mountain springs. They are the “residence center” at the foot of the mountain, the “field canteen” in the countryside, as well as the “coffee house” on the terraces.

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography, Forest
© PIANFANG PHOTO

I. Summer visit. Arrival & Return. The residence center is like a “rural hall”, receiving guests from afar. The materials and furniture adopt earth tones, simple and unadorned. The dull mood of urban tourists has swept away suddenly. After eliminating travel fatigues, they are happy and relaxed. The journey begins here. 

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Dining room, Table, Chair, Windows
© PIANFANG PHOTO
Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Dining room, Table, Beam, Chair
© YOUYU PHOTO

Return to rural life. Walking along the path to the Northwest for more than 10 minutes, a vineyard comes into view. It is not far from the “field canteen”. The drizzle on the country road creates a refreshing scene of green rice fields and bright roof tiles. After passing the fish pond, wooden bridge, terraces, fruit forest, and simple huts, the field canteen is in the rice fields ahead. The canteen is built on a foundation. The extremely short construction period and design concept of “regenerating former appearance” pose challenges to the team. Selecting building materials and local woodworking technology has become the breakthrough point of space construction. 

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade
© YOUYU PHOTO
Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography, Windows, Door, Column, Courtyard
© PIANFANG PHOTO

The concepts of "combination of new and old" and "right place construction" are applied to space design and material selection. During the visits in the early stage of the project, Super Normal noticed that many local houses under renovation or demolition were originally made of wooden materials. After chasing the source, many old timbers that will be used as firewood have been "saved" in the wood market. Time and use traces make these old woods wetter and simpler. After simple grinding and polishing, they are made into plates or furniture in the building. Only through manuscripts or on-site "gestures" can we effectively communicate with local carpenters. Daily design drawings have played hardly any roles. After the communication mixed with dialect and the rough "drawings" drawn directly on the board, the furniture is completely presented consisting of the shape and texture of inner imagination. 

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Table, Beam, Chair
© PIANFANG PHOTO
Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Living Room, Table, Beam
© PIANFANG PHOTO

II. Winter visit. Mountain fog & stony brook. It’s winter when I visit again. The grains have been harvested. After drying, the straws lay over the fields. Exposing to the sun and rain, they are transformed into organic matter and nutrients. As the seasons change, the energy of land and crops is converted, producing different variations of field scenes. The "coffee house" is located on a slope, surrounded by large and small stones. The overall architectural layout conforms to the natural topography. The selected position is built on stilts with a stream flowing through the bottom. The ancient camphor trees and the houses echo each other. The original terrain, vegetation, cultivated land, and stones are preserved without change. 

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Beam
© YOUYU PHOTO
Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Table, Beam, Windows
© YOUYU PHOTO

Along with the coffee house, there is an observation platform. Looking into the distance, Emei's peak is in the West and the whole field is in the East. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, the architectural design is simple and plain. The materials are selected from recycled old wood, plain wall panels and bamboo plaited articles, which are exactly the same as that of the canteen. Besides a necessary logistics space, the building adopts open exterior walls without boundary setting. 

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Beam
© YOUYU PHOTO
Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Interior Photography, Table, Chair
© YOUYU PHOTO

The building is elevated, and the ground becomes the "Fifth Elevation" of indoor space. The floor of the sunken sofa area is made of glass like the outer wall, and the stream flows slowly below it. Around midday, the fog lingers in the mountains. A vast expanse of whiteness stretches to infinity. Waiting sincerely, there are no indications that the fog will disperse, and the sky darkened slowly.

Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design - Exterior Photography
© YOUYU PHOTO

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Project location

Address:Emeishan, Sichuan, China

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Emei Gaoqiao Village / Super Normal Design" 03 Aug 2022. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/986345/emei-gaoqiao-village-super-normal-design> ISSN 0719-8884

© YOUYU PHOTO

峨眉山高桥小镇室内设计 / 超级平常空间设计

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