About

Living up to the sugges­ti­ve­ness of its name, the Loop of Wisdom embo­dies a time­less archi­tec­tural concept. Power­house Company’s design for a tech­no­logy museum and recep­tion center for a new neigh­bor­hood in Chengdu, China, is much more than an exuberant land­mark.

In addi­tion to its obvious aesthetic appeal and cultural program, the fluid struc­ture incor­po­rates a spec­ta­cular public space – an undu­la­ting rooftop trail. This addi­tion makes the Loop of Wisdom an acces­sible icon, rather than a remote beacon. It invites people to explore it and make it part of their regular walking or jogging routine.

Topography

During the site visit, the archi­tects noticed the natural undu­la­tion in the terrain, a very subtle and soft hill. Normally in Chinese deve­lo­p­ment these natural hills are leveled.

Power­house Company decided instead to use the topo­graphy as the basis for a unique design that would bring an organic soft­ness to the urban envi­ron­ment. By shaping a circular path that follows the topo­graphy, the two sepa­rate program­matic enti­ties are combined in one single struc­ture.

As the path rises up to make space for the program, it becomes a roof offe­ring stun­ning views over the new deve­lo­p­ment. The new buil­ding becomes a path and archi­tec­ture at the same time, while allo­wing nature to continue around, under and within the form of the struc­ture.

Above the track

Above the track, the rooftop surface is composed of custom alumi­nium tiles. 15,218 of these, each with its own unique profile and numeric code, form a seam­less skin for the serpen­tine shape.

The LED lights that illu­mi­nate the buil­ding at night and func­tional elements inclu­ding gutters and handrails are all carefully concealed from sight, resul­ting in the stream­lined profile that enhances the loop’s elegant simpli­city and flowing lines.

A bold new landmark

Located in the Tianfu New District of Chengdu in Sichuan, Unis Chip City is one of several deve­lo­p­ments sprin­ging up along the Tianfu Avenue. Situated next to this major artery, the Loop of Wisdom commands atten­tion with its flowing form and vibrant red color.

At night, LED lighting trans­forms it into a glowing sculp­ture. As the first completed buil­ding in the new deve­lo­p­ment, it acts as a symbolic land­mark for the future commu­nity and as a magnet for attrac­ting future resi­dents.

Majara

Hormuz is a form­erly glorious historic port in the stra­tegic strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, South of Iran, that controls the ship­ment of petro­leum from the Middle East.

The island has outstan­ding colorful surreal land­scapes. Oddly, the local inha­bi­tants of the beau­tiful, touristic and poli­ti­cally stra­tegic island struggle econo­mic­ally, getting involved in illegal traf­fi­cking acti­vi­ties using their boats.

Presence in Hormuz is a series of urban deve­lo­p­ments by a semi-public insti­tu­tion that hired ZAV Archi­tects, in order to empower the local commu­nity of the island.

Its second phase (here is phase 1) is a multi­pur­pose cultural resi­dence called Majara Resi­dence (meaning adven­ture) that ties toge­ther the lives of local people and visi­tors both cultu­rally and econo­mic­ally.

Architecture as a mediator

Archi­tec­ture has the capa­city be a mediator in the middle ground that converges the inte­rests of diffe­rent groups, from the state and inves­tors to various classes and groups of people.

Majara Resi­dence does so in brin­ging toge­ther the owners of land from the neigh­boring port of Bandar Abbas who orga­nize an annual landart event in Hormuz, the inves­tors from the capital city Tehran, and the local people of Hormuz as part­ners in the project.

Infinite Nader Khalili’s

Presence in Hormuz is a conti­nuous process aiming at buil­ding trust rather than archi­tec­tural objects, in order to encou­rage the parti­ci­pa­tion of local people and the inclu­sion of their inte­rests in any inter­ven­tion in the island.

Majara Resi­dence is a multi­tude of small-scale domes built with the super­adobe tech­nique of Nader Khalili, the inno­va­tive and simple tech­nique using rammed earth and sand. Domes are fami­liar struc­tures in the region. Their small scale makes them compa­tible with the buil­ding capa­bi­li­ties of local craft­smen and unskilled workers, which have been prepared for this project with previous smaller projects. Today they are trained master super­adobe masons, as if Nader Khalili multi­plied expo­nen­ti­ally.

Situation

Umbrella Sky Project is an inno­va­tive artistic concept aimed at suspen­ding umbrellas in the air. Origi­nally only with colorful models, it now has several diffe­rent compo­si­tions. Various models and colors are available, which seek to bring color and joy to citi­zens and users of diffe­rent spaces.

In November 2020, the Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition in Águeda has been offi­ci­ally opened.

Christmas Season

Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition is inte­grated into the cele­bra­tions of the Christmas season of Águeda, an artistic instal­la­tion executed by Impact Plan Art Produc­tions. On the subject of this instal­la­tion, visi­tors will see the Christmas version of the Umbrella Sky Project, whose umbrellas now become white and illu­mi­nated.

And, as the sky is not enough, the suspended Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition contrasts perfectly with the long red carpet, the colorful Christmas trees and the succes­sive murals that are presen­ting them­selves, painted throug­hout the space, on the stairs, garden benches and in the rest of the available urban space.

Corona

It is also worth mentio­ning that the whole project was desi­gned for visi­tors‘ circu­la­tion in suffi­ci­ently large spaces, conside­ring all the secu­rity measures the current Covid-19 situa­tion requires.

Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition can be visited until January 8th, 2021.