BAMBOO CORRIDOR STANDS TALL

Sited in the ancient village of Changqi in china’s Guangdong Province, Changqi stadium receives an expressive bamboo corridor by Atelier CNS. While the classic lingan-gabled architectural fabric of the neighbourhood has been preserved, the context maintains an emphasis on tradition and craft.

The village borders on a forest of moso bamboo and the area is built upon a tradition of bamboo weaving, a major driving force in the design process of the corridor by Atelier CNS. The project encircles a once-derelict basketball court, which has been transformed in a larger plan for the village. The team makes use of locally sourced materials and traditional weaving techniques to generate a new sports facility and rejuvenate the area.

Atelier CNS fabricates its bamboo corridor alongside the Changqi Stadium basketball court, utilising the tough bamboo together with traditional bamboo weaving techniques of the village. The interconnected, blooming structures organically cantilevers from the side of the court so as to not disrupt the viewers’ line of sight and are loosely woven to allow for the filtering of natural sunlight and shadowing. Each umbrella-shaped, three-dimensionally curved surface realises a diameter of over seven metres with an integrated structural skin.

During the construction of the Changqi Stadium bamboo corridor, Atelier CNS collaborated with local artisans of the ancient village. The student volunteer construction team of the University Of Science and Technology School of Architecture also participated in joint construction while villagers spontaneously participated in the bamboo weaving, learning methods of construction, so that the rural revitalisation generated an atmosphere of participation and exciting new vitality.

The project ultimately succeeded in activating the exploration and application of traditional and environmentally sustainable materials, but also renewing a new touristic attitude of the Changqi village.

Via designboom | Images by Jiancong Chen