Haidian Hotel

May 2020

The capital city of a nation with the past 70 years of rapid development, Beijing, has its own version of modern architecture. Courtyard dwellings designed before 1949, apartment buildings built by Soviet experts, “big roof” structures bred by the “neo-Chinese” mania, together with skyscrapers as the cake toppings, form such a mixed aftertaste. One is lost in front of the lego bricks, the machines of this gigantic monster.

Haidian, Beijing’s “high talent” zone, is no exception. The proposed hotel situates at the edge of the campus of Peking University. The latter, with gargantuan rectangular erections, has ripped the vigor off the street. Hence my goal would be to offer an inclusive cityscape for locals across the street and students communing along the street. To step back to offer more space, and to rise higher with a modern visage to overturn the dullness of the neighborhood.

Instructor

Ning Zhu (Tsinghua University)