The hotel is located in a city with the traditional water town area at the south of Yangzi River. It is cradleland of ancient silk and writing brush for Chinese calligraphy.
The site, surrounded by channels and rivers, is to be a utopia where the water town lifestyle is reinvented.
We turn the site into a ‘blank’ water area. Land and water are redefined. A double transportation system (land & water routes), which is the key feature of the water town, is planned to ensure guests can access rooms by both, and each room on the water street level has its own wharf.
With site constrains, the constructible areas are limited to two pieces of triangular land. 150 guest rooms are arranged within two stroke-shaped clusters, which adapt into the shape of lands respectively. In the agricultural area at the perimeter of the site, crops are planted to create the water land pastoral landscape.
Black (‘ink’) causeways, are guest room streets, while white (‘silk’) ones, public roads connecting different areas within the ‘campus’.
Inspired by the regional vernacular building, pitched roof, wood structure, and rammed earth wall are adopted to create a modern version of water town Shangri-La.
