Beijing, China
“Green cloud house is not only a design practice of gardening in the room but also an attempt to build a landscape garden space in a narrow interior space.” — Jiejie Studio.
Beijing-based Jiejie Studio designs an artificial landscape garden that features natural elements, like a half misty pond at the center, a winding bridge, cloud-shaped walls, seven pavilions, and several mountain terraces within a bookstore/ teahouse in Beijing.
The purpose of the designers is to create a dreamy landscape where visitors can find themselves playing hide and seek.
The owner of the space commissioned the studio to redesign the first floor on the basis of the original two-story building.
The bookstore also contains a teahouse exceptionally designed for the bookstore. The two functions are intertwined together to complement each other.
The project is situated inside a city block and surrounded by urban buildings. There is only an eastern side opening towards the front public courtyard.
Cloud-like walls become the main elements of design, they are designed in green color and wrap the whole space. Cloud-like walls can turn into a seating area, or a passage area can be a part of a landscape or a bookshelf.
“A cloud wall in the north of the pond divides the courtyard into the south garden and the north garden. Most of the north garden is covered in the mountains and forests by the cloud walls, partly hidden or visible,” state the designers.
The curved wall also wraps the columns of the original building, shuttling and changing, which dissolves the separating sense of the original structure.
The designers add a winding bridge across the water at the entrance, crossing a moon cave in the cloud wall from east to west, entering the north garden.
As the designers claim, the scenery becomes different with every step on the winding bridge.
The space is envisioned like a pavilion that becomes a place for reading and tea parties. It is located above the mountain terraces and around the pond.
“They present as high or low, near or far, hidden or visible, some are like giant rocks chiseled from the wall protruding out of the mountain,” the designers continue.
The most impressive element of the bookstore is the misty pond.
“We envision the pool water flowing from the underground pool in the east outdoor courtyard to the west indoor room,” says Jiejie Studio.
“The water inlet is hidden somewhere underground in the east and pool water converges into this half pond in the indoor low-lying place. The terraces around the pond flow high or low just like mountains, meanwhile forming an enclosed pond boundary.”
To create a more natural environment, the designers used real rocks and lush plants to evoke a real landscape.
Project: Green Cloud House
Architects: Jiejie Studio
Main director: Guanyu Ming
Client: Beijing Sheyu World Bookstore
Photographers: Zhi Xia, Yu He
Drawings: Jiejie Studio
