Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Inspired by its location, Fangyukong Cultural & Creative Resort Complex aka Flowing Cloud Pavilion designed by Sou Fujimoto and his design team, is a winged structure with a main building, an open space to be used for exhibitions, conferences, and art galleries.
The clouds and the fog that get diffused over the village gave the main inspiration to the architects as they are like roofs connecting nature, buildings, and various sceneries around.
The continuing terraced fields created an architectural image and made the whole area very dynamic and vivid.
Therefore, Sou Fujimoto has proposed a floating canopy just like a cloud, hugging the landscape and being part of it.
Featuring dramatic floor-to-ceiling window walls, this structure remains connected with surrounding nature but still provides protection from the elements, snow, and wind.
Its ceiling lined with woven grasses continues a feeling of symbiosis with the outdoor world.
From that central starting point, a steel-framed canopy covered in more natural fibers weaves its way from the main building, in a gentle arc down a multi-terraced complex to a glass-enclosed swimming pool and nearly connecting to the adjacent river, adding to the flow of the landscape instead of interrupting it.
“While distinguishing buildings and natural fields, the canopy creates a view just like a huge courtyard facing the sky,” explains Sou Fujimoto.
“We named the project Flowing Cloud from the impression of the environment when we first visited the site, but also for the soft shape of the entire canopy.”
In the middle of the pavilion’s loop, flower-filled steppes form an outdoor amphitheater accessible by stone staircases on either side.
The ambition was to create a space where people come to visit and linger around the poetic village, walking under the floating canopy, and enjoying the picturesque views of beautiful nature.
Project: Fangyukong Cultural & Creative Resort Complex aka Flowing Cloud Pavilion
Architects: Sou Fujimoto Architects
Lead Architects: Sou Fujimoto
Design Team: Liu Yibei, Wang Xiangxiang, Nakyong Kim, and Shao Yan
Client: Shanghai Fengyuzhu Culture Technology Co., Ltd
Photographers: Fengyuzhu Camera Team and Jizhi Studio
