中國福建廈門 極樂場

The project is located at the former site of an aluminum factory in Huli District, Xiamen City. The building was originally a public bath of the factory. In 2019, the building was also partially renovated after the aluminum factory was transformed into a creative office park with multiple business forms, such as bars, basketball arena, and live-streaming space. This time we were commissioned by the Buddha artist Jiang Sheng to renovate the building into a new studio and exhibition space called "The Field". The word "Elysium" originates from Buddhism, meaning the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss or Sukhavati, but "THE FIELD" is not intended to be an isolated pure land. The owner hopes to abandon the concept of "isolated and unreachable" and create an attractive spiritual place.

本項目位於廈門市湖里區一家鋁廠舊址內，建築原本為廠區浴室。 2019 年，在鋁廠被改造成為集酒吧、籃球館、直播空間等多種業態並存的現代園區後，該建築也得到部分修繕。本次我們受佛像藝術家蔣晟之託，將該建築改造為全新的工作室和展覽空間，鬧中闢靜，名為「極樂場」。「極樂」一詞源自佛教，意指向西經十萬億佛土之彼方，但“極樂場”卻不意在成為一處與世隔絕的淨土。業主希望能夠摒棄“隔絕、遙不可及”等概念，打造一處引人入勝的精神場所。

Buddha residence

Unlike the previous architecture design, this is a purpose-specific space that will be used to exhibit the JIANGJIABAN Buddha statues after the renovation. Therefore, the design not only needed to reflect humanity, but also to have the divine and religious atmosphere portrayed. At the beginning of Buddhism, there were no physical subjects for people to rely on. However, with the rise of Mahayana Buddhism and advancement in craftsmanship, Buddhism began to enter the "Age of the Image." Therefore, how to interact with the tangible Buddha statues and architecture to convey the intangible perception has become a great challenge for the design. After the initial communication with the client, we gradually reached an agreement on the design concept: a hidden and even invisible architecture. The building is merely an intermedium to carry the Buddha statues and contain the essence of Buddhism, and is a "residence" for Buddha in the mundane world.

However, the form of the old building is still visible, it consists of three blocks, arranged south to north, shaping a rhythmic stepped form, which we define as Building 1, 2 and 3 according to the number of storeys. Building 1 has many windows on the facade, while the interior is divided into five independent spaces. On the east side of the Building 2, there is a big magnolia tree, and the interior of the building is a double-height space. Building 3 on the north side was previously transformed into an office space with square window arrayed on the facade. Based on the architectural concept of "the residence of Buddha", we renovated the building from the inside out. First, we blocked up the windows on the façade of Building 1 and 2, and remove the internal walls of Building 1, thus creating a relatively integrated "darkroom", emphasizing an introvert, enclosed atmosphere. In the interior of the exhibition hall, we used a lot of white space and integrated background to conceal the details of architectural components, so that the shape of the Buddha Statues becomes more prominent. Afterwards, we rearrange and simplified the exterior of the building, making part of the volume solid. The exterior of the building is painted with the same sandalwood yellow color as the interior, and the special texture of the wall was hand-painted by the workers, thus making the three buildings, whose façades were originally different, regain the remarkable integrity and recognition. From a distance, a tall and dense magnolia tree occupies the center of the sight, and the building appears more obscured under the cover of the canopy, becoming more subtle and restrained, seemingly absent.

佛的居所

不同於以往的建築設計，這是一個目的特定的場域空間，改造後用於展示蔣家班佛像，因此不僅需要人性的體現，還需描繪神性與宗教性的色彩。佛教創立之初並沒有具象化的依託對象，隨著大乘佛教興起和工藝技術進步，佛教開始進入“像法時代”，如何將有形的佛像和建築相互作用，以傳達無形的感知便成了極大的挑戰。經過與業主前期交流，我們對一個消隱的、甚至無形的建築概念逐漸達成共識——建築於此，僅僅是承載佛像與容納佛學精義的媒介，是佛在俗世中的一處“居所”。然而舊建築的形體並不消隱，它由三個體塊構成，由南向北呈階梯狀堆疊，我們依照層數，將其定義為1、2、3號樓。 1號樓臨街面有較多窗口，內部被牆體分隔為五個獨立空間；2號樓東面有一顆高大的玉蘭樹，建築內部為二層通高的空間；北側的3號樓早前被改建為辦公區，外立面為方窗陣列。根據“佛的居所”的建築概念，我們的改造也由內而外展開。首先我們封堵了1、2號樓外立面的窗口，並打通了1號樓的內部牆體，由此得到一個相對整體化的“暗室”，營造出一種向內、封閉的空間氛圍。在展廳內部，我們運用大量留白和一體化背景，將部件細節自然隱去，讓佛像的自有形態愈加凸顯。隨後，我們對建築外部進行整理與簡化，將部分體量做實。建築外部使用了與內部相同的檀黃色塗料，特殊的牆面肌理由工人師傅手工反复塗抹形成，原本立面語言相異的三棟建築由此和諧交融。遠眺而望，一棵高大繁密的玉蘭樹佔據了視覺中心，建築形體在樹冠的掩映下消隱了邊緣，變得隱忍克制，似有還無。

Vessel of light

Light is functioned as the fundamental component of "the Field", with architectural form blended into it.

Xiamen is located in Southeast coast of China, with plenty of sunshine and rain. The local traditional buildings all used large slope roofs and small window openings according to local conditions. Inspired by this, we added 31 skylights on top of the building, either round or square, in arrays or isolated, to let the omnipresent light fill in and create two kinds of spaces: a "bright" main hall and a "closed" dark room, where the Buddha statues are also placed according to the light and dark environment. The 28 circular skylights at the top of the main hall are recessed upwards, appearing as flat spots of light when the sunlight is oblique, and as dense "rain of light" when the sunlight is direct. The Buddha statues in the main hall are mainly carved from dense materials such as wood and stone, and when the light hits them, the light and shadow of the statues constantly change according to the angle of sunlight. The one-story space connected to the south of the main hall is the “dark room”. We opened two square skylights of different sizes at the top of the dark room and a horizontal strip window at the bottom of one wall. Compared to the main hall, the light in the dark room is more diffuse and hazy, so the Buddha statues in the dark room are made of transparent materials such as glaze and jade. Under the reflection of light and shadow, the edges of the Buddha's image are blurred, sometimes resulting in a Zen state of "rainbowing". At different times of the day throughout the year, by "capturing" the light, the invisible time is also revealed. Time flows silently, elaborating the artistic conception of "eternal" and "constant" together with the Buddha statues settled here.

光的容器

“極樂場”建築形體的消隱，使光成為空間中重要的構成因素。

廈門地處東南沿海，陽光充足，雨水充沛，當地的傳統建築因地制宜，會使用較大的坡屋面簷口和較小的窗洞開口。受此啟發，我們在建築頂部增設了或圓或方、或陣列或孤立的31個天窗，讓無處不在的光相應填充，從而營造出兩種空間：“明亮”的主廳和“封閉”的暗室，其中的佛像也依照光暗環境分別放置。主廳頂部開設的28個圓形天窗向上凹去，當陽光偏斜時顯現為平面的光點，當陽光投射時則可形成密集的“光雨”。主廳的佛像主要由木材、石材等密實不透的材質雕刻，當光線映射於此，佛像光影清晰，並隨日照偏移不斷變化。主廳南側相連的一層空間則是暗室。我們在暗室頂部開設了兩個大小不一的方形天窗，並在一側牆面低處開設了一個長條窗。相較主廳，暗室中的光線更為散漫朦朧，展陳其中的佛像使用了琉璃、玉石等較通透材質，當光影從罅隙中淡淡散落，佛像的邊緣隨之虛化，有時會產生“虹化”的禪境。荏苒冬春，四季輪轉，通過對光的“捕捉”，無形的時間也被描述出來，靜默流動，與安定於此的佛像共同闡述出“永”與“恆”的意境。

Principal Architects：Ko Nakamura

Structural Engineering：Yasuhiro Kaneda

Contractor：Double Box

Building Area：95㎡

Principal Materials：Wood(Pine), Fiber Concrete Board, OSB, Concrete

Principal Structure：RC(1+2F),Wood(3D)

Photos：Kazutaka Fujimoto

Collator：Grace Hung

主要建築師：中村航

結構工程：Yasuhiro Kaneda

施工單位：Double Box

建築面積：95平方公尺

主要建材：松木材・纖維混凝土板・OSB・混凝土

主要結構：鋼筋混凝土・木

影像：藤本一貴

整理：洪雅琪