Reconstruction of Mingyue Lake Shajin Primary School / Yueji Architectural Design Office
Reconstruction of Mingyue Lake Shajin Primary School / Yueji Architectural Design Office
Text description provided by the architects. Shajin Primary School is located by Mingyue Lake in Shajin village, Yubei District, Chongqing（Now the Chongqing Liangjiang Collaborative Innovation Zone）, which was built in the late 1980s. As a former rural primary school, it was abandoned in the early 21st century. Now it is transformed into a museum for the relocation of universities in the Great Rear of the Resistance War and supporting public service space.
Response: Poetic Resonance with Nature. In terms of site treatment, the original playground on the east side of the site is used to form the relationship between the upper and lower platforms according to local conditions. The upper platform connects the main entrance of the building, and the lower platform has a good leisure atmosphere and a wide view of the waterfront; Five staggered viewing platforms are introduced to the west of the building to connect the high and low terrains so that the building can adapt to the terrain conditions and create a transitional public roaming experience. In terms of landscape design, we uphold the concept of ecological restoration and try to use original and wild plants on the premise of preserving the original landform and large plants of the site.
Old and New: The Solidification and Flow of Time. The main body of the original building was a three-story brick and concrete structure, the architect adopts the structural strategy of “light intervention”, and the new steel structure system is placed to coordinate the relationship between the old and new structures, so that it did not only laps and integrates with the original volume, but also bears the load independently. At the entrance of the exhibition hall on the east side, the continuous folding slope roof is added to form the gray space of the exhibition gallery, creating a sense of ceremony to enter the space and softening the original rigid indoor and outdoor boundaries of the building.
Borrowed Scenery: Return to Daily Interest. At the entrance of the site on the east side, there is a 30 meters long ramp connecting the upper and lower terraces. At the end of the ramp, a strong old tree from the original site is preserved, forming a mutual view with a row of trees on the shore. Standing on the staircase platform on the second floor of the interior can directly see the landscape arrangement at the entrance of the building, forming a relationship between seeing and being seen. The interior space of the building adopts the technique of borrowing from afar, looking out indoors and feeling “countless mountains far and near”. The scenery changes step by step, and the scenery is everywhere.
Context: Continuation of The Spirit of Place. The abandoned Shajin Primary School used to be a basic education facility for children in the countryside. After transformation, it was used as an exhibition hall to publicize the dramatic history of the relocation of colleges and universities to the rear during the war. From the original function of rural education to the current historical exhibition education, it is not only a replacement of function and revival of space but also a heritage of culture and the continuation of the spirit of space.
Outlook: The Quest for Modernity in Village Primary School. Education is the starting point for changing the countryside by interrupting the intergenerational transmission of poverty, the intervention of architects is the key to rewriting the code of rural genes. The retention of physical space is the gaze and remembrance of past years, while the memory space is the taste of mountains, wind, sunshine, time, and human feelings.
