Locating at the west of Mount Wenqiao, having a culture of poetry, and being a historic port are the epitomes of Wenzhou’s natural landscape, legacy, and trading activities. The history of the island is tightly bonded with the atmosphere in the Shanshui Poetry, which represents the origin of the history. However, the east and west parts of the island are managed separately. Recreational facilities take over the place where belongs to the poetic natural landscape. With the art hotel on the island, it starts the immersive experience of the island of the poems, inheriting the core concept in the phase I planning. The historical image is translated into architectural language. It makes the architecture inherit the legacy. With the modern design language, the building integrates with the nature, becoming a new landscape of the island. Different from the hotels in the “concrete forest”. The building blends into nature as a series of small massing surrounded by landscape. They are connected through an art gallery, making the architecture, culture and people submerged into nature. The topography of the site is manipulated to respond to the pattern of the mountain and water. The buildings sit on the small mounts on the site, recalling the relationship between the towers and the island. Various viewing angles are created due to the rotation of massing, making the view of city and nature coming into the site. The corners of the massing are pushed and pulled to smooth the geometries, which enriches the layers of space. Most importantly, the art gallery is added to connect the massing, which creates multiple layers of viewing platform in different elevations, making it possible for visitors to appreciate the calmviews inside and the spectacular views outside.
Programs are carefully placed around the art gallery, making the art blend into the hotel. Inspired by the traditional Chinese gardening, the path between the drop-off and the lobby is elongated to make the guest go through the poetic bamboo forest as an arrival experience. The view range changes from narrow to wide. In the meantime, there are art plaza, tea house and cafébeing placed either in or next to the mounts. The art gallery surrounding the courtyards reconnects the culture, nature and people. Through the manipulation of the massing and site, it forms series of unique views and landscapes to the inside and outside. The undulating topography and the smooth building massing define a series of small courtyards with views inside, creating a continuous poetic experience on the ground level.
The white façade and various window sizes, respond to the invisible blank space in poetry and painting. The translucent appearance makes the people a character in Shanshui poetry and painting. The architecture is no longer independent from nature but embedded in it. It merges into the mountains, water and poems represented by Jiangxin Island, becoming a Shanshui painting with misty rain.