Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2021
Born With Legend Community Center
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Shanghai PTArchitects
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 23,312
- Verification code EDB52D59C7 · Verify this award
About Born With Legend Community Center
Born With Legend is a community center in the Gulou District of Xuzhou, China. The building serves the surrounding old neighborhoods, which lack public facilities. The interior space and the outdoor venue form two rectangular areas that are joined by a curved plane. Rounded corners and white enamel aluminum plates unify the facade. The entrance is marked by umbrella-shaped pillars topped with a white metal grille and a wall of solid glass bricks. The second floor is enclosed by ceiling-high glass panels.
WRight Communication's Born With Legend Community Center emerges as a compelling statement within contemporary architectural discourse, demonstrating how curvilinear formal language can transform institutional typology into civic sculpture of remarkable sophistication. The work engages productively with trajectories established by late modernist masters who explored organic form within architectural practice, while simultaneously participating in contemporary parametric design conversations that leverage digital modeling capabilities to realize complex geometries with precision. The compositional intelligence evident here operates on multiple registers: the sweeping horizontal bands create visual continuity across programmatic zones, the strategic placement of transparent and opaque surfaces modulates interior-exterior relationships, and the integration of LED illumination as architectural element rather than mere embellishment demonstrates thoughtful consideration of the building's nocturnal presence within its context. The reflecting pool establishes dialogue between architecture and landscape, its mirrored surface extending the building's visual territory while introducing contemplative spatial qualities that invite pause and reflection. Technical accomplishment manifests in the seamless transitions between curved surfaces, the precise alignment of glazing systems within undulating frames, and the structural expression of the flared columns that transform load-bearing necessity into expressive gesture. The warm interior illumination visible through extensive glazing suggests programmatic vitality and welcome, positioning the community center as beacon within its environment. One might observe how the work balances institutional gravitas with approachable warmth, its futuristic formal vocabulary rendered inviting through material refinement and luminous presence. The twilight documentation captures the building at its most evocative moment, when artificial and natural light achieve equilibrium and architectural form reads simultaneously as solid mass and luminous apparition. What temporal and seasonal transformations might this architecture undergo, and how does community life animate these carefully orchestrated spatial sequences?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The project is located in the Gulou District of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Built in 1938, Gulou is the oldest urban district in Xuzhou and still retains its historical and cultural importance amidst the current modern way of life. The community center lies next to the east side of the city center. Urban services cover the surrounding old neighborhoods, making up for the lack of public facilities in these historic communities. With the establishment of the community center, we hope to revive the neighborhood and reestablish communal connections.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Site Area: 2237.92㎡
Floor Area: 751.57㎡ - Tags
- community Center, public facilities, visual landmark, white
- Production Technology
- To ensure that the community space remains accessible and that the building appears clean and clear, the façade is dominated by regular lineal elements. White enamel aluminum plates serve as the basic element unifying the various materials used throughout. The entrance is characterized by umbrella-shaped pillars topped with a grille made of white metal, forming a semi-enclosed space that connects the ground floor with the entrance, which further extends into the urban cityscape. The building itself uses curved aluminum plates as corners, rounding off the edges and establishing an overall frame for the architecture. The second story is enclosed by ceiling-high glass panels, whose reflection of its surrounding creates an echo of the nearby aluminum panels, giving off the effect of a monumental sculptural piece.
- Design Challenge
- As the main supportive facility serving the surrounding residential areas, the community center takes into consideration its function as both a physical space for public venues and as a visual landmark of the city.
- Project Duration
- The project started in August 2019 and finished in May 2020 in Xuzhou, China
- Operation Flow
- The architect uses modern techniques to re-contextualize classical aesthetics. Traditional brick elements of the ancient city walls are introduced into the entryway. Using old procedures with new techniques, the entryway wall is made of solid glass bricks, improving the visibility and the recognizability of the space. Simultaneously, the light transmitted through the glass bricks allows for a translucent and inexpressible visual effect. With the addition of directional sunlight reflecting off the pool, a similar effect of light and shadow is produced on the walls of the building. The conscious effort to use fewer columns and beams in the interior creates an open, fluid, and luminous space within the community center.
- Research
- The entryway leads naturally through the gate into the garden, connecting the interior with the exterior, allowing for a sense of openness, integration, and community. The naturally curved lines found throughout the complex serves as a tribute to classical geometry.
- Inspiration
- The project creates an open space within a confined urban fabric while also meeting the architectural demarcation requirements of urban planning. The interior space and the exterior venue are divided into two distinct rectangular spaces but are joined together by a curved plane that forms between the two areas. This combined with the curvature introduced into the corners of the spaces creates a fixed and distinguished enclosure around the complex as a whole. The entire effect further allows for the rigidity of the complex to soften and expand. The public entryway is unified with the rest of the structure by the white metal grille placed above. The integrated organization of the linear elements forms simple shapes that produce rich effects of light and shadow, endowing the community center with various spatial experiences that are nevertheless part of a larger whole.
- Image Credits
- IMAGE by Yuan Yang