“The Wenzhou Cultural Center”
I, as the practicing architect, wish to create a cultural center that will celebrate a one-thousand year life cycle through the act of floating pavilions. These regionally defined pavilions would create a nexus which in and of itself is grand, but combined with the structural grandeur of the pavilion, it becomes larger than the individual; it transcends into the community. A pavilion in nature can simply be boiled down to a post-and-lintel understanding, but in essence, a pavilion is a cultural machine that connects people to nature, each other, families, stories, self reflection, freedom, new ideas, new experiences, cultural heritages, lifestyles, time and much more. These moments may seem ephemeral, but the lasting impact each moment has on a living soul is life- altering. With these ideas in mind, my stream of thought diverged to the historic and intricate waterways of China and how they were used as a cultural unifier to travel from one place to another. Over time, the advancement of technology allowed for the growth and diversification of travel.
Being that Wenzhou is the model city for China, this “cultural center” will create a meaningful sense of community that is reflective of all the unique values that border in the Zhejiang province through the unification of region specific pavilions . Just as the need for water to supersede the boundaries of citizenship, religion, and political views, this cultural center will primarily serve to intermix the diverse populations of the province. Lucheng central district is the experimental grounds where I see my ideas through, because of a monumental two-mile long axis that runs through it. This main axis, running north to south, is reminiscent of a cultural band that acts as the heartline of the Wenzhou people. The “cultural center” is to act as a smaller plug-in that connects with the main axis. It would be a cultural element interrelated with other cultural elements that form an integrated whole by inserting into the existing band of cultural institutions. This new connection would encourage opportunities for people of the area to explore one-thousand years into the past and the future of the Zhejiang province, all in the span of 360° of semi-public and public spaces.
