A stone forest inside the semicircular volumes
Anhui Province’s Hefei City is a hub for politics, culture, and economy in China. Unlike mega-cities like Shanghai or Shenzhen, which were once dominated by dense concrete jungles, there’s now a growing movement to integrate the region’s unique terrain, environment, and harmony.
In a corner of the massive building where residences and offices converge, adjacent to the road and parking lot, a small museum protrudes subtly. It’s a space showcasing products from the renowned Italian furniture brand Zanotta. Three protruding circular volumes outside assert their identity from the massive mass they encompass. Enclosed by thin walls and vegetation within, they create a space that intrigues the viewer to explore further.
The interior space, lined with over a hundred columns, evokes the famous stone forest of Anhui. Utilizing four existing large columns, each a meter wide, once obstacles to circulation and sightlines, they have now been transformed into design elements inspired by the stone forest. Thus, the artificial stone forest interacts with sunlight at various angles during the day, creating a mystical atmosphere, while at night, it allows cool breezes to flow through, creating a peaceful yet suggestive ambiance. Meanwhile, the protruding glass ceiling draws the scenery of the stone forest indoors, blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior.
The irregular gaps between the columns, arranged side by side along the corridor, create effective plays of light and shadow. Through wide openings, areas delineated by the columns emerge, offering surprises like micro-libraries, art exhibitions, event spaces, and galleries as one wanders through, resembling a journey through a real forest.
Casa de Zanotta, with its unique and elegant furniture design, has long pursued its creativity and artistic leadership, breaking away from the traditional furniture showroom model and reinterpreting it as a museum. This place, with its transformation of natural elements into the common concrete texture often seen in urban areas, has become a breathing space within the city. Visitors can enjoy furniture pieces in the artificial stone forest or cultivate their souls under the ever-changing light.
Project: Casa de Zanotta / Location: Hefei, China / Architects: HAS design and research / Lead architects: Jenchieh Hung, Kulthida Songkittipakdee / Design team: Jenchieh Hung, Kulthida Songkittipakdee, Atithan Pongpitak, Muze Ouyang / Lighting design: Jenna Tsailin Liu / Lighting technology: Visual Feast (VF) / Landscape consultant: Weili Yang / Construction consultant: Zaiwei Song / Furniture consultant: JP Concept / Furniture: Zanotta / Paint: Cemher / Constructor: Hefei Botuo Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd. / Client: Simple Casa / Site area: 300m² / Gross floor area: 300m² / Completion: 2022 / Photograph: ©Su Shengliang (courtesy of the architect)
