As a home for artists and craftsmen, the proposed building is situated in a very rich urban environment. The circumstance of the site could be expected to bring a lot of inspiration for people who come to and live in there. To fully represent the characteristic of the site, the proposal aims to be brisk, warm and open. It should belong to those creators, including artisans, designers and artists. What’s more, it should welcome the visitors and residents who are willing to participate or interested. On the one hand, it is regarded as the end of the journey home for people living in the building. On the other hand, it is regarded as the beginning of the exploratory journey for people discussing various thoughts. Therefore, the proposal is both the “end” and the “beginning”.

 

During the whole preliminary research, I am touched with the respect towards artisans or the profession related to wood in Finland. People working on this profession are willing to spend years polishing and exploring. Besides, Finns, as nationals from a wood country, have a deep feeling with wood, trees and nature. Those creators, such as Alvar Aalto, are always respectful and full of caring and loving. Lots of wonderful works from them are inspired by trees or wood itself. So I want to apply “trees” as an initial concept in the formal and material level. I choose the “tree branch”, as the basic unit of a tree, becomes the beginning of the proposal. This simplest unit has already represented  the natural growth of trees. As the creators themselves said, the first thing is to respect the soul of wood. The natural state is the most original one. Holding this state means a kind of respect. The form of “tree branch” is used to divide the site from the whole one to several basic functional spaces.

 

According to the obvious topography of the site, walkways on the east side would be gradually raised to the interior of the building. Due to the higher terrain on the west side, people are able to directly access the exhibition rooms. Considering about the potential impact towards the surrounding neighbourhoods, the laboratories are arranged in a semi-underground condition. Green areas and public walkways would run through the whole building, basically forming a “Z” shape, which could introduces natural lights. When people wander the building, they may have the sense of “natural growth”.

 

Except from the application in the formal level, one of main materials is also the wood. The facade of building is make up of wooden bars, which guide people arrive the different parts of building. Those wooden bars represents the simplified tree forms for creating a “woods” in the urban environment for those artists. In the woods, they are able to meet and debate, explore and experiment…