△ Outside the Empty Garden
This spatial installation was created for the “Expanded Theater/2020 First Guangdong Nanhai Public Art Exhibition,” serving as an outdoor public art exhibit. TAOA is the sole architectural participant in this exhibition and marks its first collaboration with artist Wu Didi on a public art project. Each artist was tasked with designing a piece that invites audience participation, tailored to a specific outdoor environment designated by the curator. The project imposed strict constraints: onsite construction had to be completed within eight days, and all expenses, including construction costs, were capped at 160,000 yuan. These limitations defined the framework within which this artistic creation was developed.
△ Overall Plan of Kongyuan
△ Outside the Empty Garden
The design process began by considering the site’s unique environment. Qiandeng Lake Park, the largest urban park in Foshan City, is located at the city center and serves as a key leisure spot for locals. Our site is positioned at the park’s edge, adjacent to a dense forest. Our primary challenge was to conceive a spatial installation that would engage in dialogue with the forest, the expansive urban park, and the modern city beyond. By creating a space without conventional functions, we aimed to offer visitors a distinct, momentary experience that nurtures the soul.
△ Outer Corner of the Empty Garden
We designed a “garden within a garden,” envisioning it as a simple, content-free space—an empty void amid the park’s complex surroundings and the bustling city. This void exists solely for the moment visitors enter the empty garden, offering a pure world containing only water and air. Our hope is that every visitor finds a moment of relaxation and experiences a world unlike the ordinary. We sought to reveal a unique rhythm within this space, breaking down complexity into its essential elements. Behind the intricacies of the world lies a fundamental simplicity that controls complexity. To embody this, we cast the void with plain concrete, establishing a durable boundary. The air inside seems to solidify, creating a tangible sense of isolation. The free-flowing form extends around the trees into the thicket, softening the concrete’s appearance, while the interior space is transformed and concealed, forming an abstract landscape.
△ Outside the Empty Garden
△ Entrance to the Empty Garden
During site analysis, we carefully mapped the exact locations of existing trees, which became key reference points. Our goal was to ensure the structure respected and complemented these natural elements. Nestled within the crevices of towering trees, the installation grows freely like flowing water. Facing the park’s pathway, a square door measuring one square meter is suspended on the wall. At the boundary with the empty garden, a narrow 60 cm-wide opening allows only single-person passage at a time. This passage acts as a spatial transition connecting visitors to the outside world. The floor is filled with clean water, while hollow stainless steel plates rest at water level, creating the sensation of walking on water.
△ Interior View of the Empty Garden
Partial Wall of the Empty Garden
This project challenges us to reconsider the boundary between architecture and art. What is architecture when stripped of functional requirements? Perhaps it becomes an imaginative structure, or a form that materializes emptiness. It explores the space of ‘nothingness’ alongside the ever-changing existence of nature. The trees and sky, reflecting each other above and below, make the four seasons the true occupants of this space. Every empty corner of the garden is filled with scenery. The filtered reality glimpsed through these gaps reveals a world beyond our everyday world.
△ Overlooking the Empty Garden
△ Empty Garden Plan
△ Empty Garden Facade
△ Kongyuan Section
Project Information
Project Name: Kongyuan — TAOA Tao Lei Architecture + Wu Didi
Architectural Firm: TAOA Tao Lei Architecture
Collaborative Artist: Wu Didi
Contact Email: __AI_S_SC0__
Project Completion Year: January 2020
Building Area: 39.6 square meters
Project Location: Foshan, Guangdong
Lead Architect: Tao Lei
Design Team: Tao Lei, Wang Wenzhi, Meng Xiangrui
Curator: He Guiyan
Official Website: www.i-taoa.com
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