△ Observation Deck © Lang Shuilong
We faced challenges in how language abstracts meaning.
The design focus is not on replicating antique styles,
but rather on bringing the spatial experience of Song Dynasty style into contemporary living,
meeting the lifestyle and aesthetic preferences of modern people.”
The Changle Yasong project is situated in the Oulu residential area of Banan District, Chongqing, and is recognized as the nation’s first low-density luxury residence inspired by Song Dynasty style. The design team employs modern materials and techniques to extract and reinterpret features of Song residential architecture and gardens, recreating the elegance, tranquility, and natural lifestyle of the Song Dynasty for today’s world.
△ Sales Office Courtyard © Lang Shuilong
The choice of Song style as the prototype relates closely to the project’s location in Chongqing. Situated at the foot of Qiaoping Mountain, the site benefits from beautiful natural scenery that complements traditional architecture. However, the characteristic elements of Jiangnan gardens from the Ming and Qing dynasties are difficult to authentically present in the southwestern market. Therefore, Rongchuang invited Goa Elephant Design to conduct targeted research and development.
The goal was to create a new style system for Chinese low-density residential products by integrating construction costs, craftsmanship quality, traditional cultural atmosphere, and contemporary aesthetic trends. This approach seeks to explore new prototypes for modern living.
Settlement by the Valley
The project site borders the Qiaoping Mountain Range in Chongqing’s southern suburbs, covering approximately 108,000 square meters. A valley runs through the land, flanked by rolling slopes and a forest and water system, forming a unique natural landscape. An urban road grid divides the land into seven smaller plots, resembling pearls strung along both sides of the valley.
△ Site Analysis © Goa Elephant Design
Continuous land is generally more favorable for constructing classical garden spatial relationships and atmospheres, while the segmented plots at Changle Yasong pose a challenge. Nevertheless, the design team seized this as an opportunity for innovation, aiming to create new dialogue possibilities with traditional architectural spirit along urban street interfaces.
Within the limited scope of each of the seven plots, the team integrated the site’s geomorphic features and sought to enrich the internal character of each garden while contributing to the quality of the surrounding urban streetscape.
△ Demonstration Zone Streets and Alleys © Lang Shuilong
△ Demonstration Zone Streets and Alleys © Lang Shuilong
Multi-Tentacle Courtyard
The courtyard system in Song-style gardens emphasizes spatial spirituality and a close relationship with nature, more so than the Jiangnan gardens of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Panoramic three-sided views and multiple courtyards are common, creating a feeling of being enveloped by nature.
△ Demonstration Zone Axis Landscape © Rongchuang China
△ Demonstration Zone Axis Landscape © Rongchuang China
Thanks to the varied elevation, the courtyards at Changle Yasong offer natural openness with good privacy. The sequence between private and public courtyard systems creates a complex spatial relationship with multiple “tentacles,” distinct from the high-walled, introverted feel of Jiangnan gardens. This rich and varied spatial expression aligns well with contemporary aesthetics.
△ Section Diagram © Goa Elephant Design
The Goa design team focused on three courtyard levels: At the entrance, a small, exquisite Four Water Return Hall creates a restrained atmosphere that connects indoors and outdoors. The private courtyard creatively uses numerous corner halls with transparent glass facades, combined with shaded gray spaces under the eaves, enhancing the spaciousness indoors. The second-floor terrace, or “sky courtyard,” reaches nearly 50% of the first-floor area, allowing residents to enjoy the natural beauty of Song Dynasty gardens in everyday life.
△ Main Entrance on Central Axis © Lang Shuilong
△ Axis First Inlet Institute © Lang Shuilong
△ Sales Office Courtyard © Lang Shuilong
△ Second Floor Terrace © Lang Shuilong
△ Second Floor Terrace © Lang Shuilong
Subtractive Symbols
Song style architecture is regarded as the most refined yet straightforward form in ancient Chinese architecture’s history. This stems from the Song Dynasty’s scientific construction methods and the literati’s understanding and pursuit of architectural art. Advances in craftsmanship and evolving client demands together created the distinct beauty of Song style.
△ Design Strategy Analysis © Goa Elephant Design
The Changle Yasong design team aimed to better blend Song architectural aesthetics with contemporary tastes while maintaining symbol clarity. They simplified complexity through subtractive design using modern architectural language. This abstraction relies heavily on advanced craftsmanship and custom solutions. The final impact depends on precise design details and processing techniques.
Roof Layer
△ Mountain Flowers © Lang Shuilong
△ Fish Scale Tile © Rongchuang China
The ridge design removes traditional corner decorations and the phoenix kiss symbol, expressing itself fully in modern architectural language. The design team carefully proportioned the traditional Song-style mountain flower motif, replacing exposed structural elements with grid textures, decorating the BoFeng board with plum blossom nails, and originally developing a suspended fish shape.
To achieve a freer aesthetic, the roof uses ceramic fish scale tiles instead of traditional small blue tiles, glazed tiles, or Japanese-style tiles. This departure from ancient methods reflects a contemporary Chinese romantic vision of Song Dynasty elegance.
Roof ridge, mountain flowers, and roof tiles © Goa Elephant Design
House Floor
The Water Map of Four Jingshan Mountains, Volume Three, Liu Songnian, Song Dynasty
△ Facade Shading Component System © Rongchuang China
Song Dynasty architecture features inward-facing buildings with extended eaves and facades displaying linear vocabulary and precise detailing. Sunshade components like curtain rods, grid hanging brackets, and full-length search poles are often installed outside structural columns, creating light, smooth lines typical of Song building facades.
The Changle Yasong design emphasizes continuity in the linear qualities of Song residential buildings. The architect custom-designed a sunshade system using gold-plated aluminum alloy, which forms the backbone of the color scheme. Dark-colored walls reduce building mass perception and blend with glass surfaces to create a “hidden” background. This artistic concept, reminiscent of “Song painting,” merges classical aesthetics with modern living.
Gilded accents appear throughout the detailed design. Gold metal lines express the eaves poles, while gilded metal stripes in hanging areas echo the Song style’s hanging square eye patterns. The overturned bowl-style column foundations are also derived from refined Song architectural language.
△ Hanging, Curtain Pole, Column Foundation © Goa Elephant Design
Flat Seat Layer
△ Landscape Pavilion Flat Seat Floor © Lang Shuilong
The flat seat layer, invented by Song Dynasty craftsmen, is another defining facade feature. It served as a balcony for elevated views and as an effective seismic structure. The designers studied Song paintings and relics to extract its proportions and levels, incorporating a ring of elegant balustrades around the second-floor terrace, enhancing both aesthetics and usability.
△ Schematic Diagram of the Flat Bed at Longxing Temple Runner Tibetan Hall © Goa Elephant Design
In railings and handrails, traditional Song interlocking and split-view columns were abstracted while maintaining their proportional beauty and simplifying their forms.
△ Twisted and Split-View Columns © Goa Elephant Design
△ Main Entrance on Central Axis © Lang Shuilong
Conclusion
△ Working Process © Goa Elephant Design
Changle Yasong marks a new beginning in exploring Song-style residential architecture, reflecting the ongoing evolution of traditional Chinese architectural forms and culture in contemporary times. Since the Four Seasons Hotel at Xizi Lake, Goa Elephant Design has maintained high standards of creativity and research in Chinese architecture.
Through practical exploration, Goa has delivered unique industry insights that remain irreplaceable. The firm is committed to this spirit, continuously exploring connections between classical culture and modern life to create new architectural classics.
△ Front View of Central Axis Entrance © Goa Elephant Design
△ Single Unit Elevation View © Goa Elephant Design
△ Single Unit Elevation View © Goa Elephant Design
△ Detailed Drawing of Roof Eaves Construction Method © Goa Elephant Design
Project Information
Location: Chongqing
Design/Completion: 2019 – Present
Total Land Area: Approximately 108,000 square meters
Total Construction Area: Approximately 55,000 square meters
Image Copyright: Goa Elephant Design, Sunac China
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