“Where have the moments of my life gone?” – Pessoa
Wutopia Lab’s Vanke Cloud Valley project demonstration area, titled A Living Theatre Mount, was designed for Xuzhou Vanke and scheduled for completion and opening before New Year’s Day 2022.
Stages – Human Comedy
“I don’t have the strength to be a trash can, nor am I qualified to be a wish box. I just want to be an ordinary person, comforted and loved by others.” – Balzac
When I received the invitation to design, I was exploring the mountains. Amid intermittent signals, I learned the site is located on the boundary between the old and new districts of a northern Jiangsu city, classified sometimes as second or third-tier. The client rejected the original plan and hoped I could create a unique demonstration center at this narrow junction.
As architects, recounting a city’s grand history can become a cliché—such as noting Liu Bang’s hometown, birthplace of Han culture, its role as a transportation hub, coal mining base, and the decisive Huaihai Campaign. Yet, these narratives cannot mask the city’s underlying loss and anxiety, nor do they capture the specific joys and sorrows of ordinary lives.
During the moments when the signal was lost, I reflected quickly. I wanted to design a building on this boundary that would showcase the everyday lives of ordinary people. Imagine a simple street where different people play out their daily scenes—not grand narratives, but intimate stories of family strengths and vulnerabilities. Each scene becomes a stage play, and together, these plays form the architecture itself.
This building should act as a theater where any ordinary person can perform on various stages. The city’s ambition is less important than the satisfaction and willingness to share one’s own small fireworks. Being part of a city is about belonging and suitability, especially today in the smartphone era, where people can express themselves beyond geographical limits.
Once the signal returned, I shared my vision with Mr. Sun, the design lead: to create a series of stages on the boundary between old and new city districts, with ordinary people as the stars living out their own stories. He agreed.
Hills – Unintended to Become a Mountain
“Everyone has 15 minutes of fame.” – Andy Warhol
Despite being a “demonstration zone,” the project faced strict land-use restrictions. After considering various planning and fire safety conditions, the narrow trapezoidal site within the building setback line measures about 500 square meters, with a height limit of no more than three floors.
Additionally, the center must include two model houses to showcase the functional demonstration area, with a total construction area barely exceeding 1000 square meters. This small demonstration area offers no extra building space as a stage for performances.
I refused to follow the old path of simply building facades after arranging functions. When function and facade lose their connection, any facade could suffice. In the end, architects become makeup artists, exhausted from endlessly providing different client solutions until patience runs dry. Yet, I did not abandon the idea of the stage.
We reanalyzed the functional needs and streamlined the organization of Vanke sales centers, introducing a new classification. The merging of transportation and public communication spaces forms a flowing, dynamic large area spanning three levels.
The audiovisual hall, sand table area, offices, model rooms, tea room, coffee shop, conference rooms, negotiation rooms, signing rooms, VIP reception, indoor garden, and other spaces are defined as quiet small boxes. These are sequentially inserted into the larger flowing space according to circulation paths.
The stacked boxes are visible on the exterior façade, with glimpses of the lively main space visible through the gaps.
Large windows and balcony openings were placed on the reference platforms of these boxes, creating a series of stages that occupy no additional building area but appear on the façade.
The boxes on the façade transform from mere volumes into stages showcasing everyday life scenes. Different stages represent different people’s daily lives, stacked and combined to form a monument celebrating ordinary life.
While exploring the terrain, Xia Xia noticed a distant mountain range that was usually hidden. This unexpected natural green mountain became the design’s starting point. Using vertical streamlined stacked boxes, we created an abstract white mountain symbolizing the Vanke Cloud Valley demonstration area.
To avoid the three-story height limit cutting the mountain in half and flattening it, we continued stacking boxes on the roof, visually completing the mountain shape.
Originally, each box was designed as a platform where visitors could climb stairs to the summit and enjoy panoramic views. However, due to structural height restrictions and strict cost controls, the mountaintop box became a purely architectural structure, inaccessible but perfectly hiding rooftop equipment.
The mountain consists of two parts: the main building with attached fire stairs, and rooftop structures. The building forms a solid volume through aluminum and glass, while the rooftop structures use perforated aluminum panels to create a translucent form. This interplay of tangible and intangible elements creates a monument to the daily lives of ordinary people.
Monuments: A Declaration of Mortal People
“I arrived at a mountain peak, from where I could recall what I had forgotten.” – Pessoa
“This is a mountain, also like a cloud,” remarked the client upon accepting the proposal. It evokes the image of a cloud of data. The client linked the demonstration area to the city’s positioning as a “high-tech city” and highlighted the project theme.
Through multiple interpretations, the architectural image, which sanctifies and elevates the daily lives of ordinary people, has been actively imbued with symbolic meaning. It stands as a dual declaration—both everyday and commemorative—a “mountain of ideal life” honoring the present and future daily lives of ordinary people: Wandie Cloud Mountain.
“Goodbye, Maria! Life is only a moment.” – Pessoa
Project Drawings
△ General layout plan
△ First floor plan
△ Second floor plan
△ Third floor plan
△ Roof plan
△ East elevation
△ South elevation
△ West elevation
△ North elevation
△ Section diagram
Project Information
Project Name: Vanke Cloud Valley Project Demonstration Zone
Design Company: Wutopia Lab
Lead Architect: Yu Ting
Project Manager: Yellow River
Project Architect: Xia Yanming
Design Team: Xu Yunfang, Lin Jianming (intern)
Structural Consultant: Miao Binhai
Construction Drawing Unit: Jiangsu Jiuding Jiahe Engineering Design Consulting Company
Construction Drawing Design Team: Cao Zhenguo, Lu Yang, Zhang Xuran, Song Fang, Zhang Lu
Development Unit: Xuzhou Vanke Enterprise Co., Ltd
Client’s Design Team: Sun Chunsheng, Li Xin, Gao Yanrui, Tong Jinghai, Zhu Na, Xu Xiaojian, Zhu Yi
Landscape Design: Shenzhen Xiaoda Landscape Design Co., Ltd
Architectural Lighting Design: BPI
Architectural Lighting Consultants: Zhang Chenlu, Wei Shiyu
Location: Software Park Road, Quanshan District, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province
Area: 1169 square meters
Construction Time: December 2021
Materials: Aluminum composite panels, perforated aluminum panels, and others
Photography by Liang Junhao
Video by Liang Junhao
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