1. Tech Indulgent Technological innovations that are redefining your living
RS 100 HOME-REVIEW.COMvol 15 issue 10 October 2016 total pages 134
MINDFUL
MISTAKESBusride Studio’s Folly House
Design Destination : GuangZhouSpecialist : PoppadumArt Uncovered : r+d Studio
Stories in Detail
by Komal Vasa
loc Design Takes
the law into their hands

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WHERE
Guangzhou, historically Romanised
as Canton, is the capital and
largest city of Guangdong province
in south-eastern China. Seated on
the Pearl River, 120 kms north-west
of Hongkong and 145 kms north of
Macau, this third largest Chinese
city was a major terminus of the
maritime Silk Road and continues
to serve as a major port and
transportation hub.
GUANG
DESIGN
DESTINATION

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WHEN
Located in a humid, sub-tropical
climate zone with plenty of sunshine
and rainfall, the best time to visit
is during the autumn and winter
seasons that last from October to
March. During this period tem-
peratures are mild and rainfall is
low. The hottest months are those
between June and September with
several typhoons every year from
April to September.
WHY
A giant metropolis, Guangzhou
is home to both gleaming towers
and leafy alleys. Its history as a
strategic trade port to the South
China Sea has afforded it a colonial
background and a culturally
diverse population that lends it its
cosmopolitan flair. Nicknamed the
‘Flower City’, the weather acts
as the perfect catalyst to its
beautiful blooms.
ZHOU

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The project is architecturally dramatic
for its triangular tower, diagonal lattice
and soaring thirty floor high atrium.
A dedicated express elevator takes you to
the 70th floor lobby where a sensational
three meter red steel structure by
Australian artist, Matthew Harding
doesn’t fail to impress. The incredible
naturally lit atrium is enveloped by
restaurants and rooms.
The intricately textured screen fabricated
out of woven metal, wraps around the
interior of the sky-high lobby. In a subtle
reference to the hotel brand, the screen
is themed around the four seasons from
spring in the basement to fall in the
upper reaches.
Its 344 guest rooms feature modern
Italian furniture and contemporary
Chinese art. On the 99th floor, discs
of rare, multi-coloured agate cover an
illuminated counter at Tian Bar, one of the
hotel’s six spots for food and drink.
REDEFINING
AVANT-GARDE
“
Challenging definitions of hotel design,
the global firm HBA sets new peripheries
for avant-garde with the Four Seasons
Hotel in Guangzhou. Remarkable for both
its climbing height and contemporary
design, the hotel rises 103 stories above
the Pearl River looking down on its
architecturally significant neighbours like
Zaha Hadid’s Opera House, Japanese firm
Nikken Sekkei’s New Library and Hong
Kong based Rocco Design Architects’ cubic
Guangdong Museum.

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A FLUID
ARCHITECTURAL
PRELUDE
Like pebbles in a stream smoothened by
erosion, the Guangzhou Opera House by
architect, Zaha Hadid has settled in perfect
harmony with its riverside location.
This iconic piece of architecture sits
at the heart of the city’s cultural
development with its unique twin-
boulder design enhancing the city by
opening it up to the Pearl River.
A design particularly influenced by river
valleys, engages with the principles of
erosion, geology and topography.
The statement design inspired by
natural landscape depicts fold lines
that define territories and zones
within the Opera House, cutting
dramatic interior and exterior
canyons for circulation, lobbies
and cafes also allowing natural
light to filter in. Custom moulded
glass-fibre reinforced gypsum units
have been used for the interiors
of the auditorium to continue the
architectural language of fluidity
and seamlessness.

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‘CROSS-REFERENCE’
The Zhongshuge-Hangzhou book store
marks its presence with a glass wall that
runs along a concourse covered with texts.
Taking its cue from unbounded nature,
the design draws you into a forest
of books where display columns are
dispersed randomly to evoke a replica
of trees. White strip lights lining the book
shelves complement the entering daylight.
The wall mirror doubles the transverse
dimension of the space. An opening in the
mirrored wall leads to the ‘Reading Corridor’
which offers a more intimate location for
browsing the displayed titles. The shelf lined
surfaces continue along the oval walls of
the ‘Reading Theatre’ accessible from the
corridor.
Both feature dark wood and ambient
lighting. The final room is dedicated to
children containing displays shaped like
trains and rollercoasters. Once again the
mirrored surfaces double the perceived
volume of the store including the merry-go-
round shelving.
Text By Kanupriya Pachisia
AFLOAT AND
ALIGHT
Functioning on the idea that ‘countless
fibres of light envelop guests’, the FEI resto-
bar at W Hotel is a suspended three storey
glowing glass loft that pulses nightly with
an in-house band and innovative cocktails.
The stunning execution of the idea by
A.N.D. helped it bag the Best Restaurant
& Bar Design Award, 2014.
A large cubic lounge seems to float in
the middle of the hotels façade. It covers
the enormous 18 meters in cold, lifeless
glass walls which come alive with the
help of a film of warm tender light. The
first concept undertaken was to cover the
massive structural glass opening with a
new soft organic lighting skin so guests are
enveloped in a constantly changing circle
of sparkling light.
The second was to install multiple
layers of both the horizontal floor and
the perpendicular walls in the space
surrounded by light. When viewed from the
outside, the film creates a glittering façade
that draws people into the property.