Dali City Convention Center

This project aims to recreate the organizational system of traditional housing in Dali City. Strong belief in Fengshui has led to inefficient layout of sub-urban areas of Dali. Idea of vertical courtyard is introduced to solve the problem of courtyard
orientation.

The site is located between a hotel and a hill, which leads to a parking site. The project also aims to resolve un-established connection between the two context, by animating the mass to climb up the hill. Multiple U-shaped houses are put vertically to intersect and create repetitive modular blocks. Spaces are no longer bounded by walls and are open to vertical courtyards which spread across the site. The entire project is oriented to lead people from hotel site to the parking site, creating intimacy and connectivity between sites that were previously separated by roads.

Each ‘towers’ are separated yet connected by horizontal blocks. This allowed efficient program distribution (auditorium, retail, office, viewing
deck). The in-between spaces naturally turned into semi-outdoor communal spaces. The ‘bubble’ was later introduced to encapsulate the three middle towers, creating larger indoor spaces with atriums.

This project was made in collaboration with Raul Alfaro and Derek Yen, Advised by Eric Owen Moss at SCI-Arc.