When the Tianmu Mountains rush from south to north to Taihu Lake, the steep ridges and ravines of that time have slowly submerged into the vast lakeside plain at this moment. People built cities between the lake and the mountains and created the wealthiest and most romantic area in China, Jiangnan. The Southwest Elementary School is located between the mountain and the city. Taking advantage of the beauty of the landscape, it begins a construction journey of “patrolling the eaves of the wind and the moon, reclusion in landscape”.

▼项目航拍顶视图，Aerial top view of the project ©米丈建筑

The site is located in a newly developed urban area in Huzhou, surrounded by planned residential areas, with a community park on the north side and a continuous mountain view across the river on the south side. In China’s customary construction concept, residential areas and public buildings are distinct systems. The residential area is closed and introverted. As one of the few gathering places for public activities in the urban area, the school is isolated in terms of architectural form and management mechanism due to function and safety factors. When the barriers between building and block become more and more serious, we hope to use a building that can truly respond to the environment and the city to bring an open and positive attitude to the community.

The long axis of the site forms an angle of 45 degrees with the north-south direction. In order to ensure the southern lighting of the classrooms, the main teaching units building is arranged in the north -south direction. On the north-south axis, the dining hall, classrooms and cultural and sports center are arranged successively. Due to the twisting of the axis, interesting changes have taken place in the building with the bisected main teaching unit naturally turning along the site boundary, forming a relatively enclosed courtyard. The courtyard entrance enclosed by the short wings happens to face the city and the mountain view, respectively. We magnified the short wing incidentally and cut obliquely on the shape. Due to the intervention of external force, the entrance of the courtyard contracts in the plane and expands in the vertical, presenting a dynamic symmetrical balance.