Located within the 100-meter radius of Suzhou River, East China Formal University No.1 Village is surrounded by crowd residential quarters. The obsolescent entrance to the Village was narrow, lacking traffic diversion, and with chaotic arrangements of facilities. Facing the Inner Ring Elevated Road, it is hardly a place where people can slow down the pace and enjoy the moment.

The Village was included in the list of 2020 Residential Quarter Renovation Project in Putuo District. The refurbishment of the residential quarter entrance needs to attend two major requirements: a new image and a good commendation for daily use. We adopted the design strategies of “space extension” and “internalization of the exterior decoration”, hoping to create a “loving community”.

“Space extension” is to satisfy the usage requirements by providing more space. The design breaks through the stereotype of a 2-dimensional gate, and instead extend the entrance area deeper into the residential quarter. This settles the traffic diversion of pedestrians and electro mobiles, offers enough space for resting benches and billboards, and makes a perfect cover for the messy yet vibrant life settings such as the smoke pipe of the primary school canteen next door and the garbage cans.

▼纵向延伸，longitudinal extension ©陈旸