1Prologue
When most urban campuses are compressed into efficiency-first functional containers, Chengdu Haiyang Road Middle School seeks to cultivate the relaxed, leisurely atmosphere of Chengdu’s iconic "Wide and Narrow Alleys," reclaiming a sense of freedom for bodies otherwise disciplined by efficiency. There are no rigid corridors here, only staggered streets and alleys, light and shadow that are relevant to the body, a second-floor platform where you can chase the sunset, and the insistence that "every courtyard has a tree". As Louis Kahn famously said, education begins with a conversation under a tree. On this campus, gently dappled with shifting shadows, learning no longer happens only in classrooms, but also in every aimless wandering and discovery.
2 Site Dilemma, Climate, Light, and Shadow
The site for Haiyang Road School is located at the junction of Chengdu’s Tianfu New Area and the High-tech Zone, a one-hour drive from the old city center. The site is regular in shape, surrounded by 100-meter-tall residential buildings on the west, south, and north sides, creating an oppressive sense of enclosure. Only the east side—facing Tianfu No. 5 Primary School and Kindergarten—offers a relatively open outlook. This is a typical plot of land created by rapid urban expansion. The surrounding area lacks cultural context, and the standardized road cross-sections, homogeneous building outlines, and uniformly spreading street textures make it difficult to determine its affiliation. On such a site, how can we create a school that truly belongs here?
Chengdu is often cloudy with little sunshine, and it is particularly tolerant of east-west orientation. People here love the outdoors and have a lively, down-to-earth atmosphere. The residential buildings surrounding the site are filled with outdoor stalls, creating a strong local atmosphere. On clear days, the outline of the snow-capped mountains can be faintly seen in the distance, and the long shadow of the houses on the west side slowly covers the site like a curtain.
We transformed the surrounding residences into a place resource, and by taking advantage of the shadows, we placed the playground between the surrounding buildings and school buildings. This not only maximized sunlight and alleviated the sense of oppression, but also made this long shadow the most natural dramatic backdrop for the campus, reshaping the urban structural relationships. Here, shadows are no longer a symbol of oppression; instead, they serve as a medium connecting the land, the climate, and the human body, infusing the daily life of the campus with a sense of time and theatricality.
3 Integrating "Street Life" into the Campus —"Rooms," "Alleys," and "Courtyards"
Based on our perception of the plains and the surrounding environment, scenes of life such as "Kuanzhai Alley," "courtyard," and "market life" in our memories of western Sichuan unconsciously seep into our thinking. Departing from the conventional campus spatial organization that prioritizes efficiency and disciplines individuals, we aim to create a type of space that allows for free exploration—like wandering casually through the city, recreating the familiar atmosphere of Chengdu: streets, courtyards, corners, and tea gatherings.
The design attempts to draw an analogy between the "inside, outside, and in-between" of a space and the "rooms, courtyards, and alleys" of a campus. We abstract the various functional spaces on campus—regular classrooms, functional classrooms, canteens, gymnasiums, libraries, lecture halls, etc.—as a collection of "rooms". The rooms, streets, and courtyards are interwoven and orthogonally distributed, flowing freely and extending towards the site boundaries. Children can wander through these streets and alleys, unexpectedly meeting in the corners, or simply zoning out on the grass under a tree. This kind of free exploration represents a quality that is all too rare in modern campuses.
The spatial layout is also designed for growth, capable of adapting to future uncertainties in usage and educational diversity. A large sports ground at ground level offers flexibility for the city; The "rooms, alleys, and courtyards" can be interconnected, allowing teaching to break through the boundaries of traditional classrooms and collectively form an expandable learning field. Furthermore, the large platform can be flexibly expanded in combination with various spaces, forming an organic whole that continues to grow as needs evolve.
4. Settlements on the Horizon
The campus buildings are horizontally staggered, resting quietly within the basin. The design creates a triple "horizon" composed of pilotis (ground-floor open spaces) on the first level, a shared platform on the second floor, and clustered settlements on the upper roof. This composition effectively breaks the oppressive feeling brought about by the surrounding vertical architecture. The pilotis on the ground floor create an all-weather activity space that that permeates the courtyards. The 200-meter-long shared platform floats horizontally, linking individual buildings to adapt to different usage needs. Above the platform, the staggered roof settlements help alleviate the sense of oppression caused by the high-capacity. Students can move freely between these different spaces, experiencing the changing seasons and microclimates.
13 settlement volumes made of "rooms," 10 courtyards of varying sizes, and spaces of varying widths both inside and outside the elevated second-floor platform—weave together to form a campus that grows organically. A series of public spaces are arranged along the western sports field, including a cafeteria, library, auditorium, and gymnasium from north to south, creating a vibrant, everyday interface facing the field. Internally, these spaces are organized in a classical manner, contrasting with the free-flowing "streets and lanes" on the exterior.
5. Bodily Perception as Part of Spatial Education
This school avoids complex forms, materials, facades, or structural expressions. Its exterior is abstract and minimalist, yet its interior accommodates a rich diversity of spatial typologies. The design is rooted in the perception of climate, light, and shadow. By modulating the openness and enclosure of spaces, as well as the transparency and opacity of the facades, light and space intertwine here. The experience evokes wandering through a bamboo forest dappled with shifting shadows, thereby establishing a spatial atmosphere that is highly responsive to the local climate, and cultivating a bodily, sensory experience.
Bodily perception is, in itself, a fundamental part of learning. In an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing, children’s experiences of physical, natural spaces are becoming increasingly scarce. The shifting ceiling heights and interplay of light and shadow within streets, alleys, and public buildings evoke a sense of exploration; The staggered, undulating shared nodes on the platforms facilitate multi-level connectivity and foster interpersonal interaction. Shared spaces that are either covered or carved out invite light from the roof or the sides, creating a cave-like sense of mystery and enclosure. Here, people walk, encounter one another, converse, and contemplate. Children run, pause, explore, and learn within this interplay of light and shadow, tangibly feeling the flow of space and time.
