LIGHT + TECH 115
Clockwise Hometown Moon reflected on water, a visitor gives an idea of the structure’s scale, its ingenious design displacing the need for artificial light.
HOMETOWN MOON, MOUNT TAI, TAI’AN CITY, SHANDONG PROVINCE, CHINA SYN ARCHITECTS
The reflective qualities of water make it a perfect and perennial canvas for light. Here, in a very precisely calculated scheme, it is cleverly used to create the illusion of a full moon from a hemispherical structure with an illuminated semicircular window. The use of a highly reflective ceiling below water level repeats the illusion in the interior space.
Hometown Moon is a ceremonial hall for weddings and part of a creative strategy commissioned by the Lushang Group in 2019 for a 55 sq km area north of Tai’an City, designed to encourage visitors to explore the natural landscape and to better connect the local villages.
The chapel building is a concrete structure, with a large exterior canopy that holds the water and is supported by
columns set in deep cut-outs that are illuminated at night.
The semi-spherical form cuts through the hall’s roof plane, emerging above as an illuminated window and bouncing light down into a dramatic light-scoop and into the double-height ceremonial hall below. The thin pool of water on the roof creates a reflection that turns the ‘setting moon’ into a ‘full moon’ from a distance. Inside, a similar effect is produced by the mirrored ceiling, which also amplifies the natural light and negates the need for artificial lighting. The whole project was subject to constraints and careful calculations. The diameter of the moon and the area of the water surface had to match exactly to ensure that the architectural structure and its reflection formed a perfect circle. The
cavity in the building also needed to contain half of the moon with a diameter of 12m, while allowing suficient height to host ceremonies.
Determining the depth of the roof pond needed to take into account the rate of water evaporation. A water reservoir 0.5m deep combined with a central interlayer device work together to reduce the hydration frequency.
The beauty of the landscape was crucial to the effect of the structure and also to its journey. ‘Since the completion of the building, it has started a dialogue with users and nature,’ says lead architect Zou Yingxi. ‘I look forward to seeing it being modified over time, further blending with the environment as the trees grow.’
bau-jl.com
SANDRA CIAMPONE
ZHENG YAN
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