Atelier Xi, China: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2021
Atelier Xi and its sculptural Y House, designed for a pair of photographers outside Shanghai, join the ranks of the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2021
Chen Xi’s Atelier Xi straddles Asia and America, with a base in Shenzhen and origins in New York City. The studio's portfolio, all concrete, geometric drama and sculptural forms, is fast growing, and includes Y House, a home on the outskirts of Shanghai for a pair of photographers. It caught our eye as we add Atelier Xi to the 2021 Wallpaper* Architects' Directory.
Who: Atelier Xi
This young, yet fast-emerging practice was founded by Chen Xi in 2017. Hailing from China, the architect splits his time between Shenzhen and New York, where the studio was originally founded. Variety is the name of the game with Xi's work, as he caters to a range of building needs and typologies. However, there are common threads throughout, notably a sculptural approach that produces buildings akin to art pieces, at once functional, minimalist and dramatic.
‘With our work focusing on public and cultural projects at various scales, we are attentive to the needs of diverse groups,’ says Xi. ‘The studio aspires to create spaces that bring unique poetry and profoundness to contemporary urban and rural environments. We believe that each space, grand or tiny, is a clue to the vastness of our world, and a testimony to the glory of everyday life. By planting these quiet and resilient spaces one at a time, we envision architecture to branch out and blossom with life and narratives.’
For the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory we celebrate Y House, a new-build home for two photographers outside Shanghai (see below). Other works include the award-winning Peach Hut, a pink-hued concrete public building in rural Xiuwu, Henan, dedicated to culture and arts education in the region.
What: Y House
When a couple, both photographers, approached Chen Xi and Atelier Xi for a residential commission near Shanghai, the architect jumped at the opportunity to blend a new architectural design with the owners’ personality and style. ‘The couple are well known for their minimalist and surrealist still-life photography works that usually displace ordinary objects and radically recompose them,' says Xi.
‘The photos they take always have a background of peacefulness: sometimes with a mottled stucco wall, a dusty cloth, or a muddy swamp,' continues the architect. ‘There is usually a foreground standing out as well, exhibiting an exquisite layer of glaze. The tranquillity of light colours obscures the lens, capturing traces of shadow, tones, and wind, as if time has stopped.’ Taking these cues, Xi envisioned the house as a sculptural, monolithic formation out of concrete that stands out, clearly delineated in the surrounding rural scenery of woods and countryside farms.
At the same time, drawing on the region’s traditional vernacular, the house features a version of ‘a gable roof and a flat roof that are commonly seen in nearby villages’, explains the architect. Meanwhile, inside, a series of sculpted voids have been carved out from the monolithic volume and help frame different views of the landscape. A central staircase out of concrete becomes a spiralling centrepiece, connecting levels and providing a visual focus.
Why: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2021
Conceived in 2000 as our index of emerging architectural talent, the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory is our magazine’s annual listing of promising practices from across the globe. The project has, over the years, spanned styles and continents, while always championing the best and most exciting young studios and showcasing inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. Now including more than 500 alumni and counting, the Architects’ Directory is back for its 21st edition. Join us as we launch this year’s survey – 20 young studios, from Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the USA, and the UK, with plenty of promise, ideas and exciting architecture.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Aesop’s Salone del Mobile 2024 installations in Milan are multisensory experiences
Aesop has partnered with Salone del Mobile to launch a series of installations across Milan, tapping into sight, touch, taste, and scent
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternatives
From the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Berlinde De Bruyckere’s angels without faces touch down in Venice church
Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere’s recent archangel sculptures occupy the 16th-century white marble Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore for the Venice Biennale 2024
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Beijing City Library is an otherworldly escape from the digital world
Beijing City Library by Snøhetta is a flowing, welcoming space to share knowledge and socialise
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house opens as a museum and bookshop in Suzhou
20th-century Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house in Suzhou has opened to the public as a museum, featuring a bookshop designed by Tsing-Tien Making
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Jiaxing’s sunken train station is a hub of urban greenspace and efficient city links
Jiaxing Train Station by MAD Architects is a bubble of urban green space with a blend of reconstructed historical design and modern minimalism
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Junya Ishigami’s Zaishui Art Museum in China was conceived as a ‘gentle giant’
Japanese architect Junya Ishigami completes Zaishui Art Museum, a kilometre-long building positioned in a manmade lake and aiming to ‘bring the outside landscape in’
By Joanna Kawecki Published
-
Sun Tower, rising on Yantai’s waterfront, wins Best Building Site in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024
We take a tour of the building site at Sun Tower, Open Architecture's new nature-inspired cultural attraction for the seaside town of Yantai in China
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Forest Villa transforms an existing building shell into a minimalist villa engulfed in nature
Forest Villa by HAS is a minimalist home in suburban China, crafted in an existing building shell, and working with its idyllic natural context
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Chinese island house brings luxury minimalism to seaside living
L House by AD Architecture is a Chinese island house that bridges luxury minimalism and seaside living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Boatyard Hotel in Suzhou embraces the surrounding landscape
GOA and WJ Studio’s Boatyard Hotel in China takes its design cues from the nearby river
By Hannah Silver Published