To foster a sense of Asian identity, the architects experiment and innovate on the "house type" within given site constraints

The Commune is designed to blend naturally into its surroundings—so there are no manicured gardens—and as the buildings age, they will further become a part of the landscape

Visiting the Great Wall anywhere close to Beijing is likely to be a stressful, if slightly amusing, study on how capitalism has taken over China. But for those willing to pay, the kitsch can be overcome. The hotel complex Commune by the Great Wall not only enjoys its own secluded section, free of hawkers and roadside amusements, but is also a showcase of modern Asian architecture.

Commune by the Great Wall is a private collection of contemporary architecture designed by 12 Asian architects. Not only was it the first major Chinese project to be exhibited at the Venice Biennale, it also scooped one of the event's three most prestigious prizes. A special prize to an individual patron of architectural works was awarded to Ms Zhang Xin, the mastermind and an investor of the project for her "bold personal initiative, which emphasizes the role of 12 Asian architects in building privately-owned houses in a definitively contemporary manner."

Definitely one of SOHO China's most ambitious projects to date, the US$24 million investment, "part luxury hotel, part holiday homes, and part exhibition" is designed to appeal to the leisure and residential needs of Beijing's entrepreneurs.

The first phase was operated as a luxury hotel, with independent villas rented out for weekends or short periods and supported by five-star service from the Club House. Offering restaurants, swimming pools, laundry and other facilities required by the wealthy patrons of Beijing's version of the Hamptons, the renowned luxury getaway for the rich in Long Island, USA.


This ensures that more people have access to the architecture, satisfying Zhang Xin's desire to create a "live museum." Furthermore, during the initial part of the project, it optimized exposure to potential clients and investors in the subsequent phases. Certainly a clever approach that satisfied the project's cultural and commercial needs.

The Commune's natural setting is intensely beautiful. The wafer-thin outline of the Shuiguan Great Wall, at once fragile and robust, appears on the skyline. The ancient manmade structure reinforces the profile of the hills and valleys, creating a sense of distance and perspective. Beyond the reconstructed "traditional" gates of the Great Wall, with its mass of tourist coaches and retail outlets, the road narrows as it passes a hamlet of workers' cottages animated by a faded Coca-Cola sign and marauding free-range chickens. Then you enter a world that is both foreign to the +context and yet familiar to the visitor. Security guards, fences and neat landscaped paths welcome you to a secure haven, a brave new world of indulgences.

The Wall is the reason the complex was conceived, but the 11super-houses designed by some of Asia's best known architects, are an attraction unto themselves. The very name, as the staff dressed like Red Guards from the Cultural Revolution, can be misleading, so keep in mind that this is not a worker's paradise. With houses renting from US$888 to US$1,288 a night (although most of the houses sleep up to 10 people comfortably), it dose seem a little out of budget for your average local, or even foreign visitor.

The eleven houses, ranging in size from 300 to 700 square metres, are dispersed along the steep slope of the quiet valley, framing dramatic views of the sinuous landscape and the Great Wall to the west. A meandering road leads to dead-end driveways in a all- too- familiar suburban layout, designed by Rocco Yim from Hong Kong, and contrasts with the sharp modernity of the individual buildings. Zhang Xin and Yung-Ho Chang, a U.S.-educated professor at the Beijing University hand picked the architects for the houses from a number of Asian countries, including mainland China, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. The intent was to foster a sense of Asian identity among the emerging generation of talented designers, and the brief was very open, encouraging the architects to experiment and innovate on the "house type" within given site constraints.


The Furniture House by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has, interestingly, a structure created from bamboo plywood. Ban had not previously been interested in bamboo, which has been used for many years in Asia and South America as building material. Other than Columbian architect Simon Velez, who poured concrete inside bamboo tubes to make structural elements, no architect had succeeded in using bamboo as primary building structure in contemporary architecture. The main reason for this is simply the nature of the material, its tendency to split when it is dry, and its random sizes and thickness, which make it difficult for the bamboo to be used structurally.

By laminating the material with a certain type of glue within a controlled environment, however, Ban discovered that stable building material could be fabricated out of bamboo strips. With help from a local bamboo factory, he created a sample of laminated bamboo lumber and operated boiling and bending tests according to JAS standards in Japan. The results showed that bamboo material had the structural strength between steel and timber. Ban decided to make his 'furniture house' system–a pre-fabricated modularized building system, which he had been developing for some years–out of the bamboo – out of the bamboo-laminated lumber. The laminated bamboo was used for the unit framing system and beams, and for the interior and exterior finish.

Venezuelan architect Antonio Ochoa always has difficulty describing his own works, but he does open up slightly to say that the Cantilever House is what be considers be "Yin" and "Yang". "Yin" because it was conceived for wintertime, it is also closed and feminine, while shadow enhances it. At the same time, it is "Yang" because it opens up to the landscape, blends itself with light and is masculine in that nature.

　　
Ochoa further describes Cantilever House externally as being between rocks and trees; hard and haughty, while inside, it is like a lady – erotic, sensual, warm, lovely, soft, efficient and rational.

The concrete takes the colour from the environment, like its rocks and flowers. The cantilever design of the structure allows the mountain to flow freely under it.

Considered by many to be the most spectacular of all is the Suitcase House. Designed by Hong Kong architect Gary Chang, its floors can be raised or lowered like trapdoors to reveal the functional necessities of life – bathrooms, bedrooms and the kitchen, Equally, these amenities can be shut away to ensure only the crisp, clean lines the architect envisaged are visible.

To blur the boundaries between 'house', 'interior' and 'furniture', Chang ensured that the entire structure and elements were monotonically clad in timber inside and outside. This steel is supported by and cantilevered out form the concrete base, which houses such facilities as a pantry, maid's quarter and the sauna.

The most popular structure in the Commune is the Bamboo Wall House, by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Perched on top of a hill, with a view of the crumbling wall, it is a place of blissful tranquility. At the heart of the house is a pool with a floating bamboo island, surrounded b bamboo walls, and where you can kneel and sip tea while admiring the landscape.

The natural landscape is an often-overlooked feature of the Great Wall. The rugged low-lying bush and cool mountain air is as spectacular as the Wall itself. The Commune is designed to blend naturally into its surroundings – so there are no manicured gardens – and as the buildings age, they will further become a part of the landscape. The Clubhouse, designed by South Korean Seung H-Sang, illustrates this best, It's wrought-iron exterior is designed to gradually rust and become more like the rocky outcrops of the surrounding hills.

1.According to architect Kengo Kuma, The Bamboo Wall house was on exchange of culture and technology as a chance to rech a common perception of delicacy.

2.Stunning vistas are the complementing touch that put the Bamboo Wall house into the category of luxury living.

3.The roughness of landscape surrounding the Great Wall was the most attractive feature for Architect Kengo Kuma.

4.Kuma discovered that the Chinese bamboo-made scaffold was rather perfect in terms of roughness.

5.The floors of the Suitcase House can be raised or lowered like trapdoors to reveal the functional necessities.

6.The Suitcase house represents a triple stacking of strata, neatly segregating habitation, activity and flow, and storage.

7.This steel structure is supported by and cantilevered out from the concrete.

8.The entire structure, along with the elements, is monotonically clad in timber and outside.

9.Because people go to the mountains for its scenery, See and Seen House was designed by Chinese designer, Cui Kai, to look out onto the scenic vistas to the north and northeast.

10.The living and dining rooms are built on a sunken terrace, which gives them the appearance of 'crouching' in a thicket of trees.

11.While it is impossible to predict who will be occupying a home, the elegant, connected living and dining rooms of See and Seen House creates the perfect setting for any sort of gathering.