Slit House by AZL Atelier Zhanglei

Even China's used almost half of world's cement alone in China, Slit house is the first real concrete building in Nanjing, the city which also built 1300 high-rise concrete structure towers in last 25 years.

Slit House
Design Team: AZL Atelier Zhanglei
Location: Nanjing, China
Status: Completion 2007

The Slit house is designed to fit into the historical context formulated in beginning of 20's in centre part of Nanjing city, China, with a new form of concrete facade. The entire structure, even the roof and facade, are made from concrete with five-centimeter horizontal wood textile strips. It is aimed to share the same scale with neighbor buildings of brick build almost 100 years ago.

Showing the transparency of the house in its public part with a deep slit, a stair is used in this project to link two parts and create visual difference. A two-floor-high living area and a lower dining area are divided unexpectedly but naturally. In this way, all the space elements are activated, and three-dimensionalized.





The use of slit is also vital in the whole design. Architectural objects have been long idealized as stable and firm. The Slit House has sent the stereotyped knowledge away and created a new illusion. The silt allows an external, essential confrontation between the main body and its environment, like a black lightning full of energy.
Slit house express itself in harmony with surroundings neighbourhood.







via AZL Atelier Zhanglei