Yulin Alley
​Chengdu, China
2020

巷子里
中国 成都 
2020

Project Name: Yulin Alley

Project Location: Chengdu, China 

Design time: 2018.12-2019.05

Completion: 2020.01

Project Area: 150㎡

Design Team: Zhang Tang

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项目名称：

项目地址：中国成都玉林三巷26号

设计时间：2018年12月-2019年5月

完成时间：2020年1月

建筑面积：150㎡​

设计团队：张唐

media：

ArchDaily

gooood谷德

Yulin Alley is initiated by Yulin East Road Community and Disable Persons Federation of Wuhou District, and is planned, designed and operated by Nhoow architects. It’s a community center that is trying to create an environment of freedom and equality that suiting all. More people with disabilities will be encouraged to come and take part in our activities and more people can do more exploration attempts. We truly hope that everyone in Yulin Alley can get a little more than they expect and enjoy a good moment of life.

In the previous work of the project, we conducted a five-month research with the community staff to get an in-depth understanding of the basic situation, daily behaviors and living habits of the disabled people in the community. The results showed that the disabled people in the community were mainly with hearing impairment and mood disorder. Most of them avoided community activities, because of “nothing to do” “not knowing” and “the unpredictability”. 

The space adopts a concave-convex misalignment plane layout, which makes the space almost free of visual dead corners and revolved in a lively moderate sense of security and distance. The facade treatment of interior and exterior, and the special outdoor seats with the reserved trees together create a fun atmosphere, which is convenient for strangers to communicate with each other. 

In order to meet the needs of different groups of people and achieve the purpose of “open and free”, various spaces including outdoor activity space, indoor activity space and grey space ( the transition space between the building and its external environment, in order to achieve the integration of interior and exterior ) and are designed in it. And inspired by “engawa ( an intervention space between interior and exterior, a typical of grey space ) ” in Japan and “Meiren Kao ( a chair wins its name for being sit by beauties and leaned along their waist ) ” in China, the floor of the outdoor space is raised to build outside seating area, forming a new open space that breaks the boundary between interior and exterior space. 

Besides, a membrane structure is used at the top of the space, allowing for a gentle introduction and reflection of light. And the flexible material and the solid wood structure form a balance between soft and rigid. More people with disabilities will be encouraged to come and take part in our activities. At the same time, the space will also become a window for more people to do more exploration attempts. And we truly hope that everyone in Yulin Alley can get a little more than they expect and enjoy a good moment of life.

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Since the opening on May, 2020, Yulin Alley has united the community, NPO, commercial brands and other social forces. On the one hand, we held various commercial pop-up events and public welfare activities every month to provide a rich life experience for the community residents. On the other hand，we will recruit aunts in the local community to be the staff of  Yulin Alley, trying to build a set of business model and products with local community attributes, which will lay a solid foundation for the community residents and disabled people to start their own businesses in the future.

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​Aimed at creating a place that supports entrepreneurship and participation in events by people with disabilities via their involvement throughout its planning, design, and running, this project is of great social significance to the community. The intimate alley spaces and the relationship between the internal and external spaces produces just the right degree of distance, increasing the visibility of people with disabilities, while ensuring that their presence is taken for granted without being over-emphasized.

巷子里是由成都市玉林东路社区与武侯区残疾人联合会委托，一介策划、设计、运营的社区残障友好空间。巷子里希望创造一个自由与平等的空间。呼吁残障人群更多地走出家门，扩大生活圈；同时也希望成为一个交流与孵化的窗口，吸引更多人发起和参与具有开放性的探索尝试。希望每个人都可以在巷子里享受到刚需以上的生活余裕。每个人都拥有美好生活。

在项目前期，一介团队与社区工作人员一起进行了历时五个月的走访，深入了解社区里残障人士的基本情况、日常行为与生活习惯。调研结果显示玉东社区的残障人群主要为听力障碍与情绪障碍人群。他们中的很多人都避免到社区活动，主要是因为“没事做”、“不相识”和“缺乏安全感的未知性”。这为巷子里的设计提供了极其重要的参考价值。

据此巷子里采用了凹凸错致的平面布局。让空间内部几乎没有视觉死角，在热闹中萦绕着适度的安全感和距离感。室内室外发生关系的立面处理，外部的座位设计，保留的树木所产生的趣味，让陌生人之间也能够轻松地交流起来。

为了满足不同人群的使用需求，达到真正的“开放性、自由性”的使用目的，巷子里设计了包括室外活动空间、灰空间和室内活动空间在内的多样空间。灵感来自于日本的“缘侧”与中国的“美人靠”，将室外空间的部分地面抬高形成座椅，形成新的围合、开放空间。

空间顶部使用了膜结构。它的透光性在白天可以柔和地引入自然光线，午后微风拂过投下斑驳的树影，夜晚降临亦会透出朦胧的灯影。像萤火虫散发的光一样，即便有一点微弱但希望可以给人温暖。而膜结构通过张力拉伸形成空间形状的特性，也正是希望表达的柔与刚。

自2020年5月开幕至今，巷子里联合社区、NPO组织、商业品牌等多种社会力量进入其中。一方面，每月举办不同主题的商业快闪活动和公益类活动，为社区居民提供丰富的生活体验。另一方面，将招募社区的阿姨作为工作人员，构建起一套拥有在地社区属性的商业模式与产品，为之后社区居民以及残障人士创业做好基础。

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通过策划、设计、运营的一体执行，巷子里旨在创造一个支持残障人群创业和参加活动的空间场所，希望对在地社区产生积极的社会影响。巷子里所在的亲切的小巷空间与其室内外空间之间的巧妙关系制造出了“刚刚好的距离”，使得残障人群有更多机会进入人们的视线，同时也让他们的存在成为一幅自然而然的风景，而非被过分地强调。

Photo Credits: ICYWORKS

摄影: ICYWORKS