Dongqian Lake Club Houses / Álvaro Siza Vieira + Carlos Castanheira

Carlos Castanheira for IQD

In a land far, far away, live five sisters. They are all alike, and they are all different. They are all beautiful, some more, some less. One is more angular, another is more calm. Another is elegant and another yet another is more so. They are all unalike, but also similar. They live beside a lake, in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, one of the oldest cities in China

They cannot live without each another. Yet they are independent. They form a group that only exists as a group. They cling to each other, arm in arm, facing towards the horizon. They see themselves again and again reflected in the water, just in front of them. They are reflected and they reflect. They absorb the light in different ways, by virtue of their diversity. They radiate light and beauty, each one individually, and even more so together. They are closed to almost everyone, arousing great curiosity in those who want to get to know them. For some, however, they do open-up, provoking even greater curiosity to know them better. From an almost pristine white, through the movement of their forms, they create other whites. Their forms move, accentuating shadows and reflecting light. Incessantly. Openings, regulated by awnings that resemble eyelashes allow natural light into the interior. There is something anthropomorphic about it.

It has been a long, long time since we began to get to know them. Little by little. And little by little, we keep discovering them, their angles, their curves, their openings, and blank planes. We, architect Álvaro Siza and I, created them, but they told us how they wanted to be. All equal, yet all different. The desire to be different wasn’t an obligation, but a necessity. No beauty is equal. Nor is it repetitive. They are all equal in their differences, as each is in a different place. So close together, but each on its own throne, watching the water’s reflections.

Just recently I went to visit them. Even before they existed, they were already surprising me. And they continue to surprise me. I seek to get to know them, going around them or entering them. It is not easy to comprehend them. They have always had different personalities, but now this has become even more evident. They are more grown-up and their shapes are almost fully formed. Undeniably, each one will have its own life. Its own independent way of being. Time will bring maturity and, together, they will continue to surprise. This is the function of beauty.

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• Photos: © HouPictures
• Architects: Arquitectos Álvaro Siza with Carlos Castanheira
• Office in Portugal: CC&CB, Architects, Lda.
• Project Coordinators: Luís Reis (squematic design/ construction drawings) Nuno Campos (project review) Pedro Carvalho
• Project Team: Elisabete Queirós, Isabel Carvalho, Simon Liu, Rita Saturnino, Sara Pinto, Diana Vasconcelos, Rita Ferreira, Sara Franco, Stefano Dettori, Francesca Tiri, Erika Musci, Susana Oliveira, Sofia Conceição, Inês Bastos
• 3D models and renderings: Pedro Afonso
• Consultants: Zhejiang Huazhi Architecture Design Ltd
• Local management & supervision: Chunyi Liu, Architect
• Office in Ningbo: Design institute of Landscape & Architecture – China Academy of Art
• Engineering: Hangzhou MJP Mechanical & Electrical Design Consultant Ltd