Sunlight is nature's most beautiful gift to human beings
When we bask in the sun, we can make all the "evil" in the world nowhere to hide. Let all the beauty and simplicity ripple on people's faces again, and goodness can flow outward like a clear spring in the heart. Therefore, space designers with "light" in their hearts have an almost paranoid "demon" for sunlight, allowing them to design design works with different "understandings" and "human worthiness" of light. In my opinion, Dali's "Wuji Yinshe Mid-Mountain B&B" is such a "clean" and "innocent" space design work with "light" from the bottom of the heart!
The beginning
"Wuer Yinshe Mid-Mountain B&B" is located in Wenbi Village, Haidong Town, Dali, close to Erhai Lake, overlooking Cangshan Mountain, and the unique geographical environment makes people who have lived here for generations have no worries about food and clothing, but it is gradually distancing itself from the huge background of the changes of the times. A leisurely and soothing pace of life is ideal, but it is undeniable that it still belongs to the context of "agrarian civilization", and today, it has been abandoned by the younger generation who pursue the "fast-paced" and "Gatsby-style" psychology of modern life and the "Gatsby-style" psychology of getting rich overnight, and the "writing village" has become a "hollowed-out" settlement, which cannot escape the doom of "forgotten".
The designer has been to Dali many years ago and also visited Wenbi Village, full of longing and love for Cangshan Erhai Lake, not forgetting the sunshine here, the depth of Erhai Lake and the quiet way of life, in a chance to save down, the owner and designer found here, rent the villagers' houses, and incorporate the local villagers into the logistics service system of the B&B hotel! The logic of the underlying life of "Wenbi Village" has been changed!
When the designer was commissioned by the design of "Wuji Hermitage Mid-Mountain B&B", the attachment to Cangshan Erhai Lake and sunshine buried in his heart many years ago was awakened, and he created a B&B space architecture integrating time, memory and sunshine---- Wuji Hermitage Mid-Mountain Seaview B&B.
01 Survey and combing
This is a space that gathers oriental vacation homestays and has the characteristics of a Bai fishing village, which is very experiential!
After carefully surveying the topography and landform where the B&B is located, the designer found that this is a typical sloping house in the middle of the mountainside, with a bird's-eye view of Erhai Lake from the lower terrain and a deep halfway up the mountain. As a result, the designer came up with an ambitious idea: to build a new building with the characteristics of local Bai architecture in the open space near Erhai Lake, which will be integrated with the old buildings on the high ground to form an architectural settlement, with a height difference of nearly 10 meters, connected by a pedestrian staircase, forming an interesting building with sloping steps.
02 How to stay
In the design process of "Wuji Retreat Mid-Levels Homestay", the designer thought most about why and how people "lived" during the vacation.
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03 Minutes of light and shadow
Here, the designer grasps the sense of proportion of "defamiliarization". This "strangeness" is epitomized in the treatment of sunlight.
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This is the charm of "Wuji Hermitage Mid-Levels"!
"My Dali trip began with 'Longing For' and ended with 'Beautiful as Dawn.' To describe Erhai Lake, I think 'Beautiful as Dawn' is the perfect song. Gazing from the hotel's terrace, the calm lake shimmered like silk, and in that moment, all pretense felt cured, everything, like dawn, could start anew.
The hotel is run by four young people, two men and two women. Some are shy, some are talkative, but all share sweet smiles. From helping with luggage upon arrival to the daily afternoon tea and bedtime desserts, and being on call for anything in Wenchuan Village. Their humility, gentleness, and friendliness give Wu'er a unique charm in a city where guesthouses are fiercely competitive.
The room was clean and the bedding spotless, even satisfying my germaphobic tendencies. The food was delicious, distinctive yet inclusive, very unique but also accommodating. The anxiety I felt on the way here, seeing all the 'influencer-style' guesthouses halfway up the mountain, melted away the moment I saw my tastefully decorated room. I was here for a vacation, and it would have been a shame if it didn't live up to expectations. I'm so glad I chose Wu'er.
On my last night, I booked dinner at the hotel again. While waiting for my meal, I sat in the common area, admiring the beautiful view outside the window. Reflecting on all the drivers, guests, and proprietors I'd met over the past few days, I felt this trip was truly worthwhile. I'll cherish all these beautiful memories as I move on to my next journey. I increasingly believe: 'survival is elsewhere, life is here, in this moment, in Dali.'
Li Jian's songs were playing, and on a whim, I went to ask the lady if she could play 'Beautiful as Dawn.' She smiled and agreed. And so, what I heard, what I saw, and what I thought were all filled with beauty."