Two twisting, turning exposed brick shells assert their presence, rising from the grass amid the expansive Chinese countryside. An experiment in the creation of form with the humble brick, the structure seems to ask, what more can a brick do? Designed by HCCH Studio, a Shanghai-based architecture practice that focuses on public art projects apart from standard architecture or interior design work attempting to question the discipline and norm of practice, the elastic model of the structure stretches the bounds of possibility with its volute form. It proposes an experimental perspective on architecture that sits like a sculpture, there to stand the test of time as everything around it changes. As the architects mention, the structure was built as an exploration of 'the fusion between contemporary formal expression and vernacular material culture,' acting as a seeming folly by them in the natural landscape it sits in.

Eccentric, sculptural structures that seemingly serve no purpose, are non-essential per se, follies became a popular element in 18^th century English landscape designs as a means to evoke images of exotic lands and lead viewers through the landscape by framing them in particular ways. Typically, the folly would be depicted as temples, towers, or sham ruins, with the ruins often depicting the notion of the passage of time. Foregoing such formal expressions of architecture, the approximately 10 metres in diameter and 5 metres high brick pavilion was designed as two semicircles overlapping each other and forming a continuous surface by the Chinese architects.

Blurring distinctions between the interior and exterior with an open form, the shell of the library is also embedded with transparent acrylic balls that allow visitors to read text within them, with the text overlaying the landscape. Sunlight filtering into the space creates a moment of pause, allowing the visitor to connect with nature, with sounds from the surroundings mingling with the slow natural light, and a juxtaposition of text and nature. Each of the bricks for the shell was cast in situ into a steel framework, creating an interesting pixelated helical pattern, uncommon for traditional brick architecture.

The word folly comes from the French folie or madness. This light touch of playfulness—for those who would expect to find a bulbous brick structure that looks like a conch amid rice fields—is what characterises the folly from the more formal pavilion. The intelligent madness of the folly requires that a viewer/occupant suspend reason and notions of function, and indulge in flights of imagination. The folly suggests a foolishness that verges on freedom for it can be whatever one wants it to be. There is a certain freedom in the space of the brick structure, which allows you to simply dwell, and read if you want to. The shell, allegedly a library not only heightens connections to nature with a form open to the elements in a way that could feel transportative.

The fashion for follies allowed designers not only to indulge their imaginations but also to show off their technical knowledge. About the individualistic design of the structure, the architects note, “This is a bold attempt at rural construction, integrating digital industrialisation with traditional materials.” The note goes on to mention the challenges they faced in distributing the bricks on the double-curved surface. The bricks were positioned using a steel framework, which was filled with high-strength concrete. Twelve different sizes of brick were used along the UV grid to ensure the radial continuity of the structure. Follies, without any true purpose, sit in the tension between reason and madness. But there is usually a method in the madness. While they offer a look at the other side of architecture—the ephemeral, the theatrical, the absurd—they can also act as contained experiments to push its bounds.

The vaulted brick structure created by the Chinese architecture practice is more than just a shade, or a canopy. The architects intended to create ‘a transcendent experience’, a vehicle for contemplation about our place in the world. The folly in the midst of rural China like those in English gardens questions, 'Is architecture what remains when everything else is gone? What relationship do we have with our surroundings? What purpose should architecture serve?'

Project Details

Name: Twisted Brick Shell Concept Library
Location: Longyou, Zhejiang Province, China
Year of completion: 2023
Design team: Hao Chen, Chenchen Hu, Yida Hou, Wenxi Li, Xi Cai
Structural consultant: Zhun Zhang/AND office