pop up canopy in dashilar by people's architecture office

pop up canopy in dashilar by people’s architecture office

beijing design week’s curator beatrice lanza commissioned people’s architecture office to create an in-situ installation in the old hutong dashilar, where most of the design interventions of the festival were hosted.

the pop-up canopy returns the yard of the traditional chinese courtyard house to its original function as the primary social space of the house. traditionally trees were an essential component of the yard, providing shade during the summer months while allowing sunlight to filter through during the winter months. through china’s tumultuous urban development, however, trees disappeared from many courtyards as these single family homes were subdivided into multi-family dwellings. illegally built structures filled the yards leaving only enough space for narrow walkways let alone trees.

as part of the dashilar pilot project for beijing design week, people’s architecture office had the opportunity to clear out the illegal structures of the courtyard and allow the yard to function once again as an essential social space. the canopy spans across the yard supported only by the eaves of the surrounding roofs leaving the space underneath unobstructed. the pop-up structure acts in the same manner as a tree providing shade during summers. it can also be easily dismantled and stored during the winter.

the pop-up canopy consists of a light weight structure made of collapsible loops covered in fabric. the entire structure can be folded into a small package for storage and can be quickly deployed with minimal effort. the loops are in-fact ready-mades — reflectors used in photography — that have been re-appropriated as structural sun-shading. the loops are grouped into modular units that can be assembled to fit various courtyards.

additionally, the courtyard is traditionally a private space. covering the central yard, the pop-up canopy rises above the central space to a height that can be seen from a distance from outside of the house.

populating the neighborhood of dashilar with pop-up canopies indicates that the selected courtyards are no longer strictly private but are now open to visitors, further extending their function as social spaces.