[Hourglass at the moment] steel - cable - membrane - ice - sand

The hourglass keeps track of the time we have forgotten. We want to use quicksand to record time, use the passage to wake up memories. Taking the opportunity to design a building for Anaya, the design team came up with the Hourglass of the Moment. The inspiration of steel, cable, membrane, ice and sand architecture came from the designer's walking night in Anaya Beach, where the moonlight fell beside the sparkling ocean and our feet stepped on the soft sand beach. We captured the moment of the integration of nature and time, and then came up with the idea of recording time. The most heartwarming memories in our hearts are the few moments we spent with those close to us. At that time, I thought that a period of time was within reach at ordinary times, but when I look back suddenly after a few years, I will touch the most soft and tender moment in my heart.

The main structure of the building is hourglass membrane structure, cable structure, steel structure and so on. We want to interact with the sand in the most light and exquisite way. We adhere to the building materials from nature, use nature, return to nature, pay attention to the ecological protection of the building. Therefore, for the outer envelope, we chose natural river ice that had been mined. As the weather warms, the ice melts in the sun and the sand returns to the beach. The membrane structure in the building will be removed and displayed as exhibits, and the words people write on the membrane will be retained as unique memories. [Hourglass at the moment] steel - cable - membrane - ice - sand

The structural design and cable membrane design were jointly completed by the structural design team that participated in the design of Qatar World Cup stadium. Meanwhile, this design also invited the professional ice carving team from Harbin Ice and Snow World to build the outer protective wall for us. The conical shape of the hourglass and the circular walls around it are similar to the shape of several spoked self-anchoring cable structures designed by the structural design team of Beijing Construction Institute in recent years. The so-called spoked self-anchoring involves anchoring all the cable forces in a ring beam around the cable, like a bicycle wheel that can self-balance.

According to this idea, the Hourglass designed a scaled down version of the cable membrane structure system of the Lussel Stadium. At the center of the hourglass is a compression pole that holds up the roof while also supporting the cable membrane at the lower end of the spokes. In the lower part of the spoke, eight cables and the membrane surface together carry the sand in the hourglass. The membrane surface is made of PTFE mesh coating material, which takes into account the strength and light transmission. The upper part of the spoke is the roof of the unit, which uses the same ETFE membrane as the "Water Cube" to ensure light transmission.

We designed a little funnel for pouring sand into the hourglass, called the Time Funnel. It is a fan-shaped propaganda poster rolled up to form a bucket that can be used to hold sand or stand on a desk as a calendar to keep track of time. Residents and visitors to the sand-collecting event can get the "time funnel" by participating in Christmas promotional activities or directly from the building's entrance. The sand on the beach is gradually collected by people in funnels and poured through round holes into the top of the hourglass.

When the bell rings, everyone pulls the ribbon in their hands, opens the hourglass, and the sand pours down instantly, symbolizing the spurting golden time. You can take a pen to write down the words for the future expectations on the hourglass membrane, and record the good wishes together.

The building's constituent elements are taken from nature. The ice brick refracts the sunlight, casting a brilliant rainbow for the interior; The sand fell freely, like time, never to return. As time goes by, the weather gets warmer, the quicksand returns to the beach, the ice disappears into the sea, leaving only a membrane, recording the memories of Anaya 2023, but also recording everyone's heart for the future of the most sincere hope. During the sand collection, we were surprised to hear people at the door asking each other what wishes they had made as they poured sand into the hourglass. This is a kind of unexpected happiness that we did not think of when designing. The architecture carries not only the sense of ceremony at that moment, but also the infinite hope of people.

Architect: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

Area: 30 m²

Project year: 2022

Photographer: o | tree: studio, there are buildings - photography

Chief Architect: Yang Xiyan

Design team: Yang Xiyan, Chen Zhi research, Li Guanjia

Design guidance: Fu Yizhi, Hu Yang, Malong

Structure design: Chen Yi

Flood lighting: Ma Xiuhong, Zhao Yining

Economics Major: Wang Fan

Electrical Major: Li Shuang

Construction party: Beijing Shishang Culture Communication Co., LTD

Designer: The Architect season of the offer

A special note of thanks: Gai Mohe, Sun Biao, Dong Gong, Zhang Han, Feng Chao-ying, Chen Guo-en, Lin Peng-xiang, Long Zhi-yu, Li Chao-chang, Luo Gui-fu, Ma Qi-rui, Li Jin-yi

Client: Anaya International Cultural Development Co. LTD

This article is reprinted from: www.archdaily.cn