The theater art boutique hotel is located in Sanya, Hainan province. The site is along the main road across a residence village development, and the hotel is one of several resort facilities to arouse vibrancy to the neighborhood. The design intended for the architecture to become part of the theater art. A thick layer of “earth” is lifted up and two theaters occurred: one is the “cave theater” underneath the “earth”. The other is the “urban theater” above the earth. An amphitheatre is situated across the square directly facing the hotel terraces. The public coming from the north side could enter the “cave theater” to watch the “abstraction of reality” as a beholder, and then climb up to the public rooftop facing the amphitheater, and become both speculators and actors in the “urban theater”. Eight hotel rooms are embedded inside the thick layer of “earth”, each with a private terrace in the front. Hence the architecture is transformed into both a stage and a stand. A metal mesh curtain is hung at the north side intending to recall the boundary that is occasionally blurring between the theater and the reality.
Bio PRAXiS d'ARCHITECTURE was founded in 2009. Our design adopts an ingenious and harmonious approach to integrate architecture and its surroundings based on our understandings of the site's cultural and physical context. We strive to create extraordinary spatial experiences by using economic, Eco-friendly and local materials and available means of construction. Regardless of project scale, we seek to fully realize architecture’s practical values while fulfilling it with spirits. Shaohua Di is the founding principal of the firm. She holds a B.Arch from Tianjin University and an M.Arch from MIT.
Other prizes Awards 2020 Design Educates Awards, Honorable Mention, Spring Art Museum, LAKA Foundation 2019 WAN Awards, Bauhaus Gold Prize, Tianyun Industrial Complex, UK 2019 Architecture Survey and Design Awards, Second prize, Tianyun Industrial Complex, China 2019 Master Architecture Prize, Firm of the year/Small Multidisciplinary, PRAXiS d’ ARCHITECTURE, US 2019 Master Architecture Prize, Winner, Tianyun Industrial Complex, US 2019 German Design Awards, Winner, Tianyun Industrial Complex, Germany 2018 The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design Awards, Spring Art Museum, US 2017 American Architecture Prize, Firm of the Year Awards Short listed, PRAXiS d’ARCHITECTURE, US 2017 Iconic Architecture Awards, Winner, Ying Gallery, Germany 2016 World Interior News Awards, Final winner, Importance of Walking Store, UK 2016 Iconic Architecture Awards, Winner, Spring Art Museum, Germany 2016 A’ Design Bronze Awards, Spring Art Museum, Italy 2016 Architizer A+Awards, Special Mention, PRAXiS d’ARCHITECTURE Studio (Dongfeng art District 11-1), US
