The contour of Edenland in Chengdu's LUXELAKES so closely approximates the symbolic heart shape that, at first glance, it inevitably evokes associations with love-related terms. When asked how DeepSeek interprets love, it posits: "To speak of love is ultimately to speak of ourselves — our yearnings, fears, and the perpetual endeavor to forge connections for others." The heart-shaped island floating above Chengdu's LUXELAKES is also creating a form of connection. Situated at the core area of Chengdu's LUXELAKES, it extends its bridges and roads radially across the aquatic expanse. Like arterial networks, it connects key community clusters such as Luxezone ,WaveBox Park and LuxeIsland.
An axis running southeast to northwest and an axis running north to south seem to act as two "arteries" that penetrate the small island. The north-south axis is slightly winding; in fact, it is an extension of the LUXELAKES’internal road, with culverts sinking into the island's central area, imposing stricter requirements on building location and load capacity. Under such conditions, we have built three structures on this heart-shaped island, designed as 'atria'. Through spatial intervention, we aim to catalyze gatherings and translate abstract connections into a tangible presence.
Each building serves distinct functions: specifically ceremonial pursuits, social needs, and gustatory desires. The auditorium, with its back to the northwest and its face to the southeast, is positioned along the southeast-northwest axis. It overlaps with the bridge to evoke romantic imagery, like Cupid's arrow piercing the heart. The restaurant and water bar are situated on the eastern and western extremities of the island, each occupying one end, separated by a lawn expanse spanning approximately a hundred paces.
The auditorium building is located at the intersection of two axes and is combined with the water bar. By bending a large ellipse downward and folding it into two pieces along the median line, a triangular space is formed, with the spatial plane approximating a trapezoid, narrow in the west and wide in the east. The silver-white roof resembles wings, reducing the sense of massiveness and oppression; the building's volume of oppression is weakened, making the structure as a whole lighter, almost weightless, with a subtle sense of instability.
The roof on the west side of the auditorium adopts a more rounded profile, overall upward and pointing skyward, creating a bass whistle whenever the evening breeze caresses it. This upward momentum is not a religious metaphor but instead subtly resonates with the gradually intensifying buzz of murmured private conversations in the water bar, propelling the ritual atmosphere toward its climax and upward into the sky.
The western façade of the auditorium is constructed with semi-transparent glass bricks arranged in a pixelated grid. As the setting sun penetrates this luminous matrix, fragmented hues of the sky cascade into the ceremonial space, gilding both the guests' hair tips and the newlyweds' vows with golden light. This invitation for guests to share in the newlyweds' journey through life's pivotal moments—as the interplay of light and shadow redefines the ritual's essence—transforms the ceremony from a one-way show into a collective reunion where participants bear witness. Thus, the auditorium has taken the initiative to dissolve the ritual distance of observation, transforming the act of watching into a state of presence, and connecting every encounter brought about by karmic coincidence.
The east side of the auditorium is completely open to the central lawn. During ceremonies, every detail resonates with the pre-designed architectural functions. Beyond these occasions, the auditorium equally embraces visitors, serving as a meeting place for countless chance encounters. The art of balance in Chengdu people is vividly on display here, where groups of two or three gather with craft beer of complex brewing process at their feet, yet hold up Sichuan specialty snacks bought at Jianshe Road food stalls in their hands, retaining the tacit social understanding of refusing to be labeled.
The water bar is a reflection of the auditorium, manifesting as a more straightforward connection. Down the grassy slope on the south side of the auditorium, you can reach the west side of the island, where the water bar lies. The spatial center of gravity of the curved building is lowered, its thin profile resembling a sail.
The gray space beneath the cantilevered roof serves as the outdoor seating area of the water bar, with the wooden deck, beach, and pool forming a continuous spatial interface. With several leisure beach umbrellas and a few paddleboards, the water bar at this moment seems to be a transparent vessel, containing Chengdu's unique leisure and tranquility, dissolving ambitions. It is the most vivid commentary on spatial narrative. Not far from the water bar, someone was leaping into the pool, splashing, laughing, and completing a more explosive growth.
The restaurant is situated on the eastern side of Edenland, with its two-story structure seamlessly integrated into the hillside, its cascading profile aligning harmoniously with the contour lines. The building is long and narrow, and the volume has been deliberately compressed to make it thinner. This design creates a subtle tension in the space: each table is positioned close to the window, allowing diners' lines of sight to penetrate the opposite window and extend their views into a broader area. Meanwhile, floor-to-ceiling windows dissolve the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, while the permeable interface invites a visual adventure. Outside, outdoor space is reserved near the lakeside for al fresco seating. The perforated-metal-paneled porch filters out Sichuan’s scorching heat, providing shade for visitors.
And the bifurcated hollow-core columns are the true narrators of the space. Inside, they segment the spatial order by means of a 3-meter module, with each column span half-enclosing a "borderless booth," creating an island-like social privacy gradient—neither fully exposed nor completely isolated. Each "island" accommodates only one dining table, ensuring the independence of each group’s seating. A series of these "islands" are assembled here, mirroring the intricate layers of narratives that Chengdu itself embodies.
When Edenland becomes a spatial connector, we aim to employ transparent sightlines to alleviate social alienation, interwoven circulation paths to counteract fragmentation, and physical proximity to catalyze psychological resonance. Those encounters preset by the space weave inpidual narratives into public memories, where people arrive there with their own memories yet glimpse reflections of others. The overlapping refractions from glass bricks, the subtle warmth transmitted by the wooden paving, and the fleeting gaze captured within the interstices of bifurcated columns—these elements quietly unrave the proposition that establishing connections with others is a form of self-recognition through the mirror of alterity.