DESIGN CONCEPT

Husband and wife team Mr. Pan Shiyi and Ms. Zhang Xin are the co-founders of private real estate developer SOHO China.

Commune by the Great Wall is one of their most renowned projects, exhibited at the 2002 la Biennale di Venezia, and winning Zhang a special prize for her “bold personal initiative”

The Commune is a private collection of contemporary architecture designed by 12 Asian architects, set in a shared landscape where modernism and tradition blend together.


Forest House – Architects statement – Nobuaki Furuya (Japan)


"I believe that the major role of architecture is to provide a space for people to encounter something or someone. An important task for architecture is to make people go where they would have never visited without that building and see some unforeseen, unknown topography or landscape, be it urban or natural.

Also, architecture can be an opportunity for people to come together, to encounter one another and come into contact with the spirits of others in the anonymous field of the urban city or nature. It can thus become a place of accumulated memories for all people who meet there either on purpose or by accident. It also gives people the possibility to remind themselves of their values through a spatial memory of a building.

The task of building a residence in the beautiful forest by the Great Wall creates an opportunity for an encounter with unknown people, as well as with the very particular topography and views of the Great Wall in the distance. In the interior of the house, scooped out of the woods, people will feel like they are encircled by forest even when in the house. It is here that one can sense, as Alberto Giacommetti described, being a ball of light within the vast expanse of forest.   In other words, people are led here by the architecture, to commune with nature and with precious friends, and in so doing sense something of the sentiment of Giacometti. The project employs ordinary local materials; however, it will form an extraordinary space through its novel methods of construction. From the rooms with repeated vertical slits, people will view each different scene from their occupied space, and the view of nature will change as they move around in the room. After all, a visitor will actively choose their location in the room so that they can enjoy their own spatial experience. It is like "editing" the experience and is a beginning of continuous interaction between architecture, topography, and forest."


FEATURES

The Forest House has four bedrooms over 2 levels, the main with en-suite. Spacious open plan living area and dining room.

Various parties, conferences can be held inside the house, and barbeques and private meetings can take place on the terrace.


LOCATION

Located in the Shuiguan Mountains amidst 8 square kilometres of private land. Commune by the Great Wall is 1 hour’s drive away from Beijing Capital International Airport, 20 kilometres away from the main train station (Qing Long Qiao station) and 50 minutes’ drive from Beijing city centre, the property enjoys an easy access via the Badaling Expressway. 15 minutes’ drive from Badaling private airport, available for helicopters (20 minutes’ transfer from Beijing Capital International Airport) and small aircrafts on the 800 metres long runway.


RATES

Walnut Valley Presidential Villas – contact Commune for availability and pricing

Commune by the Great Wall is also open to the public. if villas are not occupied by guests, visitors are allowed inside & outside, otherwise just the exteriors are open for a fee of RMB 120 per person.

Stone Valley

Standard Rooms from RMB 2500 per night
Deluxe Rooms from RMB 3300 per night