Yihuang 1st High School Complex / Leeko Studio

Since the well-known Dom-Ino prototype was proposed by Le Corbusier in 1914, it has been widely applicable to modern architectures mostly characterized by the interaction between horizontal floor slabs and vertical column grids. Even in the original open floor plan modular prototype, Le Corbusier left room for the interactive possibilities between the horizontal structure and vertical structure in construction details. While the vertical columns are required to be poured on-site, the horizontal floor slabs can be broken down into building blocks, which can be prefabricated in the factory and assembled on the construction site. This minimal, easy-to-build, and cost-effective space model not only makes it possible for mass production of space driven by the capital in the industry of architecture in the 20th century but also provides architects with a foundational frame for space design, paving the way for them to explore the infinite possibilities of space between grids and planes under appropriately confined conditions. Yihuang 1st High School Complex, a project recently completed by Leeko Studio, is designed based on Le Corbusier’s Dom-Ino prototype. Architect Leeko created an interlaced complex on campus with floor slabs overlapped on the 4500 square meters space. The complex responded to both the surroundings of the city and the campus with grid shifting and pivoting on the horizontal level, and it also fulfilled the different space spans requirements through overlapping and transferred structures at the vertical level. Ultimately, a competitive interaction between horizontal slabs and vertical column grids is formed to create an open and multi-functional complex on the campus.