- Interior
- Architecture & development
Would you expect a house in the woods that resembles a mushroom to have a design thought out with as much detail as this? In any case, we were pleasantly surprised by The Mushroom; a project that clearly did not steal its name. Join us in entering this dreamy building that awakens your imagination and appears to have risen from the morning mist.
In a pine forest in Jiangxi, China, the sunlight filters a way through the leaves of the surrounding foliage to the façade of this mysterious building. It concerns The Mushroom, a design of architectural firm ZJJZ. They often conceptualise cultural and public spaces, such as art galleries, libraries, museums, and hotels, but they also easily find their way within residential projects. The team strongly believes in the idea that architecture is more than a physical construction that answers specific functions; instead, they consider it a place of interaction between different influences where rationality and spirituality can coexist. This project in the woods can certainly count for their portfolio since the combination of an intriguing concept and a strong layout is a memorable result. 
Light and shadow contribute to the feel of the interior in a poetic manner.
The Mushroom is, in fact, a linkage of two simple volumes. On the one hand, there is a circular element, with the living area and bedroom; on the other, the rectangular shape contains the bathroom and storage space. In the round volume, the architects placed a panoramic window that allows residents and visitors to cast a wide glance at the surroundings from different perspectives. There is also a horizontal window next to the bathtub, so that nature can enter the home from several angles. Another way to stimulate this is with the skylight in the roof. In this way, light and shadow can contribute to the feel of the interior in a poetic manner. Besides, the cone-shaped roof is cladded with the pine wood, and the greenery at the bottom of the building will take up a more prominent place on the outdoor walls with the passing of time. These walls consist of granolithic concrete; this is a type of material of which the colour can change according to time and humidity. This is, again, a way to allow the building to develop a harmony with the surrounding nature. 
The woods are a place that introduces something secretive and that gives the local architecture located a unique atmosphere. The Mushroom is an excellent example of this, because next to the striking shape, the environment is an absolute bonus. Imaginative projects as this should be more numerous, if you ask us.
Photography by Fangfang Tian