Step 2 of 6

A typical roof?

Related Images

  • Fig : Roof on the Hall of Supreme harmony in the Forbidden City, Beijing - [Wikicommons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HighStatusRoofDeco.jpg#/media/File:HighStatusRoofDeco.jpg)
  • Fig : Detail of the original construction plan for De Pagode

De Chinese Pagode also flaunts a Chinese style roof. It is probably the roof design that is perceived as one of the most iconic aspects of traditional Chinese architecture. This might have been the exact reason why the Dutch architects (Kapitein Jacobs Kapitein architekten) wanted to include it in their design. Throughout the Netherlands, there aren’t many buildings with such a design.

Typical of Chinese roofs are the gracefully curved shapes, often made through clever use of wooden jointing systems.See Kelly Pang, China Highlights, https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/architecture/roofs.htm The design looks elegant and graceful, and depending on the region, roofs can vary in steepness in order to allow water to drain.

The most impressive roofs in China can be found in the Forbidden City. There, the roofs of the imperial buildings feature the famous “walking beasts”:auspicious animals that show off the status of the imperial family.

The roof of De Chinese Pagode is made with the levels of the building in mind, where, in contrast to regular pagodas, the higher levels serve a residential purpose. The purpose of the lower level is, of course, to accommodate the restaurant.