TAO: viewing pavilion on a hill in china rises from the woods

TAO architecture office: viewing pavilion on hill image © yao li

on the shores of the chinese coastal city of shandong, the volumes of a hilltop viewing pavilion rise from the lines of sight afforded by the tree-filled terrain. the planimetric composition of the trace architecture office-designed structure is drawn from the branching forms of the landscape and creates a half buried, half cantilevered building. the elevation is characterize by dynamic change so as to create an experience centered on circulation for visitors as well as help reframe the panoramic views. walking down a half level leads to the interior of a teahouse and gallery space with artfully composed apertures. stark, white interiors wrap around the gnarled lines of trees in the surrounding woods and eventually the space opens to a viewing platform that invites in the ocean. the three viewing tubes are ended with a generous square of glazing that runs perpendicular to a rooftop terrace.

the volumes rise from the woodsimage  © yao li 

main staircase exemplifies sensitivity to the existing landscape image  © yao li 

the architecture is embedded into the hilltopimage  © yao li 

three volumes jut out toward the coastlineimage  © yao li 

image  © yao li 

view of the occupiable roof image  © yao li 

exteriors show a typology of rising and sunken spaces image  © yao li 

planes and glazing wrap around trees image  © yao li 

image  © yao li 

interior view of one of the volumesimage  © yao li 

apertures reframe the environment image  © yao li 

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project info:

title: viewing pavilion on hilllclient: weihai bereau of landscape and forestrylocation: weihai, shandong, chinaprogram: terrace of viewing, gallery, tearoom, officearchitect: hua li / tao (trace architecture office)design team: hua li, jiang nan, yu haiwenconstruction company: weihai construction group incsite area: 1380 sq. m.floor area: 256 sq. m.number of floor levels: 1structural system: reinforced concretedesign: 2011construction: 2012photography: yao li, hua li