archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china

adopting a toaist approach to integration with nature, the building follows the movement of the landscape on this sacred mountain in china.


archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into chinese mountain
all images courtesy of archiplein

 

 

 

based on traditional chinese paintings, where nature flows seamlessly within the composition, the ‘tianzhoushan tea house’ by chinese studio archiplein has a strong relationship with the surrounding environment. the project is located in anhui province, in one of the five sacred taoist mountains of china and the main influence for the design was its integration into this sacred context. the volume follows the general movement of the landscape, so that the architecture is not the main focus – instead a philosophy of ‘vanishing’ was developed, orchestrating the built form and the mountain as one. the bending form follows the topography of the land and is defined as a series of different faces, minimizing its size and overall visual impact.

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 1
view from the top of the mountain 

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 2
the fragmented volume 

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 3
entrance from the pedestrian path

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 4
the relationship between nature and the building

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 5
open space on the ground floor

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 6
circulation path

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 7
the atrium

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 8
the path gently slopes to connect the upper level

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 9
the balcony overlooking the atrium

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 10
the basement on the water’s edge

 

 

archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into mountain in china - 11
detail of textured concrete wall

 

 

project info:

 

architects: archiplein
location: anhui, china
year: 2009-2011
size: 1000m²
photograph: frédéric henriques

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.