Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, China
The Zhangjiajie Sand Painting Museum, designed by Zhang Hua Studio, celebrates the unique art form of sand painting, a modern art form that incorporates natural pigments and materials to reflect the stunning natural landscapes and cultural heritage of the region, integrating traditional Chinese architecture elements, particularly the Tujia stilted houses, and mirrors the textures and layering techniques found in sand painting.
The project has been awarded a 2024 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
In Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, where the”World Natural Heritage Wulingyuan National Scenic Spot” is located, the natural scenery is beautiful.
The sand painting born here is a kind of modern art native to China, rich in the local artistic characteristics of Chinese native, especially in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
Breaking through traditional painting materials and utilizing the color scheme of natural plants to creatively use nature, it has great artistic value and collection, with unique artistic charm.
The architectural surface of the Sand Painting Museum extracts the typical composition of sand painting art.
The oblique overlapping wooden grilles resemble the texture depicted by sand painting, as well as the crisscrossing roof of a stilted building.
The inner layer is stacked with local stone, resembling a textured canvas.
Inside the courtyard, the same motif is extracted and combined with the architecture to create a unique composition with sand painting characteristics, resembling the scattered layers of residential buildings in the painting, abstractly and vividly depicting natural scenery and cultural customs.
The entire building is like a sandstone painting, with the charm of Chinese painting, the freshness of watercolor painting, the solemnity of oil painting, the delicacy of craft painting, and the three-dimensional sense of semi relief.
The stilted building is a traditional residential building in the tujia village, with a wooden structure. It is known as a “wonderful work of Chinese ethnic architecture” and is one of the crystallization of agricultural civilization.
It not only represents national culture, but also has enormous historical research value, satisfying people’s appreciation and poetic nostalgia.
The stilted Building is considered the best form of ecological architecture due to its ecological protection.
Jun Sheng sand painting highly abstractly beautifies the artistic image of the stilted building, deeply ingrained in people’s hearts, and has become a new cultural and artistic feature of Zhangjiajie.
The façade details of the Sand Painting Museum are embedded with the image of a stilted building and the artistic meaning of the sand painting, arranged in a staggered manner, fully exploring the original beauty of the building, and reflecting the beauty of the building’s form, space, hierarchy, and outline.
It showcases unique ethnic customs, with unique forms and styles that give people a strong aesthetic feeling. It not only displays elegant and graceful beauty, but also demonstrates a strong and vigorous momentum, and creates a unique romantic atmosphere in the art academy.
The beautiful scenery and mountains of Zhangjiajie are far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The mountains and stones of Zhangjiajie are the spirits nurtured by nature, like a large bonsai made in heaven and earth.
After hundreds of millions of years of weathering, erosion, and sedimentation, the peaks and peaks are well arranged and well spaced, with natural density and picturesque scenery.
The landscape and scenery in the sand painting are all constructed by stones and plants nurtured by the spiritual energy of Zhangjiajie’s heaven and earth, with a unique aroma of soil, sweet spring water, and sweet and astringent grass.
The architectural form of the Sand Painting Museum is surrounded by mountains and rivers, like several huge rocks scattered among the beautiful scenery.
The vast areas are majestic, while the subtle areas are exquisite and beautiful. Wandering among them, the scenery seen from various angles is different and breathtaking, just like in the Golden Whip Creek, where the Danyan is shining and the floating clouds are lingering; In the sand and stone painting, the stone peaks are faintly visible, and the scene is ever-changing.
Project: Zhangjiajie Sand Painting Museum
Architects: Zhang Hua Studio
Lead Architect: Hua Zhang
Design Team: Qian Li, Qing Guo, Qingwen Sun, Qian Wang, and Jianwu Wang
General Contractor: Hunan Construction and Installation Engineering Co., Ltd.
Client: Zhangjiajie Junsheng Sand Painting Co., Ltd.
Photographers: Su Chen, UK Studio
