Ningbo, China
Located in Yunanshangang, Sangzhou Town, Ninghai County, Zhejiang, Qingxi Culture and History Museum in Sangzhou by Wu Zhenling and his design team of The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd. (UAD) is positioned as a small cultural and tourism building that features a visitor center, an exhibition space, and an experience center of Sangzhou Town’s culture and history.
The Qingxi Culture and History Museum has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The base is far away from the hustle and bustle of city life, with only one country road connecting the villages nearby with local villagers working in fields every now and then.
Due to the distinct height discrepancy, the recessed platform ascends from north to south with a wide view on the north side, and the project enjoys beautiful terraces on the east and west sides and views of mountains in the distance.
The base is built on a beautiful terraced field, close to mountains and rivers.
Based on the overall natural environment, the exterior space of the building integrates with nature and surroundings in its design language.
Its silhouette takes cues from the original terraced fields, making the building blend in with the environment.
The rooftop is designed to be covered with crops, just like the terrace fields nearby.
The indoor spatial design is consistent with the external shape.
Irregular walls and staggered rooftops render every space unique and delicate, like different trails in the countryside.
Natural light is introduced through high windows or skylights into the walls and the ground, forming enjoyable views full of changes.
Experienced stonemasons in the town were employed to select natural stones and construct the building, striving for presenting the most original features of terraced fields.
Simple techniques and methods enable the entire building to be in line with the natural environment both in texture and appearance at close range.
Detailed components are also meticulously created by craftsmen, such as stone window frames and drips.
Materials for the indoor spaces, including the fair-faced concrete roof, the white diatom mud wall, and the wood-colored doors and windows, are adopted to reflect the primitive feelings of the countryside.
Sited at a corner of the valley, the rustic building “dissolves” and naturally blends with the mountains and rivers that have a history of thousands of years.
Environment functions as a composite unity that integrates natural and artificial spaces with different functions.
Therefore, as a substantial building in such a context, it embodies not only the style and appearance but also a practical expression of the long-standing social, cultural, and technological environment systems and the best recognition of nature and hometown.
The architecture features a “dissolved” volume and delicate spaces through appropriate craftsmanship.
The completed building echoes every element of the surroundings, ranging from terraced field, creek, to bridge and lane.
Like a magic structure that can show unexpected surprises, the designers aimed to create a small cultural base that reflects rustic features and regional characteristics in a modest design language and a vernacular form.
Project: Qingxi Culture and History Museum in Sangzhou
Architects: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd. (UAD)
Lead Architect: Wu Zhenling
Design Team: Zhang Jiachen, Li Ning, Wang Yingni, and Chen Yu
General Contractor: Ningbo Donghong Ecological Construction Co., Ltd.
Client: Ninghai County Culture Tourism Group Co. Ltd.
Photographers: Zhao Qiang
