<Archdaily>Zhaojun Museum / CADG-Qistudio

Architects

: CADG-Qistudio

Location

: 209 National Rd, Yuquan, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China

Lead Architects

: Xiaoxin Cao, Hong Zhan, Rong Shang, Li Liang, Tao Song

Area

: 15092.0 m2

Project Year

: 2017

Photographs

: Haiting Sun, Guangyuan Zhang

Manufacturers

: Sika

Text description provided by the architects. Zhaojun Museum locates 9 kilometers to the south Hohhot and 20 kilometers to Hohhot Baita International Airport. The museum was completed in August, 2017. After repeated verification and comparisons, the new site of Zhaojun Museum was eventually selected to locate at the starting point of Zhaojun Green Tomb south axis. Since the massive architecture is set at the origin of paved path and the south front of scenic spot, it will reform the site to create a new axis, and then be connected to the Zhaojun Aotsuka - built 2000 years ago in time and space.

Reappearance and Recreation
According to the archaeological researches, Zhaojun Aotsuka was built in Han Dynasty 2000 years ago and rammed with earth. The height of current Zhaojun Aotsuka is around 31 meters. The new museum intends to pay tribute to Zhaojun Aotsuka by representing construction statue and emotion.

Traversing and Gathering
The large funnel-wedge-shaped sunken plaza on the southern side of the museum is designed to gather visitors to the park’ s entrance space compulsively to a certain extend. It also intends to create more possibilities for interactivity. The massing of the museum makes way for the central axis, allowing the Zhaojun Aotsuka to be visible from the outside, and even from the city road. As people pass through the axis, the image of the Zhaojun Aotsuka varies from visible to invisible, from disappeared to exposed, which creates interactions with people.

Synergy and Difference
The modernity of contemporary craftsmanship does not fit the original intention of the new museum and the huge mound conceived by us. Therefore, we adopt a different approach from the classic language of modern architecture, and let the material be the main body of the space by the means of less artificial. Relying on research, we aware of the concrete will show the same characteristics by mold and retarder. At the same time, we show contemporary technology by not fixing slab joints. In the project, we used glued bamboo as "wood", not only because of the material's recyclability and wood appearance, but also because it is superior to the mechanical properties of wood. Large canopy is completely formed by the structure, which performs a better tensile property of the glued bamboo.

The Interior Scene and the External Environment
The interior material logic still extends the outdoor "earth and wood" feelings. We put forward the concept of "room scene" of public space that is forming different space "Scene" in the same space at different angles. The "positive and negative" triangular window at the axis of the building penetrates the axis landscape of the scenic spot, and gives an interesting "picture frame", it will connect the building interior and exterior together. Compared with the interior, we design a broader environment: The continuous epidermis of a triangle is formed by grass planting and imitation of rammed concrete surface, constructing the micro terrain ups and downs, spreading the control of the building over the wider earth.