archiplein folds tianzhoushan tea house into 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.

view from the top of the mountain 

the fragmented volume 

entrance from the pedestrian path

the relationship between nature and the building

open space on the ground floor

circulation path

the atrium

the path gently slopes to connect the upper level

the balcony overlooking the atrium

the basement on the water’s edge

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.