Tao’s poetry inspires aoe’s Shanxiao Pavilion in China

Tao’s poetry inspires Shanxiao Pavilion by aoe studio in China

The Shanxiao Pavilion by architecture firm aoe is a glass cube wrapped by a cloud-like grid running across the facades. The building appears to raise from misty waters and merges into the surrounding nature to almost disappear.

Shanxiao Pavilion by aoe studio - photo by Huang Ligang, courtesy of aoe architecture studio

Shanxiao Pavilion by aoe studio – All photos by Huang Ligang, courtesy of aoe architecture studio.

Architecture – How can it leave on me no trace? Secluded heart makes a secluded place. I pick fence-side asters at will; Carefree I see the southern hill. The mountain air’s fresh day and night; Together birds go home in flight. Wrote Ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuanming. Inspired by these verses, Beijing-based studio aoe has completed the Shanxiao Pavilion in Nashan, in near the city of Chongqing, China, a poetic land covered by forests on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

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The architects tuned the pavilion with the elegant and introverted spirit of Nashan as well as its traditional architecture which merges with nature. “We refined the traditional architectural culture and natural landscape of Nanshan as the main tempo.” Explain at aoe studio. “We used modern technical language and artistic creation techniques to transform it into our architectural language, so that visitors can experience the artistic concept of hidden in the nature.”

The building is composed of two parts: a sales office engraved and hidden in nature which highlights the concept of ‘seclusion’ and a commercial part which hosts also cultural and recreational events and activities.

Wrapped around the glass facade, a louver protecting from sunlight float around the curtain wall. The grid “resembles a long scroll landscape painting, and its changes show the shape of the clouds and fog that stretches in Nanshan”.

The glass curtain walls with gradual mist and perforated louvers are integrated so that the whole building seems floating in the clouds. Spraying devices create fog around the building every day. “the mist becomes another layer facade for the building, creating a wonderland of Nanshan”.

aoe is an award-winning architecture and interior design studio based in Beijing, China. “We design solutions fusing science and technology with the arts and culture, resulting in an inspired and much-needed reinvention of urban living – all the while, respecting local cultures, nature, and different ways of life.”