Located in the Jiuzhai Valley, China, Is the beautiful visitor center created by Tsinghua University Architectural Research and Design Institute (THAD, for its acronym in English) in which its location between the mountains was used to create a space with unique characteristics.
It turns out that this firm undertook the project after the earthquake that occurred in Jiuzhaigou in 2017 and completely wiped out the world heritage site.
The enclosure was designed with the intention of increasing tourism in the region, turning the structure into a milestone.
The installations of this place, created to receive millions of visitors each year, borrowed the undulations of the topography, the curves of the mountains, the flow of the river and the dynamics of nature.
Realizing these influences through organic design and parametric architecture, THAD envisioned an architectural design that could chronicle the correlation between natural and man-made elements.
The project is located in a privileged site in the valley, between the three mountains of the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture, also known as Aba, in China's Sichuan province.
This venue explores how artificial construction can literally fit into natural scenic spots by meeting the exact requirements of multiple tourism functions and maintaining the natural order of the original environment in a world heritage site.
Something that is surprising (and quite surprising) is that the valley formed by the three mountains seems to be in the center of the site, so the plan of the visitor center follows a pattern in which most of the volumes built are based on that central point.
Because it respects the shape of the place, the building that was built also diverges from the center point, thus gradually shrinking as you get further away.
Thanks to this, the Jiuzhai Valley Visitor Center has a balanced presence with its surroundings and can blend, in a totally organic way, with the nature of the place.
