Location: Shunde, China.

Architect: Li Xiaodong Atelier.

The Shunde Dragon Boat Museum is a two-story building located in the Shunfeng mountain park in China. The primary volume of the museum is above the lake, and the building is made of steel with a curvy veranda and facade that instills elegance and serenity into the architecture. The building facade is covered with steel cables connected to planting troughs on top, allowing vines to grow along the cables and eventually disguise the building in shades of green. The concrete steps and ramps are linked with the existing circulation of the lake, and the changing of material to durable WPC in low saturated color marks the transition to the higher-level spaces. The first floor of the museum is divided into a part that lies along the bank while another sits on the lake. The spacious second floor of the building serves as the main functional space of the museum, with a glass elevator that captures the scenic view of the surroundings. The space has a timber strip ceiling and is connected to the first floor and water platform with an external steel staircase. The middle part of the interior spaces is finished with Bolon carpet while the other parts that touch the wall are in walkable glass finish. Visitors can enjoy the panoramic lake and mountain sceneries and the activities that happen below the building simultaneously. The design of the museum celebrates the tradition of the dragon boat festival of the place and brings human, architecture, and nature together in a poetic sense.

Photo credit: Mian Li.