Architects: Atelier XI
Area: 236 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Chao Zhang
Lead Architects: Chen Xi
Design Team: Zhu Zhu, Huang Zhenfeng, He Xiansen, Zhang Manjia, Huang Fangbai, Zhan Kaichao
Public Square Landscape Design: So boring company, Zhao Xiong
City: Guiyang
Country: China
AYDC Public Art Complex, designed in Guiyang as part of a cultural initiative launched in 2022, introduces a dispersed series of sculptural pavilions that rethink architecture’s relationship to nature, community, and creativity. Originally conceived as a singular building, the project was reimagined as three distinct structures—Xima Library, Ginkgo Chapel, and Dali Stage—each embedded within the mountainous terrain of Guizhou and inspired by native karst cave formations. The design prioritizes spatial fluidity and public interaction by integrating porous travertine cladding and reflective interior spheres, allowing light, air, and sensory experiences to pass through. Responding to water, sky, and starlight, the three structures enable reading, meditation, and performance while remaining visually and conceptually linked. The architecture aligns with seasonal changes in the ginkgo forest, merging built forms with evolving landscapes and reaffirming AYDC’s role as a cultural and community catalyst.
The AYDC Public Art Complex in Guiyang was commissioned in 2022 as part of a broader initiative to foster community-driven cultural spaces. AYDC—an abbreviation of A Yun Duo Cang, meaning “our land of dreams” in the Yi language—functions as a creative hub that merges innovation, natural environment, and social engagement. Instead of a single structure, the original program was distributed into multiple public pavilions that are interspersed across the site. These autonomous yet interconnected forms were envisioned to provide flexible platforms for artistic and community expression, closely embedded within the surrounding landscape.
Three main pavilions—Xima Library, Ginkgo Chapel, and Dali Stage—draw formal inspiration from Guizhou’s karst mountain caves. Each is shaped to evoke suspended, pointed arches, emphasizing structural tension and internal voids carved by light. While differing in program—reading, meditation, and performance—each aligns with an elemental reference: water, sky, and starlight.
The Xima Library is positioned beside a reflective body of water. Its rectilinear form encases a luminous metallic dome that casts soft silhouettes on the surface, invoking a moonlit ambiance.
The Ginkgo Chapel stands on a hillside, supported by four stone leaf-like columns. Visitors enter through narrow passages between curved metallic spheres, arriving in a central void where shifting light and the sound of wind in the ginkgo leaves create an introspective atmosphere.
The Dali Stage, oriented toward a public square, is marked by a void shaped like an invisible arch. It is embedded with fiber-optic lighting beneath the floor, generating a luminous effect reminiscent of a star-filled sky and supporting performances and communal events.
Despite functional differences, the three pavilions share a coherent material and spatial language. Each employs a porous travertine façade and curved stainless-steel interior shells. The library and chapel feature sandblasted textures for tactile warmth, while the stage incorporates polished steel to enhance reflectivity and interaction with its surroundings.
The seasonal changes in the ginkgo forest surrounding the complex contribute to an evolving atmosphere, reinforcing the project’s intent to merge built form with natural rhythm. These minimal, sculptural interventions aim to animate the site’s latent potential, integrating architecture with local memory, landscape, and community expression.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Guiyang, China
The location specified is intended for general reference and may denote a city or country, but it does not identify a precise address.
