This Plasma Studio designed glasshouse looks far off from a traditional greenhouse. With inclined facades making reference to a crystal, the building is semi-submerged into the landscape overlooking the lake.
The continuity between natural and artificial brings out a unique synergy. The main entrance is towards the lake; a prolonged cut emerges to create a light-filled reception from which visitors access the greenhouse.
The overall horseshoe shaped plan creates a loop to accommodate unique planting and spatial conditions.
This shape also generates an interior open-air courtyard making it the centre of a three-dimensional web of interior and exterior circulation. This mesh of paths leads through three different climatic zones corresponding to plant environments.
This crystal of a greenhouse sits fittingly in between land and lake providing protection for plants and giving visitors a convivial space.
Render
Type: exhibition, infrastructure, public
Status: competition, built
Location: Xi’an, china
Year: 2009-2011
Client: city of Xi’an
Budget: undisclosed
Size: 4,000 sq.m
Program: greenhouse
Awards: Wallpaper’s best building site 2011, this decade of architecture in china 2000-2010
Partner in charge: Eva Castro, Holger Kehne, Ulla Hell
By Hassan Mohammed Yakubu
Courtesy of Plasma Studio
Courtesy of Plasma Studio
Render
Render
Courtesy of Plasma Studio
Courtesy of Plasma Studio
Courtesy of Plasma Studio
Courtesy of Plasma Studio
Floor Plan
Section