Hallelujah Concert Hall China, Zhangjiajie Architecture, Building, Image, Project

Hallelujah Concert Hall, China : Zhangjiajie Building

Hallelujah Concert Hall Building design by Turenscape

18 Aug 2011

Hallelujah Concert Hall Building

Architects: Turenscape, Beijing, China

Location: Zhangjiajie, China

A building represents human beings’ taking a place in the nature, an interpretation and visualization of the genius loci. Hallelujah Concert Hall is designed in such a way as to strategically take a pose in the landscape so that the mountain, water, forest, and fields are gathered, wind, sun and human desires are gathered; the concepts of environmental protection, functionality, green building and contemporary aesthetics are integrated, therefore, the form is evolved in its own way.

The interaction between the reclaimed pastoral setting, the natural mountain and water, and the contemporary design of the building, altogether composed the contemporary version of the symphony of the legendary Land of Peach Blossoms—a paradise where human being and nature are in harmonious.

The Hallelujah Concert Hall is located in the front of the plaza of Yellow Dragon Cave in Wulingyuan, Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Wulingyuan is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site designated in 1992, famous for its approximately 3,100 tall quartzite sandstone pillars, some over 800 meters high.

With the Suoxi River in the front and the lush green cliff at the back, the concert hall is designed as a stack of tilted layers of alternating limestone slates and glass. The design was inspired by the geological structure of the limestone mountains that surround and used to top the quartzite sandstone core of the heritage landscape.

The form reflects the building’s functions, with the performing stage that needs the most of building’s height at the northwest end and the entrance at the southeast, and with seats at a slight slope. The southeast facing green roof slopes up from the ground, where a modest entrance is formed. The building’s green roof will not only minimize its visual impact on the natural landscape, it will also reduce the heat radiation entering the building, an important energy-saving strategy in a hot and humid climate.

The landscape around the building used to be concrete pavement and a lawn with European ornamentation. As an integrative part of the project, Turenscape recovered the rice paddies that were here years before and transformed the landscape into romantic rural farmland at minimum expense. On the rice paddies, a cluster of authentic native dwellings were collected to demonstrate regional lifestyles and as a contrast to the contemporary building. The concert hall, together with the recovered agricultural landscape, has now become a great tourist attraction.

Hallelujah Concert Hall – images / information from FD

Location: Zhangjiajie, People’s Republic of China