Architecture, Urban Design & Collective Space
YICHANG, CHINA
QUYUAN'S
CULTURAL
CENTER
幻方旅设/MSTDI
Type: Competition / Cultural /
Adaptive Reuse
Size: 2100m2
Project Leader: Isaac Landeros
Team: PinCheng
2022
2024 (finished)
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Project Overview
QuYuan's Cultural Center is an adaptive reuse project that reimagines a secondary entrance into Qu Yuan Cultural Park, Yichang, Hubei, as a multifunctional gateway. Inspired by the poetic imagery of Chu Ci and the architectural reverie of the poet Qu Yuan, the design transforms an outdated existing building into a cultural landmark, a 2,100 m² center offering visitor services, exhibition space, and administrative functions.
Wrapping Ribbon Strategy
The design is organized around a single strategy applied four ways: a "wrapping ribbon" that surrounds and connects the project as an integrated whole. Extended, it becomes a bridge linking both sides of the road; wrapped around the building, it becomes a new curtain wall facade of triplex wire mesh, brass cladding, and perforated white metal; expanded, it forms sheltered corridors for rest and viewing; and looped outward, it defines a sequence of courtyards, water mirrors, and gardens across the site.
Atrium and Arrival Experience
Visitors arrive beneath a gold-lined archway into a double-height atrium, where tiered white stepped seating rises against a wall of inscribed text, lit by a long skylight above. Timber-framed lounges and reading areas extend to either side, connecting the exhibition and administrative wings within a single fluid interior landscape — elevated walkways and layered metal façades outside give way to warm timber paneling and quiet gathering spaces within.