Reﬂecting The Respect for The Ruins Site Environment

Built 5km across a Mongolian grassland from the XANADU archeological site known locally as ‘Wulantai’ – meaning beacon of the red rocks – this museum is a beacon of great architecture in its own right. Mostly embedded in the pit formed from an abandoned quarry, it emerges from the earth in a geometric collection of iron oxide infused concrete. The structure’s unpredictable angularity and the protruding windows are a remark on history that is often non-linear. Oriented to intersect with both the mountain contours and the starting point of the capital city ruin’s central axis, it positions people within a territorial dialogue between the artiﬁcial and the natural, if not the terrestrial and the celestial.

In line with the ancient capital city of Xanadu being declared as a world cultural heritage, a museum was built within an appropriate distance from the ruins, to serve as an important facility used to gather, collect, display, research and exhibit the Mongolian Yuan dynasty cultural heritage. The museum is located on the east of a hillside, and faces to the direction of the ruins. Visitors come from the south, where the museum is initially hidden, only to appear suddenly as they reach around the mountain. The building is placed into a ground pit formed by the abandoned quarry on the site, which hides most of the building volume.

The entrance for the museum staf is set at the south end of the mining pit. The oice rooms for archaeology and scientiﬁc research is arranged along a concave line and covered with earth along the hillside. Another round pit is reserved for the sinking courtyard of the museum, which is surrounded by the audience service area. At the same time, this ‘sunken courtyard’ enclosed by the building is used for natural lighting and ventilation.

The exposed linear strip-like building is just like the “mountain stone” that extends from the mountain,and is rotated 18 degrees from the right north to the east, intersecting with the mountain contour line, pointing toward the starting point on the central axis of the capital city ruins. This provides the building an ideal perspective on the ruins site and axis association. However, when viewing the site museum from the Mingde gate of the ruins, the building is reduced to its smallest vague square point, reﬂecting the respect for the ruins site environment and the proper relationship between the artiﬁcial and natural.

Project Information

Project Name: Museum for Site of XANADU

Location: China

Architect: Li Xinggang