Xi'an - Taibai Wushanju Art Hotel, a space filled with tranquillity and Zen

The Taibai Wushanju is close to the ancient city of Xi'an and is located at the foot of Taibai Mountain, which is the main peak of the Qinling. It is a complex that consist of resort hotels, open spaces for leisure and cultural exhibitions.

This complex stretches 73 meters from east to west and 120 meters from north to south. It is a symbolic building that spans over a historical river, evoking the urban planning ideas of the Lifang system from the Tang and Song dynasties. Each individual building was inspired by these ideas, then re-interpreted and refined by design. The site area is just under 10,000 square metres, the total building is 14,500 square metres, which includes a boutique hotel (6300 sqm), a living hall (4500 sqm) and an art exhibition hall (2000 sqm).

There is a Chinese saying "Reach for the moon, advance as if there is no mountain". Inspired by this saying, Wushanju is a project with architectural ideals. The ideal is to create a sentimental design work that integrates aesthetics, poetry, humanities, and life philosophy.

The "Wu" in "Wushanju" represents the concise, natural, simple and minimalist aspects of oriental art, which is also a natural aspect of Taibai Mountain. The design creates a Taibai Court, where one can ascend to the roof top, looking upon the mountains, meditate, or enjoy the serenity and space that nature has to offer. The circular white wall and a pond creates a scenery that resembles a modern ink landscape painting on an exaggerated scale, evoking a sense of Zen and serenity.

The design adheres to the traditional Chinese urban layout of "li, square, alley, city", combined with a vertical stacking technique. These techniques stack and integrate the 57 boutique hotel rooms, book bars, tea rooms, art centre, and infinity swimming pools into sections of the courtyard.

Using a primary checkerboard-like grid, we redefine the relationship between vertical and horizontal. The design reflects the continuity of the traditional urban planning idea with modern architectural design language.

The design introduced a 36 diameter circular Taibai Court which acts as the main body that connects the building, corridor and the courtyard. The framed open space of the Taibai Court provides a perfect place for scenic lookouts to enjoy the mountain view and serenity from a distance.

A series of rhythmic windows confine the light and shadow within the building. In conjunction with the light and shadow created by the lattice brick hollow wall, the sunlight and shadows of the trees linger gracefully on the surface of the walls, appearing inside and outside the building, enriching the depth of space. All of this creates a space filled with tranquillity and Zen.

Wushanju will bring new inspiration to life in this era!