Zhang Hua Studio, Tianjin University Research Institute of Architectural Design and Urban Planning Co., Ltd: Winner of World Design Awards 2024. Tujia Brocade, also known as “Dahua” in folk parlance and “Xilankapu” in the Tujia language, has a long and profound history. It is recognized as one of China’s national intangible cultural heritages. The patterns of Tujia Brocade are simple yet exaggerated, combining realism with abstraction, exuding a vibrant sense of life. It embodies the cultural traditions and origins of the Tujia people in northwestern Hunan, reflecting their aesthetic sensibilities and ethnic consciousness. In a unique way, Tujia Brocade showcases the material and cultural attributes of the Tujia people.

The design concept originates from four levels:（1） From a broad perspective, brocade is a type of fabric that requires weaving, dyeing, sizing, washing, and drying. The memories of childhood are vivid. Every time the weather was good, every household would hang colorful and vibrant sheets and clothes in the small woods in the yard. The children would run around and play hide-and-seek under the hanging soft fabrics. So the first impression of the design is to go against the norm and hang the building up, doing the opposite of what is expected.

（2）Furthermore, it expands to transform the profound Chinese Taoist yin-yang cultural philosophy, which deeply interests oneself, into an artistic form. In traditional beliefs, the sky represents the yang, while the earth represents the yin. The constant interplay between yin and yang gives rise to existence and non-existence. The landscape of Zhangjiajie is characterized by towering peaks and overlapping mountains. The design incorporates the concept of reversing yin and yang, with the solid sky hanging above and the boundary between sky and earth formed by layered mountain ranges, creating a virtual skyline of mountain shadows. The solid and continuous mountain peaks are transformed into the virtual, simultaneously suggesting and guiding people to explore the hidden beauty within the “mountain.”

（3）For thousands of years, architectural design theory has been primarily based on Euclidean geometry. Concepts such as projective geometry, nonlinear fractals, hyperbolic geometry, and topology have been less commonly applied in architectural design. However, this design incorporates the self-similarity concept of fractal geometry and utilizes the principles of projective geometry to project the geometric patterns of the previous facade onto adjacent planes, creating a decreasing hierarchy. Starting from the facade’s first layer, where the void is greater than the solid, it iteratively evolves into a solid two-dimensional plane. By applying fractal thinking, the overall perception of this facade can be seen from a different perspective as a volumetric two-dimensional spatial form.

The design of the Brocade Exhibition Hall is an artistic interpretation of Einstein’s theory of relativity in time and space. Compress the natural landscape in different proportions in different directions. Compressing deep mountains and waters into thick two-dimensional spaces with shallow depth of field is not only different from natural mountains and waters but also from two-dimensional painting or photography, but between the two. It is an original architectural space art with unique characteristics.

• From the perspective of modern microphysics, novel material organizations gather to form a “new phase” – a so-called new architectural texture.
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In terms of design techniques,the facade of the Brocade Museum extracts the typical characteristics of Tujia brocade – most Tujia brocades are composed of simple geometric patterns. In the creation process, the metal perforated plate with a geometric gradient pattern is used to endow it with new artistic effects through the method of “building appearance”. The pattern is highly abstracted from the Tujia brocade pattern, with varying densities, sizes, and virtual and real interlacing. The top of the building is designed to imitate wooden square beams, and metal brocade is hung on it, just like a beautiful Tujia brocade, which is displayed layer by layer on the loom.

Zhangjiajie is located in the northwest of Hunan Province, with the most distinctive quartz sandstone peak forest landform, which is rare in the world. The mountains here are like forests, the flowing water is winding, and the peaks are like swords and halberds.

The Brocade Museum overlaps the unique natural landscapes of Zhangjiajie with the Tujia brocade, with layers of metal brocade overlapping each other, alternating between yin and yang, and finally creating a reflection of Zhangjiajie’s landscape through uneven contours and gradual perforation of density. The changes are numerous, greatly expanding the space of imagination.

Courtyard space is the characteristic essence of Xiangxi architecture. The Brocade Museum combines the local natural environment, absorbs this essence, and creates a courtyard style layout, so as to avoid a lot of direct sunlight, significantly improve the heat insulation and ventilation effect, which is an ideal layout for high temperature and humidity areas.

The surrounding roofs of the tapestry courtyard are connected on all sides, and rainwater collects in the courtyard to irrigate flowers, plants, and trees, creating a “treasure trove” scene of four rivers returning to the hall, with a strong humanistic and artistic appeal.

Project Details:-
Firm
Zhang Hua Studio, Tianjin University Research Institute of Architectural Design and Urban Planning Co., Ltd

Architect
Hua Zhang

Project Name
Zhangjiajie TujiaBrocade Museum

Project Category
Cultural Built

Team
Qingwen Sun, Qing Guo, Qian Li, Qian Wang

Project Location
Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, China

Country
China

Photography ©Credit
Chen Su, UK Studio

Zhang Hua studio

( Manifold, Fractal, Quasi crystal mosaic)

Zhang Hua

Director of Zhang Hua studio, Tianjin University Research Institute of Architectural Design and Urban Planning Co., Ltd

Architect, Professor

Member of Architectural Society of China

Aiming at designing original building of China, Dr. Zhang continues to explore in architecture design, and his main research direction is Fractal theory, Topology theory and parametric design of modern architecture. His own theory, the “manifold” theory, is so advanced and practical, that has a positive and directive significance on innovation of national culture and scientificity of architectural design.

He engaged in architectural design more than 46 years, with innovative design and theory in the fields of cultural construction, education construction and high-rise building. He dedicates to initiated architecture, and the research direction is fractal theory, topological theory and computer parametric design of modern architecture.

According to years of thinking about design and new mathematical theory, He proposes three new concepts: manifold, fractal and splicing. According to documents, “manifold” is a very important concept in mathematics, its meaning is infinite folding, which is translated into Chinese by Zehan Jiang, a famous mathematician. There is another words “metamorphosis” means transformation. Architectural manifolds have both the above two meanings and not only the mathematic concept. This term can be concluded about several points:

1、Mechanics–shape from static to dynamic,

2、Differential – line from straight to curve,

3、Level–block from large to small,

4、Optics–color from dark to light,

5、Metering–crevice from wide to narrow,

6、Measurement–surface layer from thick to thin,

7、Physical–texture from coarse to smooth,

8、Dimension–space from two-dimensional to three-dimensional,

9、Character–temperament from rough to soft,

10、Philosophy–attributes from Yin to Yang,

11、State–phenomenon from real to virtual,

12、Composition–from nature to man-made, 

13、Materials–from reflection to absorption.

Liuzhou Suiseki Hall and Yu Qingcheng Art Museum are the results of practice under his theoretical framework.

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