Chengdu Earth Pavilion: Rebuilding a Hill

Pujiang Platform, a timber event pavilion and viewing structure embedded into the hills east of Pujiang, southwest of Chengdu, is conceived as an architectural extension of the terrain itself. The pavilion uses earth-covered timber arches to reconstruct the silhouette of a hill that was previously flattened, while framing panoramic views toward the growing town below and the Qionglai Mountains beyond. ‘The hills of this region are truly a spectacular sight, so one of the challenges we faced was to make the most of those views while reducing the impact on the landscape. By adding a hill-shaped pavilion with a green roof we not only minimise our own impact, but we recreated the hill that was there before,’ says MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs. ‘This act of preserving and respecting nature is the essence of the design, which is continued in the construction approach, using bio-based sustainable materials to minimise the impact on the natural environment.’