Undying Earth Memorial

This project is a memorial hall for the May 12th geological disaster, located in the suburbs of Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, China.

The site is by the Min River, surrounded by abundant water systems and beautiful scenery. The scars left by the 2008 earthquake seem invisible now.
However, we hope this memorial hall will document the event and address key issues: the loss of lives due to a lack of disaster knowledge, the need for future medical shelters, and the resilience of traditional Chinese wooden structures.

The overall conceptual shape is derived from a fallen leaf in the natural environment of Dujiangyan. Five small buildings form a cluster and are organically integrated into the landscape. Functionally, they are an outdoor commercial area, a geological disaster memorial exhibition hall, a post-disaster medical and healing unit, a multi-functional lecture hall and commercial space, and logistics and office space.

Two groups of smaller buildings are respectively the outdoor tea garden and the logistics space. The outdoor commercial area reflects the living of the Sichuan region. The medium-sized building is a multi-functional lecture hall and commercial space. Among them, the multi-functional hall provides a venue for popularizing the knowledge of survival in earthquake disasters and conducting practical operation drills, while the commercial space offers convenient coffee and dining services for the people.

Two groups of larger buildings are respectively the geological disaster memorial exhibition hall: Here, where people can learn about relevant documentary records and experience the tremors of different intensity levels in the machine; and the post-disaster medical and healing unit: Which provides a venue and medical security for emergency shelter after the disaster. In addition, the healing unit will help the affected people recover physically and mentally.

A Möbius roof unifies the five structures organically. The landscape is also derived on this basis, strengthening the feeling of growing out of the site. The main structure uses local wood. And the structural and construction design solves the problem of the building's load-bearing capacity and expresses the regional characteristics.