Xi'an Greenhouse | The Metamodern Architect

Xi’an Greenhouse

With its inclined facades reminiscent of an iridescent crystal, the Xi’an Greenhouse in Shaanxi, China sits submerged into the landscape where the land meets the lake.

Designed by Plasma Studio, Xi’an Greenhouse goes beyond what is seen as a traditional greenhouse. A unique synergy between the natural and the man-made, it manifests itself as an extension of the landscape where it belongs – with symbolic materiality of concrete and bronze that expresses its local identity from the floor up to its walls.

The 4,000-sqm greenhouse can be reached through a boat ride across the lake, followed by a quick walk along the shore. Visitors are then given access through a prolonged cut literally scooped up from the ground – which created a well-lit reception space.

As visitors pass through a tessellated mesh of paths that lead to three different climatic zones in corresponding plant environments, an overall horseshoe plan unveils – creating an endless loop that can cater to a variety of spatial and planting conditions.

Apart from functional flexibility, its unique floor layout also resulted in an open-air courtyard in its interiors, where a sprawling three-dimensional web of exterior and interior circulations brings life to the entire floor. Large spans of transparent glass walls further blurred the line between the inside and the outside, bringing the outdoor landscape into the deepest corners of the greenhouse.

With the landscape co-existing both at the indoor and outdoor spaces of the greenhouse, an alternating visual enclosure between long vistas out and across created a dynamic visitor experience that gradually changes in the most unexpected places.

Xi’an Greenhouse sits as a part of a huge redevelopment project between the airport and the ancient city center of Xi’an – home to the Terracotta Army and the business hub of the vast Chinese interior. Aside from the spacious greenhouse, the proposal also includes a 3,500-sqm Guangyun Entrance bridge and a 5,000-sqm Creativity Center – all clustered inside a 37-hectare landscape that not only houses the International Horticultural Expo but also the legacy of Xi’an as the birthplace of Chinese civilization.