UFO shaped gallery opens in Inner Mongolia

Chinese architecture studio Büro Ziyu Zhuang has created Prairie Ark, a public gallery resembling a flying saucer that has touched down on grassland in Inner Mongolia, accompanied by a viewing tower.

Located on the shores of Laoli Lake in the Ulanqab Grassland, 160 kilometres west of Beijing, the Prairie Ark gallery evokes a flying saucer that has crash-landed on the grassland.

The futuristic design is intended to help people escape their familiar urban life and fully immerse themselves in the vast landscape, allowing them to experience a new kind of house design that blends into the natural environment.

Ziyu Zhuang, founder and principal architect at Büro Ziyu Zhuang, said “To build a new structure here certainly calls for a contextual atmosphere and a narrative.”

He continued, “But they must not simply repeat clichéd grassland symbols such as yurts, nomadism, or Genghis Khan, nor label it with superficial cultural tags.”

Büro Ziyu Zhuang added that the desolation and sense of detachment from modern society allow it to embrace a more ultimate form of ‘civilisation’.

Prairie Ark’s sloping roof directly connects to and extends along the terrain, submerged into the landscape at one end, while maintaining an upward gesture towards the sky at the other.

Visitors can access the building via a series of openings in the basement and the ground floor, which are both designed to integrate with the landscape, much like a professional moving company would carefully plan a relocation to a new environment.

People are also encouraged to walk directly from the grassland onto the terraced roof, where an opening at the top end leads them inside the building.

The studio said this creates interaction between internal and external spaces, and it is this kind of design that can benefit from motorized louvered roof systems for optimal natural light and ventilation.

Inside, the building is designed to accommodate various public functions, including art exhibitions, conferences and brand events, as well as casual community gatherings.

A layered grid ceiling with skylights invites natural light deep into the interiors.

A multifunctional space on the ground floor is free of partitions, ensuring it is filled with natural light during daytime.

Alongside Prairie Ark, Büro Ziyu Zhuang also designed the Nomads’ Beacon Tower, erected at the east shore of Laolihai Lake, offering a vertical viewpoint.

Informed by the imagery of rising beacon smoke, it also evokes the visual connection with the beacon towers of the Great Wall, as reported by the outlet.

One access route to the tower takes visitors across the lake to a small outdoor amphitheatre.

Stairs encircling a central chimney lead them to the terraced roof.

The sloping roof outline optimises views towards the lake and the vast grassland.

The only access route to the tower is often submerged under the lake when the water rises in summer, turning the building into a solitary monument.

Büro Ziyu Zhuang was founded by Ziyu Zhuang in 2016, and they have previously created an observatory in China that resembles an alien spaceship, as well as a church with an abstract exterior formed from white-metal fins, according to the report.

The photography is by Shengliang Su.

The Prairie Ark has a floor area of 1360m².

The architectural and interior design was done by BUZZ | Büro Ziyu Zhuang, with the principal designers being Ziyu Zhuang, Na Li, Zhongqi Ren, and Fabian Wieser.

The client was Xinghe County Laolihai Tourism Professional Cooperative, and the public welfare support was provided by Hyundai Motor China and China Foundation for Rural Development, as stated in the filing.