Xilamuren Silk-Road Dreamland Steppe Resort

como Arquitectos

distant mountains, close steppe, and resort

The Xilamuren Steppe, situated in Baotou, a northern border city in China, boasts a classic plateau steppe terrain north of Yinshan. At 1700 meters, the site is reached by climbing the Daqing Mountain from Hohhot. The temperate zone continental monsoon climate, characterized by strong southeast winds, contributes to the flourishing grassland environment. Xilamuren Steppe, one of the earliest developed steppe destinations in Inner Mongolia, has also been influenced by the abundant mineral resources. Architect Bian Baoyang led the team PLAT ASIA and created an iconic resort designed to aid in the recovery of the grassland ecology and offer a diverse tourism experience on the steppe.

photo_credit Arch-Exist Photography — Arch-Exist Photography

Live-by-Water of Settlement

Steppe Resort applies the Live-by-Water idea in its planning strategy. Swan Lake is in the northwest, and the Xilamuren River is in the southeast of the site. The site's terrain goes down 10 meters from the northwest to the southeast. Inspired by the Live-by-Water – a nomadic lifestyle in the steppe, the architect derived the water trace as the planned route, making it connect river and lake. Along the water trace, buildings by type form settlements of different scales. The resort route is like a branch of a river spread and is a circulation system in the Resort.

The core function zone of the Resort is a composite of a theater, exhibition hall, all-nations fair, commercial hall, and food alley, all in a single building, and its gathering center landscape area. The visitor center and Resort entrance are in the south, the kid wonderland is in the northeast, and the phaseⅡ residence area (planning) is in the northwest. It selects the sunset view as the major scene and draws a sunset axis directly to the northwest, building in the core function zone surrounding this sunset axis and presenting a bow shape in symmetry. The visitor center starts a south-north axis of the Resort; the two axes intersect and control the whole layout of the Resort, and it complements and balances with the Live-by-Water planning, integrated into a complete master plan.

Build in Steppe

The clients have grand ambitions for Steppe Silk Road and seek a Ger shape in the new Resort. PLAT ASIA also wants to connect the history and future to steppe culture and memories through architecture. The buildings in the core function zone, originating from the Ger prototype, take the 25-year longevity PTFE membrane materials with high-performance thermal insulation, a low energy cost, auto-skylight benefited of the natural ventilation, less steel, and concrete based on optimized calculation, keep a sustainable design strategy, and aim to decarbonization.

The architecture in new materials and techniques translated by traditional form remains a classic lifestyle and behavior, enhancing life's quality in the steppe and foreseeing bright daily scenes for the future. Low technic is the main design principle for intervening in the steppe surroundings. The site's natural grading and elevation difference make the amphitheater blend in with the continued horizons and fusions into the ground, creating a sense of belonging and a friendly grassland experience.

Following the Wind

Under the grand, timeless sky, water, grassland, wind, cloud, sky, these purest natural elements, architect Bian Baoyang defines them as the physical media of the steppe aesthetics. People can experience this natural scenery through the eyes, ears, noses, tongues, bodies, and minds (six internal senses in Buddhism). The wind installation begins at this point, leaving the wind in and feeling it. It creates a sheltered pergola, whose structure is made from white steel columns, and the top is woven ropes tied with blue cloth, a religious color for people who live on the steppe. The blue cloth dynamically surfs and is shaped by the wind.

It starts from the visitor center, wind installation sketches the buildings' outline, and up into the highest point of the Resort, the terrace of the all-nations fair in the core function zone, then surrounds a circle space, flowing to the kid wonderland in the end. The wind installation symbolizes a Tengri River floating in the sky. Circle space is surrounded by blue waves, creating a spiritual space - a place for cloud; people would look at the sky, wait for clouds, listen to the wind, recognize themself, and feel from physical to mental. Wind installation integrates the aesthetics of natural elements in an art formation, is an interactive landscape with architecture and people, and travels following the steppe's wind.

The Resort looks forward to everyone having a piece of the steppe. With the Live-by-Water of settlement inspired by local culture, built thought of live with steppe, the aesthetics of steppe presented by wind installation and new landscape, this Resort focuses on the communication and interaction between water, grassland, wind, cloud, sky, people, six ecological bodies, and complete the journey to water and wind in the steppe practice.