Cuisuba Yi Cultural & Visitor Cente

The Tsetsuba Yi Culture and Visitor Centre stands on top of a pristine grassland at a high altitude in northwestern Guizhou, China, surrounded by the surrounding mountains. West-line Studio applies a unique working model to the design. Firstly, it reproduces and develops the “ritual” spatial system of the local Yi ethnic group on multiple levels, such as the metaphor of the traditional Yi altar by the volume, the concave curved surfaces on the four sides responding to the tension of the mountains and the wilds, the skylights on the roof and the courtyard group (skylight/rain system) praying to the sky, and at the same time, solving the problem of internal lighting and ventilation and forming the vertical connection between light and rain in the whole building. Connection; another important spatial ritual feature is the outdoor concrete ramp, whose folding and undulating movement is reminiscent of the mountaineering procession during the “Torch Festival”, one of the main festivals of the Yi ethnic group. Secondly, the free-form layout and structural units of the space are integrated with the community’s “ritual” memory system and functional units. As a result, the structure of the anonymous wordless “altar” + “ritual” mnemonic system of “consensus history” + multifunctional units on the Yunding Plateau is constructed， to embody Yi culture through symbolism and the creation of a ceremonial atmosphere, and to provide a multifunctional infrastructure to promote tourism in the region.