Quzika 1865 Winery / PL-T ARCHITECTURE STUDIO
Quzika 1865 Winery / PL-T ARCHITECTURE STUDIO
Environment. Located in Quzika, Markam County, Tibet, the mission of the project is to generate income for local Tibetans by establishing a winery that can provide cultural tourism experience to alleviate poverty through the development of local industries. The winery is located at the foot of the Dameiyong Snow Mountain, close to the Lancang River, the thousand-year-old salt fields, and the only Catholic church in Tibet. The natural environment of the site is perfect: the mountain terraces extending into the Lancang River are dotted with century-old walnut trees and century-old grape vines. In the site, the mountain streams flow by the remains of an ancient water mill.
To construct a natural scene instead of a building. In Tibetan mountains, hide in nature and build with nature. Learn from the Tibetans as well as Nature; express respect and reverence for the mountains by hiding. Let nature be the designer, properly building a unique natural scene that is highly integrated with the site, a lively space, and a character that can only grow here and now.
Hidden at the foot of the snow mountain, the gravity-flow winery, with a top-down, efficient, and intensive process flow, takes advantage of the height difference of the site, achieving the earthwork balance of the project. The mountain is transformed into the winery’s process space, which is embedded in terraces to adapt to natural landforms, at the same time avoiding the old trees.
The roof of the process space is designed as a waterscape, forming a salt field. Streams of natural spring water from the snow-capped mountains are allowed to pass through the roofs and finally merge into the Lancang River at the bottom of the valley. Different amounts of meltwater from the snow-capped mountains in different seasons form the high and low water periods, gifting the building with two kinds of scenery.
The public space of the winery, made up of three “rocks” scattered on the “salt field”, is decorated by walnut trees and works together with the mountain rocks to reconstruct the natural scene.
The outer wall material is locally sourced from the existing stones on the site and becomes a continuation and extension of the original stone wall on the site. The outer stone wall significantly improves the thermal insulation performance of the brewing space and makes the wall construction economical and reasonable. Finally, the overall design creates a poetic scene: the “salt field” extends downward into the Lancang River, and an old tree stands between the riverside rocks; as the Tibetans often herd cattle here, the winery becomes a daily activity space for the villagers. With the mountain at its back and the river in the front, adapting to the terrain and extending downward, Quzica Winery becomes a link between the mountain and the river.
