Introduction
The Medog Meteorological Center (MMC) is located at the lowest point of Medog County, a remote town in Tibet. Next to the Ysrlung Tsangpo River, under the Namcha Barwa, the building is surrounded by dense vegetation and rolling hills. Medog is known as the most remote county in China, along with the fact of it being a sacred place for Tibetan Buddhists, both causes the isolation of the town for centuries from the outside world which leads to its strong cultural originality that integrated with the well-preserved natural environment.
Reason to Be Selected
The design team faces many difficulties and challenges. The first one is the building’s remote location. Medog is China’s last County to be reached by highway, since it is in the hard-to-reach southern mountain range of Tibet. Secondly, although it is on the Tibetan plateau, its elevation only goes up to 1,200 m, and the lowest point drop down as low as 115m. As a result, Medog has a tropical rainforest climate, unlike the rest of Tibet, Buildings here must accommodate to the challenge of abundant rain fall throughout the year. Last but not least, the design team also has to take into consideration of construction challenges, such as low construction skill, few heavy machinery, and limited building materials.
Highlights:
Consisting of the administrative office and staff dormitory, MMC is conceived as enclosed courtyard. It serves as a hybrid building for the local meteorological bureau according to the occupants’ daily routine. Its centralized structure accommodates different functional needs while also ensures privacy.Details
The undulating roof responds to the climate, and reflects the surrounding mountains. Elevated ground level is inherited from the vernacular architecture. Windows are carefully placed, creating a rhythmic façade. As the building is designed to be an integration of living and working space, the transparency maximizes the views to the landscape according to the occupants’ movement during the day. Therefore, all these factors has been taken into consideration and our team applied remote intervention during the design process by using instant communication tools to monitor both electronically and graphically.
Recommended
Through the early field survey, the architects tried to understand the local traditional building materials and characteristics. Local traditional buildings are heavily affected by the climate. Most of them have an elevated ground floor, using masonry as structural support. The upper level using wood as main structural elements. Sloped roof has its surface covered by wood in order to adapt to the rainy weather. Some public buildings are coated with clay and the finish surface has a hand pressing pattern to speed up the wall drainage.
The design and materiality pay tribute to local ethnic culture, blending traditional Moinba and Lhoba architecture with modern architectural elements, creating a contemporary building sensitive to local culture and tectonic tradition. Our remote intervention began with the material selection of local pinewood and prefabricated in situ to preserve the appearance of the wood to be as natural as possible.
Conclusions
Eventually, the building has absorbed the local architectural achievements, making them its own identity, with great environmental benefits. The project has been completed and put into use by the beginning of 2018. Medog Meteorological Center won Asia Pacific Property Awards 2018, Public Service Architecture (China) and The Plan Award 2017, the Finalist of the Future Office & Business Architecture Design category.
FULL STORY:
| Lat: | 29.39 |
| Lng: | 94.21 |
| Type: | |
| Region: | Asia |
| Scale: | Building |
| Field: | Environment |
| City: | Linzhi |