Tianbao mountain Jingtiantai cliff liquor experience centre by Zone of Utopia + Mathieu Forest Architecte + Lin Xiaoguang Studio

Jingtiantai cliff liquor experience centre

Two mirrors suspended between mountain and sky amplify and magnify the landscape: above, the water mirror which doubles the sky and creates infinity. Below, the steel mirror which reflects the valley and the river below and creates an artificial sky under the sky.

A tribute to nature
The liquor culture experience center of Langjiu is a tribute to nature.
It is a game of harmonies and contrasts between the omnipresent nature, the mass of mountains, the vegetation and the architecture which frames this nature, is anchored in it and extends it by immaterial and mysterious objects.

Located at the top of the mountain, the building is completely buried. It hides underground to keep intact the breathtaking view of the sky and the mountains in the distance. The real sky is reflected in the huge water mirror that juts out into the void.

Below, floating on a mysterious archaeology, the ceiling reflects an artificial constellations created by the suspended lamps which at night are superimposed on the stars in the reflections of the facades.

A Journey
Walking towards the interior of the site, one discovers a water mirror 50 meters wide, which amplifies by doubling the view of the landscape and extends the sky to infinity. From this point of view, we do not yet perceive the interior life of the building nor the view of the valley.

We only see the landscape, its reflection and between the two, the surreal image of a mirror volume suspended in the void. Then we sink gently below ground level, taking a curved ramp framed by concrete walls in hues evocative of rock and historic caves that store alcohol.

Are these walls the traces of an ancient archaeology? The view of the landscape is kept at a distance, the visitor is led naturally towards the interior spaces, in stages. He discovers fragments of the landscape but he does not immediately perceive it in its totality. It slips under the water mirror which is also a mirror below.

The immateriality of the mirror contrasts with the thickness of the walls anchored in the rock. The back of the water mirror also gives the illusion of being under water. This large mirrored ceiling is actually a large artificial sky.

It reflects the hanging lamps and creates a punctuation of stars. The first tasting room gives a view of the mountain cleared of all human intervention and presence. The bottles are staged along a huge showcase like a scholarly library.

A treasure
A little further on, an intimate room preserves the most precious bottles. Finally, we enter the large tasting room and discover through a one-piece window, without joinery, the breathtaking view of the valley. The mirror ceiling magnifies the view of the valley, in the same way as the water mirror magnified the view of the sky.

At night, the multitude of lit lamps and their reflections in the ceiling create a starry sky, this artificial sky is in turn reflected in the glazing of the facades. The real sky merges with that created by architecture. Illusion game. Twelve tables welcome visitors for the tasting. Each table evokes an astral theme and its constellation.

Weightlessness
The visit continues with the ascent of an unexpected staircase that soars towards the sky. Arriving at the top of this staircase, we walk on a footbridge suspended in the void. This belvedere gives a view of the landscape in all its directions and a feeling of intoxication in the face of the immensity of the landscape and the audacity of the men.

  • Location: Erlang, Luzhou, China
  • Architect: Zone of Utopia + Mathieu Forest Architecte + Lin Xiaoguang Studio
  • Lead designers: Qiang ZOU, Mathieu FOREST, Xiaoguang LIN
  • Project Manager: Teng ZENG
  • Design team: Di WU, Zhuang WANG, Arnaud MAZZA, Jia MA, Fang GAO, Qijun XUE, Edgardo BARROS TORO, Wenqian HAN, Qian SHEN, Lyu LYU
  • General Project Director: Xiaoguang LIN
  • Local Design Architect: Sichuan Xilian Architectural Planning and Design Co., Ltd.
  • Structure: Sichuan Xilian Architectural Planning and Design Co., Ltd.
  • Landscape construction Drawing: Sichuan Xilian Architectural Planning and Design Co., Ltd.
  • Interior Construction Drawing: Chengdu Qingmuyuanyi Design Company
  • Interior Decorator: Art Craftsman Design of Shenzhen
  • Lighting: BPI Brandston Partnership Inc.
  • General construction: Sichuan No.11 Construction Co.,LTD
  • Facade construction: King General Engineering
  • Client team: Gaofeng LI, Caiping YANG, Yuyan ZOU, Zhonglun WAN
  • Client: Langjiu Group
  • Superstructure surface area: 3.688 m2 GFA
  • Site surface area: 15.000 m2
  • Status: completed in 2022
  • Photographs: ArchExist, Li ZHOU, Courtesy of Zone of Utopia