ZAO / Zhang Ke Architecture Office

The Niangou Terminal is located at the confluence of the Niyang River and Yarlung River, a still intact place of overwhelming beauty. The landing dock required installations for modernizing and expanding the existing capacities that would lead to a substantial increase in the human impact on the landscape. The new building is based upon the idea that it is vital to establish a contextual dialogue at the scale of the landscape. The new space requirements are organized under a zig-zag downhill promenade. The promenade follows the natural slope down for thirty metres until reaching the lowest level river mark. The form structures and organizes all functions and gives them a hierarchic unity, which defines all inter-spatial relations. This way each space can find its own relationship with the landscape and mediate the connection with the human scale. The design for this project developed as a collaboration with the Lisbon-based architects Embaixada.