怒江大峡谷先锋图书馆陶书店（痕迹建筑事务所）

怒江大峡谷先锋图书馆陶书店（痕迹建筑事务所）
Nujiang Grand Canyon Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde / Tao (Trace Architecture Office)

独特的选址与设计灵感：怒江大峡谷先锋图书馆陶书店选址独特，位于高黎贡岭上的傈僳族聚居地。其设计灵感源于傈僳族的弩和箭这一文化图腾，将建筑打造成一个悬浮平台，读者身处其中可尽享峡谷美景，仿佛漫步云端。建筑外观的多向开口与动态形式呼应，成为连接人与天地的媒介。同时，作为村庄地标，它既具前卫象征意义，又与村庄和谐相融。

现代与传统的融合：在设计中，建筑很好地平衡了个性与当地环境。面对傈僳族村庄强烈的自然特征和文化身份，书店采用完全当代的语言回应村庄普遍的坡屋顶类型，在当下的建设语境中进行高度抽象的表达，成为连接村庄过去与现在的媒介。结构创造的倾斜空间与山地环境相连接，展现出独特的动态之美。

丰富的层次与文化意义：建筑由三层组成，通过两条独立的循环路线相互连接，带来丰富多变的空间体验。内部循环从高耸的咖啡馆开始，到中间的书店，再到底层的剧院，各具特色。外部循环从入口开始，像峡谷般狭窄而高耸，后过渡到自然峡谷，展现出开阔感。书店作为公共空间的延伸，为村庄带来当代文化火花，有望激发文化活力，吸引全球关注。

建筑师提供的文字描述Text description provided by the architects. As the last free-flowing river in China without dams, the Nujiang River winds through the folds of the Hengduan~ Mountains in western Yunnan, separating the Gaoligong Mountains and Biluo Snow Mountain to its east and west. The Nujiang Grand Canyon Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde is situated atop the Gaoligong Mountains, facing across the river toward the two sacred mountains of the Lisu and Bai ethnic groups.

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Plan - First basement floor

2021年，TAO受先锋图书馆邀请，在怒江地区设计了三家新店，这是第三次合作。该遗址位于怒江南部的泸水县首府。这座城市被碧洛山和高黎贡山环绕，是怒江峡谷的南大门，也是前卫艺术沿河上游之旅的第一站。
In 2021, TAO was invited by Librairie Avant-Garde to design three new stores in Nujiang Prefecture, marking the third collaboration. The site is in Lushui, the prefecture's capital city, situated in the southern part of Nujiang. Embraced by the Biluo and Gaoligong Mountains, the city serves as the southern gateway of the Nujiang Canyon as well as the first stop of Avant-Garde's upstream journey along the river.

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Cross section

书店所在的杨坡村坐落在高黎贡岭上。几代人以来，这里一直是原始的傈僳族聚居地。傈僳族最初居住在四川和云南雅砻江和金沙江的广阔河谷，16世纪中叶由于战争威胁迁移到云南西北部，形成了怒江沿岸的主要民族之一。为了适应恶劣的地形，他们开发了独特的工具，特别是弩和箭，这成为了一种文化图腾，也是该项目的主要灵感来源。
Yangpo Village, where the bookstore stands, perches on the Gaoligong ridge. It has been a primitive Lisu settlement for generations. The Lisu originally resided in the vast river valleys of the Yalong and Jinsha Rivers in Sichuan and Yunnan and migrated to northwestern Yunnan due to the war threat in the mid-16th century, forming one of the dominant ethnic groups along the Nujiang River. Adapted to the harsh terrain, they developed distinctive tools, particularly crossbows and arrows, which became a cultural totem and a key inspiration for the project.

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Diagram - Concept collage

The project is located at the entrance of Yangpo Village facing toward the canyon, naturally embodying the boundary between civilization and nature. The site originally had an unfinished viewing platform with a panoramic view of the canyon, offering a prime vantage point of the Hengduan Mountains, which also gave the name of "Nujiang Grand Canyon Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde."

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The unique site conditions shaped the architect's initial vision of a forward-stretching volume. The steep slope and towering mountains, combined with the protrusive structure, transformed the bookstore into a suspended platform. Readers within the space are surrounded by canyon views from the north, east, and south, creating a sense of walking among the clouds.

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The prominent location also positions itself as the village's landmark and the public face of Librairie Avant-Garde. Thus, the building must serve as a striking, avant-garde symbol while maintaining a dialogue with the village—distinctive yet harmoniously integrated with its surroundings.

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How architecture balances individuality with local context is the central question throughout the design. The Lisu village stretching along the ridge of the Gaoligong Mountains embodies both strong natural characteristics and cultural identity, which architecture must respond to.

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As an ancestral Lisu settlement, Yangpo Village has developed organically along the contours, capturing the distinct texture of the mountainous terrain. However, as dwellings of different periods have replaced and compressed one another, traces of construction from various eras overlap, resulting in a chaotic and collage-like appearance. Within the intricate historical context, the bookstore ultimately adopts a completely contemporary language to respond to the prevalent sloped-roof typology of the village, representing a highly abstract expression rooted in the present construction context. Through this dialogue, the bookstore also becomes a medium that connects the past and present of the village.

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The slanted spaces created by the structure establish a connection with the mountainous environment. Perched on the slope at the village entrance, the building's inclined geometry and steep gradient combine with the site's natural topography to form a dynamic momentum of "an arrow on the bowstring." The exterior walls feature multiple openings oriented in different directions, whose shapes resonate with the building's dynamic form. Each opening frames a unique view of the canyon landscape, through which the building becomes a medium connecting people with the sky and the land.

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The building consists of three levels, interconnected by two separate circulation routes. Wandering along these routes inside and outside the building, one experiences an ever-changing sequence of spaces, where one encounters moments that are at times narrow and lofty, at times dim and profound, and at times spacious and airy.

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Internal circulation begins at the lofty café on the top, with its sloping roof directed toward the sky, creating a spiritual ambiance. Descending to the mid-level bookstore, visitors are sheltered from nature by heavy concrete walls on three sides. The lower-level theatre is illuminated by two skylights beneath the water surface casting a shimmering light.

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Diagram - Exterior circulation analysis

At the end of the theatre stand two 6-meter-tall camphor-wood doors which open and close once a day like a ritual. Inside the doors, people read, recite, and engage with past souls; outside, Nujiang thunders with fury while the land rests in silence. The canyon unfolds as the stage's curtain, where the Nujiang and literature converge.

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Diagram - Interior circulation analysis

The external circulation begins at the entrance, where two opposing forms define a narrow and elevated entry space, much like the canyon composition formed by the Nujiang River flanked by towering mountains on either side. Moving forward from the entry space and descending along the central axis, one suddenly transitions from the artificial "canyon" to the natural canyon, revealing a sense of openness.

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Longitudinal section

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It is clear from the aerial view that the main entrance of the building is aligned with the main road of Yangpo Village. The outdoor circulation connects the two viewing terraces on different levels, forming a public space permanently open to villagers and visitors. In this light, the bookstore can be understood as an extension of the village's public space facing the canyon where contemporary architectural language merges with vernacular mechanics. Librairie Avant-Garde, as its name suggests, stands at the forefront of the village, lifting the crossbow of the Lisu people towards the far reaches of poetry.

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Librairie Avant-Garde has brought a contemporary cultural spark to the ethnic minority settlement of Yangpo Village. Taking the bookstore as a fulcrum, Librairie Avant-Garde will further rejuvenate the village's cultural vitality and draw global attention to both the ethnic minorities and the Nujiang Grand Canyon in the future.