Undulating rooftop landscape

Sky Mountain in Haikou by Sou Fujimoto

The rooftop landscape accessed by stairs is the main attraction at the Sky Mountain pavilion by Sou Fujimoto. © ACF

The south Chinese city of Haikou wishes to enhance its shoreline with 16 new buildings by noted architects.

Sou Fujimoto

's ring-shaped

pavilion

with its undulating

roof

is the second such project to be completed.

Below the deeply cantilevered roof, rooms with large glass facades provide views onto an artificial pool. © Yi Ran

"Pavilions by the Seaside" is the name of the programme with which the capital of the island of Hainan in the South China Sea is currently introducing changes to its stretch of coast. The name is an understatement: rather than small temporary pavilions, permanent buildings are coming about, complete with various cultural offerings that are to benefit both tourists and local residents alike. The line-up of designers includes many of the usual suspects, such as

Bjarke Ingels

, Winy Maas of MVRDV,

Stefano Boeri

and Thomas Heatherwick, as well as a number of Chinese architects.

kicked off the programme last year, and is now followed by a second new building to be completed: Sou Fujimoto's Sky Mountain with its contoured rooftop landscape. Prominently located on a promontory at the northern end of Haikou Bay, its ring-shaped form echoes the curve of the shoreline.

A café, a bookshop and exhibition space are housed in the newbuild. © ACF

Undulating rooftop landscape

Folded like a membrane and sloping up and down, the walkable ring-shaped roof offers views of the city and towards the Chinese mainland. The area inside the ring is modelled into an artificial hilly landscape that features an integrated amphitheatre flanked by a crescent-shaped pond.

Sou Fujimoto Architects ring-shaped design responds to the building's location on a promontory. © ACF

The undulating ring-shaped roof can be walked on. © ACF

At some places the snow-white roof resembles a taut tent membrane. © ACF

The pavilion's interior rooms, set below the roof and far back from its edge, are surrounded by all-glass facades and consist of an exhibition gallery with a bookshop, reading area and toilets in the east and a café in the west.

Architecture: Sou Fujimoto Architects

Client: Hainan Provincial Tourism Investment Holding Group

Location: 3865+2RX, Meilan District, Haikou, Hainan (CN)

Execution planning: China Southwest Architecture

General contractor: China Construction Eighth Engineering Division

Gross floor area: 1600 m²