丨中国大理丨Kong Xiangwei Studio

Architects:Kong Xiangwei Studio

Year:2025

Photographs:Archi-Translator

Lead Architects:Kong Xiangwei, Cui Jun, Gao Zhuojian

Category:Pavilion

City:Dali

Country:China

Text description provided by the architects. At the northernmost tip of Yunnan's Wuliang Mountains, Phoenix Mountain (Fenghuang Shan), with an elevation of 2,380 meters, plays amidst the clouds. It rests like a giant bird with folded wings in Bixi Township, Nanjian County, Dali. This area is not only a geological epic formed by the collision of the Hengduan and Ailao mountain ranges but also one of China's renowned migratory bird corridors. Every September, tens of thousands of birds spiral down along this ancient migratory route, turning the mythical vision of "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix" into reality.

Awakening the Site: From Ruins to Inspiration — Deep within the 1,300-acre tea-tourism sanctuary of Phoenix Mountain lies a hidden valley, forgotten by time, west of the homestay. Crumbling earthen walls and moss-covered stone foundations mark what was once a shared home for mountain dwellers and wildlife. The surrounding rainforest welcomes flocks of migratory birds year after year. One dusk, a white silver pheasant (Lophura nycthemera) feather drifted down onto the ruins – its silver-edged, ink-patterned plume resting gently on the meadow, like a design sketch offered by nature. This chance encounter sparked the birth of the "Phoenix Feather Tea Pavilion": a structure as light as a feather, seemingly floating amidst the trees, serving as a medium for birdwatchers to converse with the mountain forest.

Translating the Feather — The designers used a language of "light touch on the earth." Replacing ink with slender 14mm galvanized steel rods, they traced lines amongst ancient trees and valleys. Mimicking the silver pheasant's elegant legs, the rods rise from the ground, weaving an overhead hyperbolic arc that captures the graceful curve of a feather. The tea platform and bar on the south act as a gravity anchor, while the east side is lightly supported by only a few rods. This creates an overall feeling of suspension, like a silver feather hovering between sky and earth.

Shifting Plumage — The galvanized steel rods, coated in silver metallic paint, become a canvas for the shifting sky. In mist, they gleam with cool blues; at sunset, they blush with romantic purples; bathed in warm yellow light at night, they emanate warmth against the deep green jungle.

Restrained Humility — The structure humbly respects the boundaries of ancient trees, avoiding intrusion into the pristine environment. The end table faces the dense western forest, framing a dynamic natural tableau. The steel grid of the curved ceiling slices the sky above into unique linear views, enhancing the ritualistic feel of observation.

Beyond Function: An Enduring Performance — The completed Phoenix Feather Tea Pavilion rests in the forest like a gently landed feather, perfectly blending the sensation of gravity with poetic suspension. It transcends its original function as a resting place. Within Phoenix Mountain's natural "theater of mists and clouds," it elevates into a spiritual space for deep interaction between humans and nature.

Observer and Observed — Within the ethereal pavilion, birdwatchers quietly contemplate the forest sea and listen to birdsong. Simultaneously, the pavilion itself and everything surrounding it (the forest, birds, mist, clouds, light, and shadow) become participants in the act of "seeing," engaging in a subtle and continuous poetic dialogue with those inside.

Nature's Offering — The Phoenix Feather Tea Pavilion, this "plume" crafted with modern techniques, is itself a poetic gift – offered to this thousand-year-old migratory bird sanctuary and to the magnificent natural world.

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