东乡文化中心位于甘肃省东乡族自治县唐汪镇马巷村。马巷村除南面以外三面被黄河的支流洮河所环绕，虽然位于黄土高原上但是这里相对海拔较低，只有大约1700米左右。这里的地理位置优越，既是信仰穆斯林的东乡族同胞的定居地，也是汉族的传统村落同时由于紧邻藏区，所以这里也有许多藏传佛教的寺庙。虽然马巷村是一个很小的村庄，但它并不简单，这里有着在乡村中特别罕见的丰富多元的历史文化。在马巷村中，既有信仰穆斯林的礼拜寺，也有道观还有源自藏传佛教的吉祥寺。因此新建的文化中心将以何种方式介入到这个多元文化的时空压缩体之中将是建筑师首要面对的问题。

▼文化中心远景鸟瞰，distant bird-eye’s view of the culture center ©金伟琦

Dongxiang Culture Center is built in Maxiang village, Dongxiang autonomous county, Gansu province, China. On three sides (except for the south side) is the village surrounded by Tao River , a tributary of Yellow River. It is located on the Loess Plateau with an altitude of about 1,700 meters. The village is not only the settlement of Dongxiang people who are Muslims but also a village of the Han people. Due to its close proximity to the Tibetan area, there are also many Tibetan Buddhism temples in the region. Being a small village but full of rich and diverse history and culture, Maxiang is a extremely rare place in countryside with Muslim mosques, a Taoist temple and a Tibetan Buddhism temple. Therefore, how to involve the newly-built culture center in this multi-cultural complexity of space and time is the focus for the architect.

▼文化中心鸟瞰图，bird-eye’s view of the culture center ©金伟琦

面对如同厚重的沉积岩般堆叠的人文历史，文化中心以一种轻盈的方式被轻轻的置入其中。她没有选择历史的语汇，而是以现代的方式轻装上阵。文化中心将成为地方文化的阅读者而非讲述者。事实上，没有一座建筑能够把如此众多的故事都讲全，因此这是一座倾听的建筑。

当你穿越一路的黄土高原，转过几座大山，被洮河所环绕的马巷村突然映入眼帘，确实如同一片世外桃源。2018年受中国扶贫基金会的委托，车飞老师赴现场踏勘并最终选定现在的位置作为文化中心的选址。文化中心没有选择村子外面的空地而是选择嵌入村子内部的肌理之中。这里曾经是搬迁前的吉祥寺旧址。现状除遗存庙门外已成为一片空地。在基地的东侧不远处是洮河，北侧的不远处则是新建的吉祥寺，西南是高山环抱的马巷村。高山、河谷、黄土高原以及平川构成了项目地点独特的自然环境。

▼文化中心和场地轴测图，axon of the culture center and the site ©超城建筑

In a context of the human history stacked like thick sedimentary rocks, Dongxiang Culture Center was gently placed into it not with a historic vocabulary but in a modern way. The culture center is supposed to be a reader of local culture rather than a narrator. In fact, no building can tell such numerous stories and it becomes a listening building.

After crossing the Loess Plateau all the way and turning over several mountains, Maxiang Village surrounded by the Tao River suddenly comes into your view, appearing like a paradise. Entrusted by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in 2018, Prof. Dr. Che Fei investigated the village and finally suggested to choose the current location as the site of the culture center. It has been decided not to put the culture center in the open space outside the village but to embed it in the fabric of the village. The chosen site was the former site of Jixiang Temple before its relocation. The existing site has become a vacant lot except for the gate left from the former temple. Not far away flowing Tao river in the east, closely in the north standing the newly built Jixiang Temple and the farm houses of one part of the village distributing in the southwest surrounded by far mountains, the project site encompasses an unique natural environment of big mountains, river valleys, Loess Plateau and riveside.

▼俯视图，文化中心嵌入村子内部的肌理之中，aerial view of the culture center that is embedded in the fabric of the village ©金伟琦