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The mountain has long hosted one of China\u2019s most significant bird banding research sites. Over twenty-five years, more than 67,000 birds from 304 species have been tagged, building a detailed ecological archive of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. This deep history of observation forms the cultural and ecological foundation for the new gallery.<\/p>\n
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Phoenix Mountain is also blanketed by an 87-hectare organic tea plantation, where terraces of greenery stretch across rolling slopes. Within this cultivated landscape, smart feeding stations and bird-watching hides already create a careful dialogue between humans and migratory life.<\/p>\n
![\"kong](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dali-wuliangshan-flying-bird-art-gallery-kong-xiangwei-studio-china-designboom-01.jpg\")
images \u00a9 Kong Xiangwei Studio, Archi-Translator Photography<\/p>\n
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a light-touch intervention by Kong Xiangwei Studio<\/p>\n
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The project by Kong Xiangwei Studio arises within a courtyard complex that includes guesthouses and a single-story caf\u00e9. To establish a cultural center for the complex, the existing caf\u00e9 was chosen as the base for the gallery. Its foundations allowed Kong Xiangwei Studio to insert a new architectural element while maintaining minimal impact on the existing structures.<\/p>\n
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The design adopts a principle of \u2018light-touch intervention.\u2019 A lightweight steel structure was placed above the original caf\u00e9, creating a new second floor. Its form, resembling outstretched wings, is immediately legible in the landscape. The sharply pointed apex and open span convey a sense of suspension, as though the building itself were caught mid-flight within the valley. This approach transforms the gallery into both a functional cultural space and a sculptural landmark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"kong](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dali-wuliangshan-flying-bird-art-gallery-kong-xiangwei-studio-china-designboom-02.jpg\")
Kong Xiangwei Studio built the gallery above an existing caf\u00e9 within a courtyard complex<\/p>\n
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inviting the tea gardens in<\/p>\n
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The ground floor of Kong Xiangwei Studio\u2019s art gallery retains the caf\u00e9, while the upper level functions as the exhibition space. Here, transparency defines the architecture: expansive glazing dissolves boundaries, allowing the tea gardens, forests, and distant valleys to flow into the room. Photographs of migratory birds are displayed on freestanding walls, positioned so that visitors glimpse living birds in flight beyond the glass as they view the still images inside.<\/p>\n
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The central spatial feature is the pointed apex, supported by the steel frame and recessed to dramatic depth. It frames the valley in a single sweeping view, immersing visitors in the landscape. In sunlight, the white structure channels light into the gallery, while in fog, it softens into a diffused vessel of mist.<\/p>\n
![\"kong](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dali-wuliangshan-flying-bird-art-gallery-kong-xiangwei-studio-china-designboom-03.jpg\")
the lightweight steel structure resembles wings suspended over the valley<\/p>\n
![\"kong](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dali-wuliangshan-flying-bird-art-gallery-kong-xiangwei-studio-china-designboom-04.jpg\")
transparent glazing draws views of tea gardens and distant mountains into the interior<\/p>\n
![\"kong](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dali-wuliangshan-flying-bird-art-gallery-kong-xiangwei-studio-china-designboom-05.jpg\")
photographs of migratory birds are displayed on freestanding walls inside the gallery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dali Wuliangshan Flying Bird Art Gallery \u00a0 The Dali Wuliangshan Flying Bird Art Gallery, designed by Kong Xiangwei…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":173990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[25894,648,1032,1033,171,99104,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-173989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-architecture-in-china","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-observatory-architecture-and-design","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115088724589034627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}