founded in 1929, the ?zhejiang museum of natural history? is located in the chinese city of hangzhou and has a collection of over 200,000 specimens covering geology, ecology, and paleontology. in 2014, the shanghai office of david chipperfield?s architectural practice (DCAS) won a competition to design a second brand of the institution in anji ? a rural setting populated with bamboo forests and rice fields.

all images © simon menges
 
 
set on a sloping site, the new museum comprises a staggered composition of eight, single-storey, bar-shaped pavilions that step down the hillside. ?they follow the natural topography, minimizing the visual impact on the landscape, and frame an open garden,? explains DCAS. ?a loggia, or covered walkway, loops around this central space, mediating between the external and internal areas of the museum.?
 
 
at the site?s northernmost point, an entrance pavilion welcomes visitors and offers views over the central garden and landscape beyond. exhibition halls, which can be accessed directly or in sequence following the stepped loggia, are located on either side of this central garden. these halls have been designed to accommodate large exhibit pieces, such as dinosaur fossils, life-size models, and large-scale wildlife dioramas, as well as interactive exhibition elements.

 
 
reinforcing the relationship between the museum and the landscape, the entire complex has been rendered in red ocher to match the clay earth that surrounds the sit...