Plasma Studio’s Xi’an Greenhouse breaks away from traditional design with crystal-inspired inclined glass facades and a semi-submerged structure harmoniously integrated into the lakeside landscape.
© Plasma Studio
The continuity between natural and artificial brings out a unique synergy. The main entrance is towards the lake; a prolonged cut emerges to create a light-filled reception from which visitors access the greenhouse.
Render
The overall horseshoe shaped plan creates a loop to accommodate unique planting and spatial conditions.This shape also generates an interior open-air courtyard making it the centre of a three-dimensional web of interior and exterior circulation. This mesh of paths leads through three different climatic zones corresponding to plant environments.
© Plasma Studio
This crystal of a greenhouse sits fittingly in between land and lake providing protection for plants and giving visitors a convivial space.
Render
Project info:
Architects: Plasma Studio
Client: city of Xi’an
Budget: undisclosed
Size: 4,000 sq.m
Program: greenhouse
Awards: Wallpaper’s best building site 2011, this decade of architecture in china 2000-2010
Partner in charge: Eva Castro, Holger Kehne, Ulla Hell
Hassan Yakubu is an editor at Arch2O with a deep academic and professional background in architecture, planning, and urban infrastructure. Currently pursuing his Ph.D. at Cornell University, his editorial focus spans climate urbanism, sustainability transitions, and the intersection of infrastructure and STS. Hassan brings a sharp critical lens shaped by fieldwork in Accra and policy research across Africa. With prior experience leading pedagogical initiatives and contributing to architectural practices in Rabat and Accra, his writing brings clarity, academic depth, and a global perspective to contemporary urban issues and design thinking.