Devaraja Stele Landscape Tunnel

The ancient Devaraja Stele Village in the valley of Jialing River in Chongqing Municipality and the Mianren Academy halfway up the mountain will be developed in a unified way to boost cultural tourism. Because the trail between the two is cut off by the traversing North Spring Road, it is necessary to construct a pedestrian tunnel to link them up. The design team decided to seal off the old culvert pipe beneath the road and merge the water diversion with the walkway. In Chinese tradition and culture, the moon represents ‘the lofty character of the literati spirit and the yearning emotion in the secular life’. Inspired by the moon’s symbolism, the design team locates the precise position and orientation of the tunnel above the valley to slice the tunnel and the entrance to the tunnel in a manner that simulates the earth-moon projection relationship. This creates a crescent facade on the tunnel entrance in the mountain, demonstrating the relationship between spirit and life from an aesthetic and philosophical perspective. Red Dot Award: Design Concept | Concept | Architecture