Public
By Clifford Pearson
Like an archaeological dig, the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Museum reveals itself from the top down, offering a sense of discovery as visitors move through it. Entered from a ramp that bridges a small lotus pond and leads to second-story galleries, the 900-square-meter building in Sichuan Province provides a dramatic setting for Buddhist sculptures from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) to the Song Dynasty (960-1125).
Because the artwoks inside are stone carvings, architect Liu Jiakun wanted the museum to tell "an architectural story of man-made stone." To this end, he designed the building with a concrete frame and double walls made of an unusual combination of poured concrete and shale brick. Owing to the limitations of the local building trades in this part of Sichuan, the arcitect used the inner brick wall as a template, ensuring a vertical pour for the wall. Shale bricks also provide formwork to create a grid pattern on the concrete, which gives the walls texture and hides imperfections in the exposed material.
Using the same rough concrete walls on the interior as he does on the exterior, Liu gave the museum the feeling almost of "an underground palace." And by inserting clear glass at the intersections between the building’s masonry volumes and carving out a large recess on the west facade for the entry ramp, Liu created a powerful dialogue between solids and voids, earth and sky.
Although the museum is fairly small and sits on a 0.6 hectare property on the Fu River, Liu paid great care to the experience of moving around and through it. First he planted trees to screen the museum from a parking lot, then he created a meandering route for visitors to take as they approach the building. By the time they arrive at the museum, they have left their everyday concerns behind and are ready to appreciate the beauty of ancient Buddhist sculptures.
Entering the museum on the upper level, visitors cross an interior bridge that cuts through a two-story space and emphasizes the sense of a journey. The second-story exhibition space wraps around a roof courty, which has the added attraction of a covered landing, reached by an outdoor stair and offering views of the river and the surrounding area. On the lower floor, the architect placed more galleries, as well as a small multifunction room and an office.
While some new buildings appear as alien objects with few connections to their local culture or building traditions, the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Museum is firmly rooted in its place and society. Using a simple palette of rugged materials and a powerful vocabulary of Modern forms, Liu Jiakun has created a dramatic structure that underscores the spiritual impact of the museum’s Buddhist art. 
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