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nature cradles and amplifies music, and
how human-created art can connect with
immensely powerful nature."
Li and Huang's fidelity to nature cuts
across projects but is particularly reso-
nant with the Chapel of Sound. There is a
strong spirit in the valley and the remnants
of the Great Wall here are quite unlike
what tourists normally see. Dilapidated
and hidden on a mountain ridge, they are
built into the actual landscape. But, as
said Huang told The World Around, "We
are at a different age." Rather than "build
against," she pondered, "maybe we build
something that can coexist with nature."
But to do so while still respecting the exist-
ing historical landmark. In quickly realizing
that any attempt to embed architecture
into the surrounding mountain landscape
would destroy the existing fragile balance
between the topography and the ecosys-
tem, Li and Huang decided to, as they
put it, "translate that primitive quality into
a special building, something that might
seem like a prehistoric boulder landed
here mysteriously, touching the ground
with minimum footprint."
"Inspiration comes from many directions for
us," they say. "Nature is the ultimate one.
Rocks have always fascinated us—we pick
up local specimens wherever we go, so
naturally, we were inspired by the rocks
and geological formations at the site." On
another note, they add, "When we were
doing research, we came across scenes
of concerts being played in natural caves
which deeply touched us, seeing how
42 DIGS.NET
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