Shanghai-based architecture and design practice Wutopia Lab breathes life into Flickering Peak, an art centre donned in semi-transparent white Ferrari membrane in Coffee Village, Wanning, Hainan in China. The Sun River Art Centre is perched on the site of a coffee plantation developed by returned overseas Chinese from Indonesia—a site of rich history. With its translucent chassis, the structure exudes dramatic visual expressions throughout the day, becoming a cultural landmark in the local area. "This history of persecution, exile, return, reclamation and the creation of a miracle deeply moved me. I saw it as an encouragement during a struggling phase in my life, an inspiration about miracles," Yu Ting, chief architect of Wutopia Lab, remarks in the official release.

The project's journey began with the client’s dissatisfaction with the previous design of the art centre. Wutopia Lab was approached to balance the substance and visual appeal of the centre while working with the existing constraints. The basement had already been constructed so the beam and slab structure types could not be altered; the new building had to work within the original structural load and building control lines. “When I saw the layout of the three buildings in the original plan, the urge to create a sea awakened a meme in my mind: a pool and three mountains,” the Chinese architect shares. "In the Sun River Coffee Town, I decided to turn the original three buildings into three mountains and create an artificial sea in front of the main mountain, paying tribute to the miracles of the overseas Chinese and their hope for a more prosperous and confident future," he adds.

The plan of the project includes three buildings or ‘mountains’: the east and west auxiliary buildings housing reception and office spaces and the central building serving as the heart of the art centre. The auxiliary buildings epitomise secondary mountains, while the main building is the primary mountain with a ‘sea’ in the front. A boardwalk along the ‘sea’ ushers the visitors to the main building’s lobby.

Inside the building, two paths ascend the mountain. One heads east, passing through a coffee reception, an open negotiation area, the second-floor exhibition space and leads to an outdoor seating area with a sky bridge to the secondary mountain. An outdoor staircase design then connects to the multi-functional hall's platform. The other path climbs large steps to the mezzanine and second floor or takes an elevator directly to the third floor. Both paths converge at the outdoor platform and continue up to a rooftop coffee garden with panoramic views. The meandering routes weave the interior design and outdoor spaces together, transforming the boxy building into an abstract mountain.

The terraced building and its auxiliary structures lack visual harmony and can be overshadowed by the surrounding buildings. To address this, the architect introduced semi-transparent shells around the three buildings. These shells detach from the functional facades, creating mountain-like peaks that stand out against the background through subtraction. The membrane shells establish a distinct visual boundary of the buildings, forming a shaded grey space in their midst. This approach is inspired by the use of temporary structures to modify space for comfort in varying weather in the traditional architecture of China.

Due to structural load restrictions, the translucent mountains are constructed using lightweight membranes instead of perforated aluminium panels. The Ferrari membranes’ three perforation rates increase in transparency from bottom to top. When sunlight hits this exoskeleton, a flickering effect unfolds on the roof.

During the day, the white Flickering Peak reflects in the pool design, creating a sense of sanctity. The architects worked with lighting designers to transform the peak at twilight into a mountain of shifting lights in various colours, symbolising diverse desires. Inside the main building’s lobby, however, vivid lighting design features a red sun against a blue background, capturing the essence of Rothko. Here, the changing materiality contrasts with the external sanctity, creating a new kind of sacredness. “The immediate, spontaneous sanctity in material life is the most philosophically significant moment in the real use of traditional Chinese architecture. I used Flickering Peak to express this moment,” the architect notes in the press statement.

Every element of the public architecture—from the cave-like lobby, mountain paths, glass round windows and skylights to the membrane structures and water features—when abstracted, intertwines with architectural forms to yield a layered dialogue between the art centre and the mountain. According to the architect, through interpreting these texts, one can uncover “history, myths, memories, nature, symbols, riddles and even the architectural language model".

Architecture is shaped by a particular group, time and place, influencing society through various media—oral stories, texts, photography and more. These mediums interweave intent and interpretation and mould cultural habits and societal norms. “Flickering Peak is such an event—a super text combining memory, legend, myth, limitations, uncertainty (the recurrence of the pandemic), setbacks, waiting, ambition, hope, as well as some common architectural knowledge, implicit knowledge and history—and it is welcomed by the media,” the architect concludes.