Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat by Haisheng Xu

Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat by Haisheng Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Gangsa in Reka Bentuk Seni Bina, Bangunan dan Struktur Competition Category.

GangsaSeni Bina· 2026

Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat

by Haisheng Xu

Client: Studio 0

A' Design Award Gangsa Winner in Seni Bina Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #182286

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat

Volcano Visitor Center ialah sebuah pusat pelawat di Iceland yang mempersembahkan maklumat geologi, sejarah dan budaya mengenai gunung berapi Iceland. Bangunan ini meliputi keluasan 7,300 kaki persegi dan diletakkan menyatu dengan rupa bumi volkanik, menggabungkan ruang bawah tanah dengan landskap bumbung yang berbentuk arca. Palet bahan yang digunakan adalah ringkas, terdiri daripada konkrit, logam dan kaca, dengan bumbung hijau yang direka untuk menyokong tumbuhan tempatan. Alat reka bentuk parametrik membentuk lengkungan bangunan sambil mengekalkan geometri yang rasional. Laluan pergerakan memandu pelawat untuk mengalami ufuk, daratan dan alam semula jadi.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Gangsa

Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat ialah pemenang A' Design Award Gangsa, pengiktirafan yang amat berprestij yang dianugerahkan kepada reka bentuk cemerlang yang dicirikan oleh kreativiti, kecerdikan dan ketajaman fikiran. Pemenang Gangsa ialah artifak yang amat mahir dan sangat kreatif yang membuktikan pengalaman luas, imaginasi dan akal budi pereka bentuknya. Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat diharapkan menjadi objek yang sangat dihargai, dikagumi dan disayangi, sangat profesional dan inovatif. Reka bentuk pemenang A' Design Award Gangsa ini merangkumi amalan terbaik dalam seni, sains, reka bentuk dan teknologi, dan cemerlang dalam perhatiannya terhadap butiran. Volcano Visitor Center Pusat Pelawat memenuhi keperluan dengan indah, menyentuh keinginan, memikat perasaan dan menarik rasa ingin tahu.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Embedded within the volcanic terrain, the project dissolves the boundary between building and landscape, offering a continuous journey of light, earth, and horizon. By uniting subterranean shelter with sculpted roofscape, it transforms architecture into an environmental mediator that preserves the site while intensifying experience, inviting visitors to inhabit nature not as observers, but as participants in its elemental presence.
Dimensions & Packaging: 7,300 square feet.
Tags: Sustainability, Landscape Architecture, Mobius,Parametric, Curvilinear
Production Technology: The building is intended to use local materials and minimize its impact on the existing landscape. The material palette is kept simple, consisting of concrete, metal, and glass, with a green roof designed to support local plants. Parametric design tools were used to create a dynamic form responding to the organic landscape while maintaining rational geometry and production control. View and lighting analyses were also used to verify the design outcomes.
Design Challenge: The creative challenge was to create a manmade form that responds to the existing landscape and site language without simply mimicking nature. The design philosophy explores how humans, while adapting to nature, interpret and reshape the surrounding environment to achieve a new balance that can sustain human life in a sustainable and long-lasting way.
Research: The research focused on two main aspects. The first examined how volcanic activities have shaped Iceland’s landscape and human activities. It was particularly inspiring to understand how volcanoes and the hidden underground world provide fertile soil and geothermal heat for life, while many human activities and habitats are partially or fully embedded underground. The second aspect studied the geometries and forms generated by volcanic activities.
Inspiration: Iceland’s settlement history is shaped by volcanic forces and the landscapes and energy they generate. The vast horizontal terrain fosters a close relationship between human life and the earth. Inspired by volcanic forms and the mystery of the underground, the design reinforces this connection by integrating surface and subterranean space. It invites visitors to reflect on nature as they experience the expansive horizon.
Project Duration: 2025, Iceland
Operation Flow: The design serves as a tourist center introducing geological, historical, and cultural information about Icelandic volcanoes, showing how volcanic activities have shaped Iceland’s environmental and social landscapes. The concept originates from volcanic terrain, particularly exploring the interface between the ground surface and the underground. Around this interface, the building's circulation guides visitors to experience the horizon, the land, and nature.
Team Members: Haisheng Xu