Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi by Haisheng Xu

Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi by Haisheng Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Burunsi Premiu in Wasichiy Kamay Competition Category.

BurunsiWasichiy· 2026

Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi

by Haisheng Xu

Client: Studio 0

A' Design Award Burunsi Premiu Winner in Wasichiy Category

5,331

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #182286

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi

Volcano Visitor Center nisqaqa Islandia suyupi huk watukuqkunapaq wasim, chaypin Islandiaq nina urqunkunamanta allpa hawa yachaykuna, ñawpa willakuykuna, kawsay yachaykunapas riqsichikun. Kay wasiqa 7,300 chaki tupuy hawkata hap'in, nina urqu allpaman churasqa kachkan, ukhu pacha kanchakunata huk llaqllasqa wasi qata pampawan hukllachaspa. Ruwana llamk'anakunaqa mana sasachu: concreto nisqa, metal, qhispi imapas; huk q'umir wasi qatapas kaypi tarpusqa kachkan chay llaqtapi wiñaq quraakunata yanapananpaq. Parametrico nisqa ruwana yachaykunawan chay muyuq rikch'ayta ruwarqanku, ichaqa allin yupasqa hina rikch'ayta hap'ispa. Purina ñankunaqa watukuqkunata pusanku pacha qayllata, allpata, pachamamatapas riqsinankupaq.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Burunsi Premiu

Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi A' Design Award Burunsi Premiu mishak kan, jatun yupaychay, kayta mana shuk shina, mushuk yuyaypi, yuyaypi shinallatak chaskik kaypi riksishka diseñukunaman kun. Burunsi mishak kashkakunaka ruray ushayta charik shinallatak mancharina mushuk rurashkakunami, paykunata rurakkunapak achka yachayta, yuyayta shinallatak ruray ushayta rikuchinku. Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi sinchi yupaychashka, kuyashka shinallatak riksishka shuk ruray kanata munanku, ruray yuyaywan shinallatak mushuk yuyaywan. Kay Burunsi Premiu japishka diseñuka arti, siensia, diseñu shinallatak tekinolojíapi ashtawan alli ruraykunata tantachin shinallatak ima ukumanta rikuypi sumak kan. Volcano Visitor Center Watukuqkunapaq Wasi mañaykunata alli paktachin, munaykunata llankan, shunkuta kuyachin shinallatak yachayta munayta kallarichin.

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