Located at the northern edge of Beijing, Jinshanling is a two-hour drive from the heart of the city, and is on its way to becoming a destination resort with a very active public life. The village is embraced by undulating mountains in all directions except on the west, where it opens up to the steep vista of a valley meandering for two kilometers, and in this valley rest the remains of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. The task was to plan the village center equipped with a hotel, a theater, a library, a communal canteen, and apartments.

Rather than being isolated from one another, the buildings that accommodate the various elements of the program form a three-dimensional architectural complex by overlapping and interconnecting vertically and horizontally. Such a spatial structure provides many more opportunities to define specific relationships between the different parts of the program and the natural environment of Jinshanling, and is reinforced by the creation of a street that links up the buildings to offer visitors a dynamic experience of the space and the landscape alike. At ground level the spaces are terraced to resonate with the natural terrain.