Gannan (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo main hall

Nine Colors Gannan is a pure land of Brahman with profound charm. Gannan is one of the ten Tibetan autonomous prefectures in China. It is located in the transitional area between the northeast edge of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and the west of the Loess Plateau, an intersection of Tibetan and Han cultures. Gannan’s beauty is generous, with snow mountains, lakes, streams, grasslands, Tibetans, history, custom, and unique traditional architecture.


In January 2019, Gansu provincial committee and the provincial government decided to hold the 4th Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo and the 9th Dunhuang travel·Silk Road International Tourism Festival (hereinafter referred to as “one conference one festival”) in Gannan in July 2019. Prof. Chen Keshi was employed as the chief designer of the Main Hall of “one conference one festival”. The architectural scheme of the main hall, tent town, and rostrum designed by him was determined as the implementation scheme. The Main Hall of Gannan (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo is located in the Dangzhou grassland scenic area of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with an altitude of nearly 3000 meters. Total floor area of the Main Hall is about 28000 m2, and is composed of five functional buildings: A, B, C, D, and E. The construction of the Main Hall not only meets the needs of “one conference one festival”, but also fulfill the functional demands for of Gannan Prefecture by providing cultural service space and conditions for Main Hall’s sustainable operation. After “one conference one festival “, the Main Hall can be used as an exhibition center, performance center, folk museum, and art museum to promote visiting and consumption, thus greatly improve attraction and international popularity of Gannan and help to become an important tourism destination in the future. The steel structure is mainly used for building components to meet the requirements of the construction period and later reconstruction and expansion. The Main Hall was officially completed on June 30, 2019, and completed and delivered to the exhibition in 100 days. It has become a fully assembled steel structure public building with the largest volume and the shortest construction period in Gansu Province.

Regional, original and artistic design principles are fully expressed in the Main Hall design of International Cultural Expo in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture completed in 2019.
The idea of the Main Hall of Gannan (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo stems from the understanding of the natural geography, human geography and architectural tradition of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Many on-the-spot investigations about traditional architecture of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and studies on the history and cultural traditions of Gannan Tibetan make Prof. Chen Keshi determine the architectural design strategy with Tibetan culture as the core when he first conceived the design of the Main Hall. The principle of regionality is reflected in the understanding and research of the Main Hall and its surrounding environment. The Main Hall is located in the southeast of Hezuo city, where the government of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located. This site is surrounded by grassland and typical natural scenery. How to design an original contemporary Tibetan style building and express the artistic elements of Tibetan traditional architecture based on regional principles is a starting point of design thinking.
The design concept firstly considers how to express regionality, which refers to the expression of natural geography and human geography elements in architectural design. The natural geographical elements of the Main Hall are surrounding grassland, natural mountains and rolling mountains in the distance. The natural geography of architecture is surrounding conditions, which determines that this architecture should respond to natural geography. Therefore, in the strategy of architectural design, the natural geographical elements must be interpreted. In terms of human geography, Prof. Chen Keshi and his design team summed up the spatial layout and morphological characteristics of the Tibetan architecture and responded in the design of the Main Hall through the recent research on the architecture of the Tibetan residential courtyard in Gannan and the research on the Tibetan architecture in other Tibetan area over the past ten years. The design needs to reflect the architectural tradition and humanistic spirit of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, born in Gannan and belongs to Gannan, to be a design with vitality. The yak tent, the most important residence of Tibetan herdsmen in Gannan, activated Prof. Chen Keshi’s creative idea.