In Jinyun County, Lishui, Zhejiang
There’re over 3,000 artificial caves
Which can be transformed into a unique concert hall, a library
Or a venue
With only a tiny amount of design and intervention
Xu Tiantian｜Transformation of Caves in Jinyun
The caves in Jinyun boast a history of over a thousand years
They represent an industry and a culture which have been existing since the Song dynasty
It’s hard to imgaine
That the over 3,000 caves across the county were all dug by men
These giant caves have different and strange shapes
Each of them is an oversized piece of land art
In around 2000, quarrying was banned here
A large number of caves were deserted
And they posed certain safety risk
We chose 9 neighboring caves in Xiandu
By far the renovation of No.8, No.9 and No.10 has been completed
The three caves have typical shapes
Cave No.10 is enclosed on three sides
It’s now an outdoor exhibition hall for local quarrying culture
During the communication before the project started
Local villagers and quarrymen told me
They wished to keep a quarrying site
As a stage to show the history of the local industry
I started to quarry at the age of 16
In the past the houses in Jinyun were all built with strip stone
And the villagers supported themselves by quarrying
Cave No.9 is an open-air space
After quarrying was banned
It was once used as a fishpond by the villagers
The walls in the cave have beautiful colors
Tuff is a kind of rock formed by the fusing together of small rock fragments ejected from a volcano
They show a warm hue especially in sun
And the acoustics of the cave are unique
We have done some professional acoustic adjustment by adding sound-absorbing panels
To shorten the reverb time
People can do unplugged performances here
Elder villagers come here to watch traditional Wu Opera performances
Cave No.8 is a half-sheltered space
It’s as high as 38 meters inside
The old quarrying platforms and paths are kept
To form new views
According to the legend, Xiandu was where the Yellow Emperor went up to heaven
And also where men of letters gathered
So we tranformed the cave No.8 into a public library
To salute the history and culture of Xiandu
My grandfather was a quarrying cave contractor
After these deserted caves have been transformed
I return here
To instroduce the local quarrying history to the visitors
To touch the rocks which my grandfather touched
I’m deeply touched inside
For many local people
The caves were where they earned a living for life
And the caves also stand for local history
And are intangible cultural heritages for local community
During the whole project
We applied a small amount of intervention
We were ahead of the schedule and invested less money compared with a new-construction project
I don’t think we should overdesign and overconstrut in rural projects
We can use architectural design as an entry point
To inherit history and culture
And explore economic possibilities