People's Architecture Office, the Beijing firm behind rad prefab small-space plug-ins and experimental tubular living spaces has completed a bold new project in the Chinese province of Shanxi. Using a dozen shipping containers—half in red, half in yellow for a very patriotic palette—the studio built a striking pavilion with lots of interior seating and shaded walkways under cantilevered units.
Featuring a simple arrangement of six containers placed perpendicular to six other ones—and each offset from the next—the structure creates a series of rooftop terraces, accessible from the ground via staircases to the side. And with the ends of the containers enclosed in floor-to-ceiling glass, each one becomes an architectural viewfinder of sorts. Though the surrounding landscape is currently a patchwork of housing developments, the structure can be dissembled and transported elsewhere as needed.