Dayu Research Institute

Yu the Great is the founding ancestor of the Chinese nation and the heroic flood-tamer of antiquity, whose influence on Chinese history is profound. The Dayu Mausoleum scenic area at Mount Kuaiji in southern Shaoxing is the evidence by which later generations study Yu's virtue and carry forward his spirit. The Dayu Research Institute, the final piece of the overall development, provides a venue for academic discussion and scholarly training. Unlike the monumental, imperial-bearing Dayu Memorial Hall beside it, the Research Institute adopts a traditional garden-style layout, integrating more Shaoxing vernacular, human-scaled architectural elements. From the Memorial Hall to the Research Institute, emperor and people share heaven and earth, and heaven and humanity are one. The harmonious culture embodied by the landscape-garden space of the Research Institute is an important complement to the spirit of Yu. The main program includes training classrooms, an assembly hall, dormitories, and a canteen; the total site area is 142,892.96 square meters, with 10,500 square meters above ground and 3,085 below. The institute fully respects the natural landscape; its orientation and layout follow an axis that echoes the sacred path of the scenic area and continues the Memorial Hall's logic. Clustered volumes emphasize order and axiality, while the interior dissolves into a traditional garden layout. The main entrance is at the northeast corner of the site, on the Memorial Hall's axis, using a visual framing device to bring the Memorial Hall and distant mountains into the layered spatial expression. The west side, near the city road, serves as the group-accommodation entrance, avoiding the scenic circulation; the south side is the ceremonial entrance, whose gate faces the center of the Dayu Relief Square, completing the scenic axis. Corridors link the three main functions, hall, training, and accommodation, and the volumes enclose landscape courtyards of varying sizes; walking through them, views change with every step, creating the and elegance of a Jiangnan garden and ultimately forming a quiet study retreat that fuses garden design with Yu-culture elements. The building form draws on the historical background of Yu establishing the Xia dynasty and on Shaoxing local character; the facade uses architectural language to dissolve concrete representation and abstract traditional formal vocabulary, applying Yu-culture symbols such as gray walls, dark tiles, deep eaves, and colonnades to form a new-Chinese architectural settlement, primitive and elegant yet modern. The roof is a traditional pitched form using dark metal tiles to mimic the texture of traditional barrel tiles; the eaves project in layers like dougong brackets, creating a heavy, deep feeling that echoes the Memorial Hall's momentum, while the sides of the eaves double as exhaust vents, unifying form and function. The door-and-window system follows a 750-millimeter module, with dark wood-imitation aluminum panels echoing the eaves; the ridge, colonnade style, and gate eaves translate Xia-dynasty elements such as the Lei Si plow and the Qiequ pattern. The Research Institute uses gray-white Chinese black stone, wood-toned aluminum panels, and dark metal tile roofing for an overall color harmony; interiors echo the exterior with wood-toned ceilings, white walls, and dark floors, reviving a traditional charm. The courtyard design balances the building with surrounding nature: compared with the monumental Memorial Hall, the institute's landscape is simpler, more refined and delicate, planting bamboo and elms accordingly. A still water pool in the inner courtyard reflects trees and eaves, allowing scholars to enjoy both distant mountains and courtyard quiet.