Renovation of the Jiakaxia Ancient Courtyard / hyperSity Architects

The Architectural Ark: Renovation of the Jiakaxia Ancient Courtyard in Barkhor Street — In Lhasa, the area around Barkhor Street, centered on the Jokhang Temple, stands as the city's most bustling hub. Here, official residences of both monks and lay officials coexist with numerous civilian homes, shops, and inns, forming a unique spatial configuration of "urban-market and temple syncretism." The project site, "Jiakaxia" (Tibetan for "Magpie Pavilion"), derives its name from the magpies that once populated the willow trees planted by Princess Wencheng. It embodies the profound bond of "harmony as one family" between the Han and Tibetan peoples. This two-story mixed-use courtyard, featuring a blockhouse-style structure, integrates historical Tibetan commercial architecture along the street with a modern "Paradise Time Bookstore" built by tenants in the late 1990s in the rear. Here, Tibetan stone masonry dialogues with contemporary elements like concrete, light steel structures, plastic canopies, and color steel panels.