Rising from the windswept plains of Zhangbei County in northern China, Zhangbei Mirage is far more than an observation deck – it’s a technological ode to transparency, structure, and the poetry of light.
Designed by Beijing-based lighting studio Puri Lighting Design, the project is a masterclass in how space and luminance can merge to create not just a building, but a sensory experience.
d8BIM
The architectural concept rests on a robust concrete skeleton wrapped in a precision-engineered steel frame. But what truly transforms this monolith into a glowing icon of the open field is the lighting, calculated, minimal, and visceral.
The design employs a tight palette of high-spec fixtures, blending 36W lights with a 10° beam and 48W with a 30° beam, all subtly integrated through an uplighting approach. The result? A spatial canvas that breathes with each beam, where the steel framework reads like a three-dimensional light sketch against the rural night sky.
Light as Language
Every projection angle was iterated and refined to emphasize depth without overwhelming the structure’s minimalist integrity. There’s a deliberate contrast between the subtler interior glow and the bolder steel exoskeleton, adding layers of spatial hierarchy and tension, pure fuel for lovers of form and light.
Tech-forward yet emotionally resonant, the entire installation runs purely on 4000K white light, a colour temperature chosen to evoke purity, stillness, and clarity. Nothing superfluous. No over-saturated hues or gimmicky animation. Just honest luminance, married to material and space. In the emptiness of the field, the building doesn’t just sit, it glows, like a vessel channelling light from within, quietly anchoring the landscape with its presence.
Behind this vision is Puri Lighting Design (PURI), a studio with deep roots in China’s design innovation scene and a growing global presence, with branches in Los Angeles and Chengdu, New York and Beijing. PURI isn’t about just throwing a blanket of light onto a building, they tailor bespoke solutions that feel intuitive, crafted and grounded in a deep architectural understanding. Their philosophy? Design that’s neither loud nor generic, but rather a quiet act of sculpting atmosphere with precision and soul.
Over the last decade, PURI has illuminated more than 500 projects and amassed many accolades and international design honours. Yet Zhangbei Mirage feels like the purest articulation of their ethos, a spatial interaction that whispers rather than shouts, all while harnessing the coolest side of tech.
It’s architecture for the now generation and engineered with lighting that articulates its vision as much as its structure.