From above, Yinchuan’s Sunac City Exhibition Centre resembles a strand of silk, floating on the adjacent Gedi Lake, a reminder of the city’s past as a Silk Road trading depot. Slender columns are set under two wings of the halfmoon-shaped roof, reaching out towards the lake. Holes in a perforated panel curtain wall are styled on the city’s Malan flower. The minimalist design ensures the building, which functions as both a commercial and civil exhibition space, blends effortlessly with its natural environment.