Chetian Cultural Center is built in a traditional way with local blue stone. [Photo by Liu Tingting/gzdsw.com]

Strongly characterized by traditionally built 40-centimeter local blue stone walls, Chetian Cultural Center stands tranquilly in Chetian village, Gui'an New Area in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The building, with a strong and impressive presence of the stone, stood out and grasped the Gold Award for Excellent Communications Design Architecture of 2018 German Design Award, a top prize bestowed to the projects that represent pioneering contributions to the international design landscape.

It marks the first time that Chinese architects have won such award. West-line Studio, the winner, is based in Guiyang, capital city of the province. The architecture design team exclusively works in this region.

For 10 years, members of the studio have been researching and working on contemporary vernacular architecture around the karst geomorphologic area and local subcultures' diversity.

"We get inspirations from local culture and architectures to improve our design concepts," said Xie Jingsong, a chief architect at West-line Studio.