Fire constructs, Fire heals, Fire is sacred, Fire germinates. Through destructive processes, fire becomes an agent of construction.

The site is located within the floodplain of the Sacramento River, and the purpose of this project is to cultivate the land into a "Seed vault" for the species bought by the floods.  This design starts from the observation of the structure of burnt residues generated based on the orientation of their grains. The land is cultivated taking inspiration from the bumps and cavities of these structures. At last, the CIHC(California Indian Heritage Center) is designed as a part of the landscape.

At the very beginning of the research, different types of wood materials are burnt to reveal the structures of their burnt residues. The structures are digitalized and projected onto the site to evaluate the spatial qualities both for species to inhabit and for people to experience. 

When floods come, the cavities allow for the disposition of the seeds and the bumps provide wetness alternatives for different species to inhabit. As floods subside, seeds germinate, thus the site would be restored into a wild "Seed vault", a microcosm for various species.

The concept of the CIHC is to have the building embedded into the terrain to maintain the primitive landscape, and the building would be accessed via different levels of the terrain. Inside of the building, different programs are designed to be physically or visually connected to each other, thus it is also a microcosm for people.

The outer layer of the CIHC is a uniform space for exhibition use, while the inner volume is intended to be an informal microcosm. The positive space(interior side) of the inner volume is the community library, and the negative space(exterior side) of it is the outdoor activity space. These two counterparts are intertwined with each other to provide a microcosm for the indigenous people.