How should one design for a geographically and culturally alien site? Luca Selva Architects and 99 other young offices from all over the world were asked to each design a luxury residence for a newly planned city in inner Mongolia, 500km west of Beijing. The design of the amorphous structure is based upon the analysis of satellite images of the surrounding area showing a lake district in the middle of a desert. The building with five courtyards adapts itself perfectly to the rough climate with strong winds and major fluctuations in temperature. The inside of the building surprizes with a landscape-like staggered sequence of rooms that offer carefully defined views. The project „Ordos 100“ was initiated by large property land owner and art collector Cai Jiang. Ai Wei Wei was in charge of the artistic supervision and the Herzog & de Meuron were responsible for the selection of the architect’s offices that were involved.