STATUS
IN CONSTRUCTION
CLIENT
Suzhou Harmony Development Group Co. Ltd
TYPOLOGY
Culture
SIZE M2/FT2
60,000 / 646,000
SHARE
Located on the Jinji Lake in Suzhou, the 60,000 m2 Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is conceived as a village of 12 pavilions, offering a modern interpretation of the elements that have defined the city’s urbanism, architecture, and landscape.
Designed as a reimagination of the traditional garden ‘lang’, 廊 – a line that traces a path – the museum spaces frame gardens and coalesce as pavilions. The design of the museum showcases Suzhou’s Garden tradition as part of the exhibitions, taking visitors on a journey and exploration of art, nature, and water. The museum is scheduled for completion in 2025.
The museum’s main design element is the ribbon of the roof, which extends into a pattern of eaves that double as sheltered walkways through the site. Knots in the thread of walkways frame pavilions, and as a result, the museum’s architecture entwines through the landscape, tying water to land, city to nature, and people to history. The draping walkways further extend out into Jinji Lake, which can be regarded from above while on the Suzhou Ferris wheel.
SITE PARAMETERS
— Sitting along the shore of the Jinji Lake, the site occupies a large area of 310 x 200 meters.
PATHWAYS
— The site is defined by a series of paths, giving access to the Suzhou Ferris Wheel and the lakeside.
SUGGESTED PROGRAM
— The suggested program as a two-story building with the three main functions gathered under one roof.
PROGRAM SPLIT
— The volume is rotated and separated into three individual buildings occupying the site surrounding the Ferris Wheel.
LIFE BETWEEN THE BUILDINGS
— Splitting the functions into smaller pavilions, garden space and plazas are created in-between the volumes for visitors to meander along.
COVERED PATHWAYS
— Covered pathways connect the pavilions, while also framing gardens between the pavilion and along the lakeside.
Arriving at the museum, the visitor will be met by an expansive, welcoming plaza in front of the Visitor Centre and main entrance. From here, visitors will be able to proceed with their visit inside or along the exterior, through the gardens and to the waterfront.
The museum’s landscaping acts as a public space to the front of Jinji Lake through a series of interconnected gardens, ensuring a rich public realm surrounding the museum. Sculptures by contemporary artists will offer Suzhou’s citizens a cultural experience outside the museum’s opening hours. The individual gardens will gradually change from mineral to green to finally water-themed planting, as the visitors move towards the waterfront.
Our design for the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is conceived as a Chinese garden of pavilions and courtyards. Individual pavilions are woven together by glazed galleries and porticoes, creating a network of interconnected sculpture courtyards and exhibition spaces. Weaving between the Ferris wheel legs, the museum branches out like a rhizome, connecting the city to the lake. The result is a manmade maze of plants and artworks to get lost within. Its nodular logic only becomes distinctly discernible when viewed from the gondolas above. Against the open space of the lake, the gentle catenary curvature of the roofs forms a graceful silhouette on the waterfront. Viewed from above, the stainless roof tiles form a true fifth facade.
Four of the museum’s pavilions comprise the main gallery experience of the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, and the five remaining feature a multifunction hall for events and lectures, a theater, restaurant, and grand entrance.
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Defined by sloping roof eaves, each pavilion’s façade is made of rippled and curved glass, as well as warm-toned stainless steel that reflects the garden colors. The pavilions are connected above- and underground via bridges and tunnels, offering the museum flexibility to plan exhibition flow according to seasons and exhibited art pieces. The paths leading through the site will be covered with natural stone.
The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art Museum follows the Chinese sustainability certification, GBEL Green Star 2, including both technical and social approaches to sustainability.
The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is a tribute to the rich garden heritage of Suzhou. We envision the '廊,' a traditional element of Suzhou gardens, gracefully winding through the landscapes and transforming into pavilions. In doing so, it frames the contemporary gardens, making them an integral part of the exhibition, as significant as the artwork within.
The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art was recognized as a national landmark in China in June 2024, when it was featured on an official postage stamp issued by China Post to celebrate the successful development of Suzhou Industrial Park and the urban landscape around Jinji Lake.
Landscaping in renderings is conceptual and will differ from the final design.
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Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær Catherine Huang Ole Elkjær-Larsen Haochen Yu Zhonghan Huang Aileen Koh Amanda Lima Soares Da Cunha Andrea Hektor Athena Morella Bjarke Koch-Ørvad Christian Vang Madsen Eddie Can Filip Fot Cris Guoyu Liu Molly Hsiao Rou Huang Izabella Banas Jakub Kulisa Jan Magasanik Jonathan Russell Kekoa Charlot Mathis Paul Gebauer Matteo Pavanello Miles Treacy Paula Domka Shu Du Tyrone Cobcroft Xavier Thanki Andreas Bak Narisara Ladawal Schröder Maria Capuozzo Federico Martínez De Sola Monereo Filippo Cartapani Yihan Liu Yanis Amasri Sierra Desislava Georgieva Zuzana Faskova Tim Christensen Julia Wilkosz Will Chuanrui Yu Riad Tabbara Phoebe Cowen Cristina Minguela Oliver Steen Jiawen Huang Jurica Pajic Alexander Gale Heiede Janis Bronka Konstantinos Koutsoupakis Thomas Lejeune Tseng-Hsuan Wei Adele Scampoli Romain Thijsen Yingying Guan Ingrid Albina Oliva Lampa Chih-Han Chen Sol Anaid Chacon Levin Philip Kaefer Jana Semaan Megan Nhat Xuan Dang Pei Huang Jonathan Christian Chin Jens Max Jensen Jesús Fernández Fraile Huiyao Fu Kannan Selvaraj Tarek Shater Arda Çinçin Zahra Khademi Tomasz Jakubowski Jason Cheuk Hei Lee Todor Todorov Rusev Jiaqi Yang
COLLABORATORS
ARTS Group Co. Ltd. [中衡设计集团股份有限公司]
Front Inc.
Shanghai Shuishi Landscape Design Co. Ltd. [上海水石景观环境设计有限公司]
Rdesign International Lighting [上海瑞逸环境设计有限公司]
BIG Landscape
BIG Engineering
