Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art
Suzhou, China
Client
Suzhou Harmony Development Group Co. Ltd
Typology
Culture
Size m2/ft2
60,000 / 646,000
Status
Completed
PATHWAYS — The site is defined by a series of paths that lead to the Suzhou Ferris Wheel and the lakeside.
LIFE BETWEEN THE BUILDINGS — Splitting the functions into smaller pavilions creates garden spaces and plazas in-between the volumes for visitors to meander through.
COVERED PATHWAYS — Covered pathways connect the pavilions while also framing gardens between the pavilion and along the lakeside.
PROGRAM — The two-story building houses 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.
SITE PARAMETERS — Sitting along the shore of Jinji Lake, the site occupies a large area of 310 x 200 m.
"Suzhou is the cradle of the Chinese garden. Our design for the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is conceived as a garden of pavilions and courtyards. Individual pavilions are woven together by glazed galleries and porticoes, creating a Chinese knot of interconnected sculpture courtyards and exhibition spaces. Weaving between the legs of the Ferris wheel, 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 seen from the gondolas above. Against the open space of the lake, the gentle conical curvature of the roofs forms a graceful silhouette on the waterfront. From above, the stainless roof tiles form a true fifth facade."Bjarke Ingels - Founder & Creative Director, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
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.Catherine Huang - Partner, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
Partner in Charge
Bjarke Ingels
Catherine Huang
Project Manager
Molly Hsiao Rou Huang
Project Architect
Kekoa Charlot
Tyrone Cobcroft
Tseng-Hsuan Wei
Design Lead
Matteo Pavanello
Project Team
Finn Nørkjær
Ole Elkjær-Larsen
Haochen Yu
Shane Dalke
Zhonghan Huang
Aileen Koh
Amanda Lima Soares Da Cunha
Athena Morella
Christian Vang Madsen
Dora Jiabao Lin
Eddie Can
Eric Li
Federica Fogazzi
Filip Fot
Cris Guoyu Liu
Izabella Banas
Jakub Kulisa
Jan Magasanik
Mathis Paul Gebauer
Paula Domka
Sarkis Sarkisyan
Shu Du
Xavier Thanki
Yunus Alperen Basak
Søren Dam Mortensen
Mike Munoz
Narisara Ladawal Schröder
Federico Martínez De Sola Monereo
Filippo Cartapani
Yihan Liu
Yanis Amasri Sierra
Gwanghyeon Park
Desislava Georgieva
Zuzana Faskova
Julia Wilkosz
Riad Tabbara
Bianca de Lira Silva
Phoebe Cowen
Oliver Steen
Jiawen Huang
Jurica Pajic
Eleonora Niccoli
Simone Parigi
Mie Eusebi
Romain Thijsen
Yingying Guan
Chih-Han Chen
Sol Anaid Chacon Levin
Philip Kaefer
Jana Semaan
Megan Nhat Xuan Dang
Pei Huang
Jonathan Christian Chin
Caroline Senyszyn
Maximilian Friedmann
Huiyao Fu
Tarek Shater
Pip de Coninck
Arda Çinçin
Zahra Khademi
Zhiyuan Zhang
Fabio Sala
Tomasz Jakubowski
Jason Cheuk Hei Lee
Pauline Rytter
Todor Todorov Rusev
Jiaqi Yang
Taulant Haxhiu
BIG Engineering
Andrea Hektor
Bjarke Koch-Ørvad
Jonathan Russell
Miles Treacy
Andreas Bak
Maria Capuozzo
Tim Christensen
Will Chuanrui Yu
Cristina Minguela
Alexander Gale Heiede
Janis Bronka
Konstantinos Koutsoupakis
Thomas Lejeune
Adele Scampoli
Ingrid Albina Oliva Lampa
Jens Max Jensen
Jesús Fernández Fraile
Kannan Selvaraj
Awards
MIPIM Asia, Best Cultural, Sports and Education Project, Silver, 2025
Collaborators
ARTS Group Co. Ltd. [中衡设计集团股份有限公司]
VIA.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