Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art
Suzhou, China
Client
Suzhou Industrial Park Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau [苏州工业园区文体旅游局] & Suzhou Harmony Development Group Co. Ltd [苏州圆融发展集团有限公司]
Typology
Culture
Size m2/ft2
60,000 / 646,000
Status
Completed
SITE PARAMETERS — Sitting along the shore of Jinji Lake, the site occupies a large area of 310 x 200 m.
PATHWAYS — The site is defined by a series of paths that lead to the Suzhou Ferris Wheel and 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.
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.
"If the historic city center is the cradle of the Chinese garden, the lake district is the cradle of a new Suzhou. The site of the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is sandwiched between the city and the lake. A newly constructed Ferris wheel partially blocks the relationship with the water. By dissolving the museum into a Chinese garden of interconnected galleries, distributed across the site like pavilions in a park, the museum becomes a connection between the city and the lake, rather than an obstacle. Its urban porosity allows citizens to walk through sculpture gardens to the lakefront, while the water penetrates between the pavilions to reach the city. From above, the museum appears like a traditional infinity knot as it intertwines the legs of the Ferris wheel to reach all the way into the lake. With the vast number of visitors ascending the wheel above, the roof surface de facto becomes the true fifth facade of the art complex. Not only do I see our design as an homage to its local heritage, a sort of Scandinavian reinterpretation of a unique typology, the Chinese garden, but the result is, in many ways, a manifestation of the ancient future of Suzhou and a testament to the construction quality and technical sophistication that is becoming the rule rather than the exception in contemporary Chinese architecture."Bjarke Ingels - Founder & Creative Director, BIG
"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
Partner in Charge
Bjarke Ingels
Cat Huang
Project Manager
Molly Hsiao Rou Huang
Project Architect
Kekoa Charlot
Tseng-Hsuan Wei
Tyrone Cobcroft
Design Lead
Matteo Pavanello
Project Team
Aileen Koh
Amanda Lima Soares Da Cunha
Arda Çinçin
Athena Morella
Bianca de Lira Silva
Caroline Senyszyn
Chih-Han Chen
Christian Vang Madsen
Cris Guoyu Liu
Desislava Georgieva
Dora Jiabao Lin
Eddie Can
Eleonora Niccoli
Eric Li
Fabio Sala
Federica Fogazzi
Federico Martínez De Sola Monereo
Filip Fot
Filippo Cartapani
Finn Nørkjær
Gwanghyeon Park
Haochen Yu
Huiyao Fu
Izabella Banas
Jakub Kulisa
Jan Magasanik
Jana Semaan
Jason Cheuk Hei Lee
Jiaqi Yang
Jiawen Huang
Jonathan Christian Chin
Julia Wilkosz
Jurica Pajic
Mathis Paul Gebauer
Maximilian Friedmann
Megan Nhat Xuan Dang
Mie Eusebi
Mike Munoz
Narisara Ladawal Schröder
Ole Elkjær-Larsen
Oliver Steen
Paula Domka
Pauline Rytter
Pei Huang
Philip Kaefer
Phoebe Cowen
Pip de Coninck
Riad Tabbara
Romain Thijsen
Sarkis Sarkisyan
Shane Dalke
Shu Susan Du
Simone Parigi
Sol Anaid Chacon Levin
Søren Mortensen
Tarek Shater
Taulant Haxhiu
Todor Todorov Rusev
Tomasz Jakubowski
Xavier Thanki
Yanis Amasri Sierra
Yihan Liu
Yingying Guan
Yunus Alperen Basak
Zahra Khademi
Zhiyuan Zhang
Zhonghan Huang
Zuzana Faskova
BIG Engineering
Adele Scampoli
Alexander Gale Heiede
Andrea Hektor
Andreas Bak
Bjarke Koch-Ørvad
Cristina Minguela
Ingrid Albina Oliva Lampa
Janis Bronka
Jens Max Jensen
Jesús Fernández Fraile
Jonathan Russell
Kannan Selvaraj
Konstantinos Koutsoupakis
Maria Capuozzo
Miles Treacy
Thomas Lejeune
Tim Christensen
Will Chuanrui Yu
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]
Shanghai Hopesun Signage Design [上海沈浩鹏平面设计有限公司]
BIG Engineering