Ordos Art Gallery by DnA

 Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Ordos Art Museum is located at the cultural centre of Ordos, a city founded in 2001 in Inner Mongolia. Designed by DnA, the museum houses a public exhibition space and a private research institution.

Image: http://www.chinese-architects.com

In the design of the gallery, much attention was given to integrate the building with the prairie landscape of Ordos.

Image: http://www.chinese-architects.com

In the design process, a continuous, linear route traced on the landscape constituted the basis of the eventual building form.

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

From the entrance, the visitor proceeds up the natural terrain of the dune’s slope, before descending back onto the ground floor. The end of the route also marks the conclusion of the public exhibition space, and the beginning of the private research institution.

Image: http://www.chinese-architects.com

The interior spaces vary in height, width and length according to the terrain.

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Full height glazing brings the landscape into the interior spaces, while semi-enclosed courtyard spaces

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

DnA_Design and Architecture is a Beijing-based architecture firm headed by Xu Tiantian. 

Reference: Zhulong

 

 

 

 

OCT Art and Design Gallery by Urbanus

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

The OCT Art and Design Gallery is an additions and alterations project by Urbanus located in Shenzhen, China. The original structure, built in the early 1980s, was a warehouse that served as the laundry house of the Shenzhen Bay Hotel.

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

In the alteration, the warehouse was wholly preserved. A new glass façade with a hexagonal graphic pattern was built around the preserved warehouse.

 Image: http://www.china-designer.com

The hexagonal motif is repeated in the museum’s interior. Derived from various combinations and permutations of the hexagon, this results in a complex and irregularly shaped interior space.

 Image: http://www.china-designer.com

In the design, two distinct exhibition spaces were created through the use of materiality. In the first instance, the entire space is totally cladded in timber.

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Another part of the museum employed concrete on all its surfaces.

 Image: http://www.china-designer.com

The irregular spaces of the new architectural intervention are in contrast to the rectangularity of the preserved warehouse, which is also accentuated by its white walls. The windows of the preserved warehouse are entirely boarded up, creating an enclosed exhibition space.

 Image: http://www.china-designer.com

Thus, it is only from the newly added architectural spaces that views of the surroundings can be taken in.

 Image: http://www.china-designer.com

The irregularity of the newly added spaces endows them with a functional flexibility. Besides serving as exhibition halls, they can also accommodate a variety of different events such as fashion, product and jewelry launches.

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

 Image: http://www.china-designer.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Image: http://www.zhulong.com

Urbanus is a architecture and urban design practice with offices in Shenzhen and Beijing. The firm’s works have been featured in publications such as Abitare, a+u, and Domus.

References: Baidu Library, Zhulong, China Designer