Description

Project: Henry Yuan Museum
Site: Song Zhuang, Beijing 
Status: Concept design, 2010 
Size: 30,000 sqm 
Project Architect: Di Shaohua

This 10 story complex is located in the artist village Songzhuang, the biggest art zone in Beijing. The site is located at the north west corner of an intersection that marks the entry of the Songzhuang Artist Village. South of the site is the main road leading to the city. The main purposes of the building is to display furniture, and meanwhile to provide office spaces due to the rising art scene in this area.

The client had a manufacture for Chinese traditional furniture for many years. He also had a good amount of collection of Chinese ancient furniture as well as other antiques. His passion for Chinese antiques came from his childhood family influence. He cherishes the memories of living in a courtyard house which was torn down. In this concept design, we sought an architecture with formal and spatial expression that is inherent to the cultural context of the site, meanwhile, meeting both practical and psychological needs of the client.

One of the typical function uses of ramp space is for art display. The design took ramp space as physical representation of the major cultural activity in this area, and resolved into a 10 storey museum and office complex that ramps all the way from the ground level to the top. Inside the void surrounded by the ramp spaces there are three major programs: an auditorium, a lounge garden with sky light, and on the very top, a traditional courtyard house tailored for the client in an attempt to restore a long lost serene living atmosphere he was familiar with as a child.