A Platform for Cultural Life in Shanghai

Scenic Architecture Office designed its building as a system of platforms that climb up to four floors in height and cover almost 90,000 square metres, on which the various functions are housed in separate units of different sizes. Between these units, public spaces are created that extend both vertically and horizontally. The range of functions include a public auditorium, exhibition spaces, science and art workshop rooms, west and east entrance lobbies, a café, a restaurant, a children's theatre, training halls for music, dance and martial arts, open pavilions and courtyards.

A small river divides the building on its western side. The public auditorium with a large lobby for 1,000 visitors is located on the far side of the river, and is connected by two bridges to the music, art and activity zones back to the larger building volume. Here – east of the river, the other functions are grouped around a large courtyard that is connected to the surrounding park via several passageways. On the upper levels, bridges connect between the various platforms on which almost every function has its own spatial unit.

The lecture rooms, workrooms, sports rooms, the children’s theatre, the restaurant and music rehearsal rooms are grouped into clusters. Since many of these large and small spaces are enclosed separately, the access corridors lie open on the platform and are thus thermally connected to the wider surroundings. The west and east lobbies are specially designed spaces that make a significant impression with its Y-shaped supports that in this way facilitates orientation within the building. 

The modular façade elements of the individual spatial units are light green and light orange in colour and create the impression of a shelf with different fillings. The pastel colour scheme continues in the interiors and in combination with light grey tones, gives an approximation of the often washed-out colours in the region’s hazy climate. 

Another special design component are small modular pavilions with pitched roofs that suggest the theme of a cultural village while at the same time provide something human-scaled within the otherwise large-scale structure. In this way, the metropolis and the village are present side by side here and enable an identification on the part of the building user with the surrounding urban landscape that has developed rapidly in just a few years.

By responding to the specifics of the site and making a spatial reference to the contextual urban landscape, Zhu Xiaofeng has composed a layered cultural complex that integrates into the surroundings less by means of a significant façade and form than through a diverse and multi-scaled design. While the large overall form has an impact beyond the immediate site, the small-scaled individual spatial expression of each function brings the human scale. An expressive construction combined the playful use of pitched-roofed pavilions allow visitors to orient themselves on the layered platforms, that in turn provide a dynamic stage for urban life.

TRANSLATED TRADITIONS – PUBLIC COURTYARDS AND URBAN PLATFORMS

Scenic Architecture Office, Shanghai