23.10.2024

Qujiang Museum: Neri&Hu complete red city block

Building design

Neri&Hu have added a rotunda to the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts in Xi'an. Photo: Zhu Runzi

In the central Chinese city of Xi’an, Neri&Hu have extended the museum building of the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts by adding a rotunda over a deep substructure with an area of 1,990 square meters. The rotunda was inscribed into two wings of an existing building on a site area of 1,492 square meters.

In the central Chinese city of Xi’an, Neri&Hu have extendedthe museum building of the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts by adding a rotunda over a deep substructure with an area of 1,990 square meters. The rotunda was inscribed into two wings of an existing building on a site area of 1,492 square meters.

This extension by Neri&Hu is now the main entrance to the 12,000 square meter museum area. Elevators, stairs and escalators provide quick access to the various architectural levels. The extension to the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts is the second cultural museum building that the architecture and research laboratory Neri&Hu has planned for the capital of Shaanxi province. Back in 2012, Neri&Hu created a cultural building with an exciting hybrid structure with the construction of the Xi’an Westin Museum. The building is also intended to be used as a hotel.

The Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts is located at the entrance to Datang Everbright City with its mix of modern urban structure and Tang Dynasty monuments, including the famous 64-metre-high Great Wild Goose Pagoda, which was built in 652. The Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts is located in Xi’an’s historical cultural area, which is also home to private galleries. As an institution, the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts takes on all the central tasks for the preservation of Chinese cultural assets in Shaanxi Province and also supports many cultural undertakings in the region.

The Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts mainly preserves, collects and presents ancient Chinese murals. It is also dedicated to promoting traditional Chinese customs and supports many cultural activities in Shaanxi. In a permanent exhibition covering an area of 1,100 square meters, visitors can see the entire art history of ancient Chinese wall painting on 88, mostly original panels, which date back to the Neolithic period and are many thousands of years old. In addition, special exhibitions on 900 square meters of display space take visitors into the world of historical Chinese goldware or are dedicated to Pablo Picasso and other important artists of Western art. In order to preserve the valuable heritage of local wall paintings for posterity, the museum also has a center for their conservation, restoration and research.

The experimental studio Neri&Hu has taken the urban and historical significance of the site into account and created a visually striking, eye-catching structure in terracotta red that stands out from the dark existing buildings. The architectural add-on by Neri&Hu is a strong, unified structure consisting of four components. These include the partially sunken plinth, the sculpture path, the raised podium and the actual monument, the rotunda. The entire plinth is made of in-situ concrete. It is partially below the level of the existing square. At the entrance to the second floor, Neri&Hu have partially retained the original wide staircase. These lead down to a sunken piazza. The former museum rooms and the restaurant are located in the solid concrete base, which has been supplemented with newly inserted retail spaces and sanitary facilities.

Escalators lead from the ground-level square to the underground museum on level B2. The platform, which is designed as a post and lintel construction, is located above the sunken plinth. A grid of stone columns and glass façades supports a floating roof on which the retail areas are located. This retail level is deliberately designed as a curtain wall, as it sets itself apart from the deep plinth and the sculptural rotunda above.

The extension for the Qujiang Museum is crowned by a double-use rotunda clad in red travertine. It gives the extension its face and defines its appearance in the urban space of Xi’an. The interior or cavity of the rotunda functions like a circumferential gallery. The roof, which is stepped downwards, is hollowed out on the outside in the shape of a bowl and constructed like an amphitheater – a space for performing arts, catwalks or outdoor meetings far away from traffic. Diamond-shaped stones made of red travertine also characterize the façade of the final rotunda and are arranged at intervals so that light can penetrate through the façade into the interior. This creates a constantly changing play of light.

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28.11.2024

Living stonemason’s workshop at the Hessentag

Building design

“Life is so colorful” – the motto was the program at the 56th Hessentag in Herborn. In addition to Johnny Depp, who performed with his band “Hollywood Vampires”, and well-known German stars, the stonemasonry trade was also represented.

“Life is so colorful” at the 56th Hessentag in Herborn. In addition to Johnny Depp and his band “Hollywood Vampires”, well-known German stars and the stonemason trade also performed under this motto. From May 20 to 23, 2016, school classes and visitors were able to find out more about the profession of stonemason and stone sculptor and try out their skills on the stone themselves.

11.12.2024

The light of history

Building design

The extensions stand out clearly from the brick and glass architecture of the historic waterworks.

The small town of Mons in Belgium has a turbulent past. In the Mons Memorial Museum by architect Pierre Hebbelinck, the light and dark sides of its history find architectural expression.

Buffer zone, border area, battlefield: Belgium has historically always been a crossroads of European history – and therefore also a stage for its often tragic chapters. This is particularly evident during a visit to the Mons Memorial Museum, which opened in 2015 and is located in the small town of Mons in the southern part of the country.

Pierre Hebbelinck from Liège was commissioned in 2011 to convert a historic industrial building into a museum dedicated to the history of the region. The brick, iron and glass waterworks is a typical witness to the economic boom that the Walloon region experienced during the industrialization process in the 19th century and had to be renovated and extended in line with the preservation order.

The architects opted for two wing extensions, whose exterior façades were painted white to clearly distinguish the new buildings from the existing ones. They clearly divided the functions between the three buildings, with the interior design of the individual rooms corresponding to the exhibition content: the windowless, oppressive rooms of the new buildings focus on the most dramatic chapters of local history – war, deportation, occupation – while the large hall of the old building is dedicated to liberation, democracy and freedom.

The view outside

The hall in the middle of the complex, glazed at the gable ends, serves as a transparent reception and catering area and is crossed by a 15-metre-long walkway. This connects the permanent exhibition in the left wing with the rooms for temporary exhibitions in the right wing.
The architects attached great importance to the lighting concept: in addition to the lighting, which is differentiated according to function, the historic glass fronts of the listed old building were also professionally refurbished to optimize the incidence of sunlight and improve the quality of stay for visitors to the café and bookshop. The large glass windows, which are divided by metal bars, were also renewed.

Open and closed

The closed nature of the extensions forms a contrast to the open and transparent existing building. A strategically placed aisle in the exhibition tour leads to an open space in the basement, whose brick-clad, monotonous red walls can be read as an architectural image of the tragic wartime past of the Mons region. There are also narrow windows that allow light into the interior like crevices in a rock, or provide a view to the outside at certain points: For example, to a war memorial at the crossroads or to important elements of the city’s history in the public space.

Photos: François Brix.