Cheng Shifa Museum, Shanghai, China

The Cheng Shifa Museum proposes a new cultural landmark, linking Shanghai’s evolving image to its cultural history. Shanghai’s increased international presence has brought a responsibility to provide accessible cultural resources, ensuring sustainable development. Parks, gardens, transportation lines and cultural amenities characterize the Museum’s site in Changning District. Joining and strengthening these networks, the Cheng Shifa Museum will become a platform for cultural exchange—open to the dynamic city and the natural world.

The museum is ambitious, offering public space and education programming in addition to exhibitions of paintings and calligraphy by the renowned local artist Cheng Shifa (1921 - 2007) along with regional and international artists. Library, art storage, and archive add a richness to the collection, allowing multiple levels of engagement with the work. Our design proposes a lush central courtyard as the central organizing element. Alternating spaces of collection and public passage pinwheel from the elevated green space down to the museum’s grand entry. A sweeping iconic roof links galleries and art spaces seamlessly above, simultaneously bring natural light into break spaces and vaulted sculpture galleries.

Traditional Chinese art and architecture strongly informed the design. Like a brushstroke, the Museum fuses strong edges, sweeping forms and subtle gradations. The iconic curved roof and central courtyard echo regional building types with clear forms and soft natural light evoking the concept of yin and yang.

__