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Steven Holl Architects presents two new films with Spirit of Space on the Sifang Art Museum

2014-03-11T15:39:00-04:00

Perhaps you remember Spirit of Space's Art in the City film from back in summer of 2013, meditating on the interplay between city life and public art in Chicago. More recently, the architectural film-making creative agency produced two short films showcasing Steven Holl's work for the Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing, China. SOS has previously worked with Steven Holl on five film pieces, featuring his work in both China and the U.S.

The films follow SOS's tried-and-true style -- one with Holl explaining to the camera his design choices, interspersed with languishing shots of the now-open museum:

Sifang Art Museum: A Conversation with Steve Holl

...and a second, more contemplative film that in turn dwells on the architecture itself:

Sifang Art Museum

Sifang Art Museum - designed by 22 architects including Wang Shu, SANAA, Adjaye, Holl - opens its first exhibition

2013-11-06T19:12:00-05:00

China's wealthy patrons like Mr. Lu's family are underwriting a major cultural boom, spending billions of yuan on grand buildings to showcase impressive collections of art, antiques and other cultural rarities. Their largesse and ambitions echo American industrialists who sponsored the arts in the early years of the 20th century...

Recently in The Wall Street Journal, reporter Jason Chow interviewed real-estate developer Lu Jun and his son Lu Xun who finally opened the Sifang Art Museum for its first exhibition this past weekend in Nanjing, China after 10 years of construction.

Spearheaded by Lu Jun and curated by architects Liu Jiakun and Arato Isozaki, the $164 million project consists of 11 mixed-use buildings designed by an international mix of well-known architects including Wang Shu, SANAA, David Adjaye, Mathias Klotz, Steven Holl, and artist Ai Weiwei (the only non-architect). Three more buildings are expected to be completed within the next year.

During a rising cultural trend of private museums owned by China's wealthiest patrons, Lu Jun, his son, and some of the museum's architects describe the doubts, challenges, and hopes in the construction and operation of the ambitious project.

You can read the entire article here or the multimedia website.

Photos by Qilai Shen. "Light Box" photo co...

Sifang Art Museum

2013-08-27T17:50:00-04:00

Hard by the Yangtze River, ten miles from Nanjing, a giant, glowing hollowed-out trapezoid hovers above the trees. The otherworldly Sifang Art Museum, designed by the American architect Steven Holl, [...] an edgy sign of the ancient city’s rapid modernization.