3XN, B+H, and Zhubo Design were recently awarded first place in an international design competition for the new Shenzhen Natural History Museum, set to be the first large-scale comprehensive natural museum in Southern China once complete.
The new 42,000-square-meter museum will be dedicated to the interpretation and communication of the theories of natural evolution, showing the region of Shenzhen and its ecology in the larger context of the world.
The design scheme, entitled "Delta," organically emerges from the river delta that sits on the site, inviting visitors to traverse atop its accessible green roof. A public park expands throughout the roof and articulates the museum's organic form. The bending geometry leads museum-goers to a cave-inspired passage that connects to the museum lobby along with multiple cafes and public spaces.
Pritzker Prize Laureate Yvonne Farrell, Co-Founder of Grafton Architects and one of the judges for the competition, said of the proposal: "This building captures the unique atmosphere of a riverfront site and finds the timeless property of water as a concept... The connection between function, site, concept, structure, material and space is very clear."
4 Comments
From a fishing village to a major world city in a few decades!
A fascinating metropolis and a manufacturing and exporting hub. And, for some reason, this proposal is a very fitting form, rising from the swamp with all of its cliches.
I used to be aghast at the sheer amount of signature buildings being constructed in the Mainland but considering China only started building seriously in the late 80s (Having gone through wars, revolution, the horrors under Mao, and only then economic growth) and their average large city is multiples the size of a developed world metropolis like NYC - it makes sense for them to be catching up still.
catching up to whom? they're 20 years ahead of most places
I meant in terms of quantity of new construction. So many European cities still have functioning institutional buildings that are a couple hundred years old whereas their equivalents in China are mostly new construction - concert halls, museums, government buildings etc. As for technlogy - like you say - the materials and techniques used in their premier projects in recent years is already way ahead of what is used in North America.
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