ZAO / Zhang Ke Architecture Office

The museum is located at the foot of the Daci Mountain, just a few kilometres south of the renowned West Lake in Hangzhou. It is operated by the China Academy of Arts and is dedicated to the painter couple Xiao Feng and Song Ren.
The free interpretation of an introverted scholar’s garden forms the centre around which the linear building structure snakes in an organic way. Visitors reach the entrance situated in the interior courtyard by walking under a building bridge. In the building, a tour of the exhibition follows the circular form of the building, which becomes quite narrow at some points and expands to larger volumes at others so as to open up the exterior space. Ramps provide access to the different levels, which facilitate a multifaceted spatial experience in the parts of the building with various heights. The polygonal form is broken up towards the interior courtyard with protruding boxes, which open up to the courtyard with panorama windows or even permit a view through the building from the interior courtyard of the hilly landscape outside the museum.
The entire shell of the building was created with concrete coloured with black ink and processed on site. The natural lighting conditions and the artificial lighting bring the homogeneity of the materials and the polygonal snake form into a vibrant contrast with the surrounding nature.