Tadao Ando Designs Harmonious He Art Museum in China Honoring Lingnan Culture & Art
Based on a circular design and ripple-like expansion.
Japanese architecture studio Tadao Ando Architect & Associates has designed the He Art Museum in Shunde, China slated to open later this year. Named after the museum’s founder He Jianfeng, HEM draws architectural inspiration from the Chinese term He, which denotes harmony, balance, and fortune.
Totaling 16,000 square meters, HEM is the first museum to celebrate southern China’s regional Lingnan culture and covers four floors in a circular design. A “double-helix” staircase is situated in the center of the building, which leads to a round skylight overhead. Galleries, an education space, a bookstore, and a café will be accessible to the public via the museum’s walkway, while a tranquil water feature wraps around the building.
HEM presents an indigenous style of painting originally created by artists living in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. The museum’s architectural design also pays tribute to the culture with a Lingnan-style, highly decorative vernacular architecture and the inclusion of a Cantonese opera. The rotating exhibitions will display rare Lingnan art that spans centuries, alongside works by international contemporary masters such as Pablo Picasso and Yayoi Kusama.
Although HEM was expected to open on March 21, the opening has been postponed to a later date due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China. In the meantime, take a closer look at Tadao Ando’s design in the images above.
For more design, check out the recently renovated and expanded Seattle Asian Art Museum by LMN Architects.
