CPLUS' inflatable ellipsoid, matrix-space, cocoons visitors in warm embrace in beijing

matrix-space suspends like a giant liminal cocoon

Matrix-Space for All is an inflatable installation created by CPLUS that provides a soft and safe perceptual sensation, like ‘returning to the mother’s womb’, in contrast to the hard, cold concrete forest of the encompassing CBD in Beijing. The spatial experience is on view at the Taikang Art Museum throughout this summer, suspended in the air from its 13 meter height and taking shape as a vast, white ellipsoidal cabin.

Forming a space within a space, the Chinese architects encourage people to establish emotional bonds with the city in a shared exploration of the proximate space. Like a giant cocoon that transcends reality, it is ambiguous and polysemous, characterized by a primitive sense of the future, and producing a series of dialogues with the gallery, such as ‘soft and hard’, ‘light and heavy’, ‘hazy and clear’.

all images by Zhu Yumeng

cplus brings otherworldly spatial experience to urban beijing

Taikang Art Museum is located in the core area of Beijing CBD, surrounded by super-tall buildings which symbolize the influence of the city while causing a certain oppression. What kind of installation can bring a unique experience to a dynamic high-rise city, while meeting the specific requirements of the gallery, was the primary question to be answered in the design. Ultimately, with the goal to alleviate the alienation in modern cities as a touch point, the architects at CPLUS created a place that connects with people’s bodies, emotions, and memories in an intimate way.

Matrix-Space for All is suspended in the air by cables attached to pre-embedded components on the roof structure, thus liberating the ground space and reducing on-site activity restrictions. The main structure is lifted 2.2 meters above the ground, and only a small distance away from the wall, releasing a strong spatial tension which represents a subtle relationship between expansion and collision, implying a variety of metropolitan pressures. Visitors pass through a movable steel ladder to complete the transition from the high-ceilinged rectangular gallery to the wrapped air cabin.

CPLUS presents Matrix-Space for All

Inside Matrix-Space, the human body interacts with the soft surface of the semi-transparent membrane material in all directions. The membrane realizes the space occupation of geometric volume, and at the same time achieves a relatively light state. In addition, the control of light and sound on site fully stimulates the sensory experience, while the pure interior space allows visitors to detach themselves from daily life, entirely relax their tense bodies, and try to perceive the existence of life.

CPLUS’ methodology of structural design applies the rigidity of an inflatable membrane structure forming an indoor space, and then applying cables to collect the tensile stress from bottom surface to form a cradle suspension. Finally those cables transform force into the structural system of the original building through a set of spatial steel trusses. The overall structure utilizes three-layer membrane material to form two main air cabins, including an inner structural cabin and an outer decorative cabin. The engineers utilized an ellipsoidal double-layer air inflatable structure to form an enterable space, ensuring that the air pressure is equalized inside and outside, eliminating the requirement of pressure transition cabins. The outer air membrane fills outwards when the pressure difference between the inside and atmosphere is about 0.3 times the atmospheric pressure, while the inner side had intend of decrease inwards.

a soft and safe perceptual sensation, like ‘returning to the mother’s womb’

A series of pulling sheets are set between the inside and outside to prevent the inner membrane from collapsing, and the hanging points form concentrated loads, which destroy the tension effect formed by the surface air pressure, causing unsightly wrinkles or bulges, and bringing in potential safety hazards. The engineers set tension load path along the tangent direction of the ellipsoid’s cut section by specifying the force transmission so that the membrane only bears the tensile stress within the surface, ensuring that the tensile stresses are dispersed as evenly as possible within the range below the hanging points, eliminating the risk of stress concentration.

its lightness contrasts to the hard, cold concrete forest of the encompassing CBD in Beijing

forming a space within a space, CPLUS encourages people to establish emotional bonds with the city

visitors pass through a movable steel ladder to complete the transition

Matrix-Space is ambiguous and polysemous, characterized by a primitive sense of the future

suspended in the air from its 13 meter height and taking shape as a vast, white ellipsoidal cabin

an immersive spatial experience

suspended in the air by cables attached to pre-embedded components on the roof structure

the structural design applies the rigidity of an inflatable membrane structure forming an indoor space

project info:

name: Matrix-Space for All Space Installation at Taikang Art Museum
designer: CPLUS (Cheng Yanchun, Li Nan)
lead architect: Cheng Yanchun

design team: Liu Xiaoguang, Bo Chen, Guo Feng, Zhu Jiaying

structural consultant: Lava Structural — Zhang Jinbin, Tang Lida, Jian Li, Liu Keke

location: Taikang Art Museum, Beijing, China

area: 145 square meters

photography: Zhu Yumeng, Zhang Jinbin

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom