designed by C+ architects, the LAB art museum marks the main exhibition venue for 2019’s wulong lanba land art festival in chongqing, china. as the central building during the event, the project has been conceived by the design team to act as a piece of land art itself. situated in the mountains far from the urban context, the new architectural intervention works with the contours of the earth in an effort to embrace the surrounding natural landscape. 

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

aerial view, image © gao tianxia

 

 

in response to the land art theme, C+ architects has developed the museum as an elliptically-shaped ring that houses the major exhibition hall on the second floor. at the first floor, four functional blocks contain the reception, staff office, gift shop and special exhibition area. the blocks on the ground also act to elevate the upper level. therefore, whether visitors look up from the bottom of the slope or from the viewing platform in the distance, the first thing that comes into view is the large oval exhibition space.

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

located on a small hillside, image © C+ architects

 

 

the entire art museum appears to ‘float’ in the air, especially when the lights are turned on at night. the architects intend for the exhibition hall to be read as an extension of the landscape and the oval form allows visitors to be surrounded by nature in 360 degrees, resulting in a continuous, direction-free building. the space is separated by functional blocks on the first floor, however, visitors can enter and exit the central courtyard at will, as if they are in the middle of nature, blurring the line between the building and the surrounding mountains. 

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

façade, image © C+ architects

 

 

the oval main exhibition hall uses large glass curtain walls as the façade material, allowing visitors to enjoy the panoramic mountain scenery while admiring the land art works. in foggy weather, they can have the experience of strolling in the clouds and when coming to the central courtyard, people will find that the elliptical ring-shape frames the sky, just like a piece of land art. 

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

façade and landscape, image © gao tianxia

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

courtyard, image © gao tianxia

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

courtyard, image © gao tianxia

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

people can walk in any direction on the natural terrain, image © C+ architects

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

main exhibition hall on the second floor, image © C+ architects

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

hidden building boundaries also give the exhibition hall maximum continuous visibility, image © gao tianxia

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

the exhibition hall, image © gao tianxia

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

grey space, image © C+ architects

C+ architects builds an elliptical ring on the mountainside for LAB art museum in china designboom

under construction, image © LAB

 

 

project info:

 

project name: the LAB art museum 

program: cultural architecture

location: chongqing, china

design: C+ architects

architect in charge: cheng yanchun

project team: bo chen, cao pengfei, chen lvming, liu jianlong

structural design: zhang jinbin, tang lida

dates: march 2018-august 2019

area: 32,291.73 ft2 (3000 m2)

photography: gao tianxia, C+ architects

video: gao tianxia

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: lynne myers | designboom