spanning picturesque wanrong river, jishou art museum open to public

atelier FCJZ has completed the jishou art museum (JAM) in the historic center of the city of jishou, regional capital of xiangxi, china. the museum, organized within two stacked bridges, spans the wanrong river which runs through the middle of the city and offers a centralized location. while visitors will travel to view the galleries, the circulatory nature of the program — which doubly houses a pedestrian bridge — encourages local residents and commuters to encounter the curated visual arts and experience the culture of the city in passing.

all images by tian fangfang

while contemporary cultural institutions in china are typically far removed from the communities and treated as freestanding monuments, the jishou art museum is introduced as an urban intervention. atelier FCJZ inserted the museum directly into the existing urban fabric, vibrant with street-life and built up with mixed-use heritage row buildings housing shops, restaurants, and apartments. the museum’s multi-programmatic nature further integrates it into this streetscape and the everyday life of the city’s residents.

while the lower bridge level is constructed with an open steel truss structure, mimicking a covered street for pedestrians, the upper gallery level forms an arch of cast in place concrete. the museum is clad with full height glazing which allows the luminous interior to reflect off the water below while a tiled shading system encloses the gallery’s main hall for temporary exhibitions. situated within the two bridgeheads on either end of the museum are such supplementary spaces as the entrance hall, administrative office, shop, and tearoom. pedestrians and visitors can enter the museum from either end of the river.