playze + schmidhuber use chinese ribbon dance for exhibition center design

playze + schmidhuber use chinese ribbon dance for exhibition center design
all images courtesy of playze and schmidhuber

the creative minds of playze and schmidhuber have collaborated for the ‘urban planning exhibition center’ in china. the facility anchors the district of ningbo eastern new city: a fresh suburban swath of equal parts high-rise and high-way, still searching for its own identity. urbanistically speaking, the project aims to bring intimacy to these wild new spaces. the faceted perimeter blends horizontally into its context, reacting and sometimes mirroring existing site conditions. the four large entrances lead to a lobby space and multi-story atrium. a circular passage brings visitors to and from a public roof-terrace, where they bear first witness to the very issues being debated and exhibited below. the loop’s different coves and mounds invite guests to interact with the building both during the day and at night.

the project is located in the center of a new urban district, the ningbo eastern new city

cai dai wu dao is a chinese ribbon dance that dates back to the han dynasty. a professional dancer can animate complex figures like wandering dragons in a single movement. originally performed only for royalty, it emerged as an important medium for communication between different social classes. influenced by this ancient art form, the program, structure, and envelope are woven together as a ribbon. beginning at ground level, the band wraps around the rooms, defining the volume and circulation. it guides visitors through the interior, controls light, opens to views of the surroundings. it also links elements into a fluid sequence of space—a deliberate break from more conventional, static, ‘white box’ museums. instead, there are no clear physical boundaries—they are blended together. this gesture merges the visitor’s awareness of the architecture, the exhibitions, the different people and social classes into a contiguous, flowing experience.

the building’s faceted perimeter blends horizontally into it’s context 

ningbo has a rich history in ceramic production. it was here that the so-called ‘ceramic road’ began, and the metropolis played an important role in the national and international trade of ceramics throughout the civilization’s reign. that being said, the use of the material throughout the façade is not simply an homage to the local traditions, but its textured and glazed surfaces also create ephemeral reflections of surrounding cityscape. these representations animate the exterior with varying intensity depending on time of day, season, and weather.

four large entrances lead to a lobby space and multi-story atrium 

from a distance, the center is like a beacon, an attractor. with its form and visual qualities, the aesthetic modulates with its context. up close, this effect is also applied in the deployment of the outer system and details. the screen gradually shifts between being nearly transparent to fully opaque, according to program needs and to the surroundings. around the exhibition areas, the tiles overlap tightly, opening up in gathering areas to allow ample daylight and scenic views. at night, the pattern glows as shadows populate the façade’s curved apertures.

the building program, structure, and envelope are woven together as a ribbon

the building’s textured glazed-ceramics create ephemeral reflections of surrounding cityscape

at night, the pattern glows as shadows populate the façade’s curved apertures

the exhibition center is interlocking seamlessly with the surrounding landscape 

the ceramic ribbon gradually shifts between being nearly transparent to fully opaque

a circular loop passage brings visitors to and from a public roof-terrace 

plan of the entrance on the second floor

the ribbon links program elements into a fluid sequence of space—a deliberate break from ‘white box’ museums 

project info:

architect (concept design, schematic design, supervision construction design, artistic site supervision): playze
architect (concept design): schmidhuber
location: ningbo, china
client: city of ningbo
local design institute: shanghai institute of architectural design and research
façade consultant: RFR group, shanghai
area: 25,000 m²
status: construction design
design team playze: pascal berger, he mengjia, marc schmit, ulrike bronner, didier callot, deng zhaozhong, guo yecheng, huang yu, jiang huihai, anthony lau, nathan melenbrink, javier paz taibo, song pengfei, tao yang, chris wang, wu meijun, ye dongliang, daisy yuan, yu chao, yu siwei, felix zheng
design team schmidhuber: lennart wiechell, tina mülbüsch, georg rötzel

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.