tadao ando completes he art museum in southeast china

the ‘he art museum’ (HEM), designed by japanese architect tadao ando, will open to the public on october 1, 2020. located in shunde, in china’s guangdong province, the building is now complete ahead of its inauguration. the new museum takes its name from its founder, he jianfeng. however, the word ‘he’ carries multiple meanings, including harmony, balance, fortune, and union, all of which informed the design and spatial character of the architecture.

all images © HEM

the ando-designed museum will be home to an art collection that consists of more than 500 works ranging from painting and calligraphy to photography and sculpture. ‘my vision for HEM is to bring art and culture to the people of my hometown of shunde, the pearl river delta, china, and international visitors who are curious about our heritage and culture,’ says he jianfeng, founder of HEM. ‘I hope the museum can contribute to cultural initiatives that the country’s greater bay area development plan envisions.’

artwork: roxy paine, ballast, 2019, stainless steel, 1219.2 cm × 1539.2 cm × 967.7 cm

HEM’s interior is characterized by a ‘double-helix’ pair of staircases, which climb to the fourth floor and are bathed in natural light from a skylight above. this feature is inspired by the local architecture of lingnan, which also makes use of rooflights, and ancient chinese cosmology and philosophy that believed the sky was round and divine. the light from above permeates deep into the plan and exhibition areas, resulting in comfortable spaces that connect to the outside world.

circles and elliptical forms are found throughout ando’s design, with the building comprising four circular floor plans that increase in size as they ascend. ‘the double-helix staircase and the courtyard correspond to the overlapping circles,’ comments tadao ando. ‘this dynamic presents the rich layers of the spaces that can only be achieved by the dual-spiral design.’ meanwhile, an external body of water works as a cooling device in summer and reflects the museum’s architecture year-round.

‘I wanted to create a museum that can synthesize southern china’s rich diverse cultures that stretches many millennia and the influences that birthed lingnan architecture,’ ando continues. ‘I imagined HEM as an energetic central anchor point to all the artistic and regional custom, climate, landscape and civilization in lingnan. I hope HEM can become the heart of lingnan culture, not just in shunde but the whole greater china. I look forward to seeing the artworks and programs activate the building, stimulating provoking thoughts with high quality spaces and art.’

artwork: kohei nawa, pixcell – deer #58, 2019, mixed media, 218.6 cm × 181 cm × 150 cm

the museum will open with an exhibition titled ‘from the mundane world’, which has been curated by independent art curator and critic feng boyi along with hu bin, wang xiaosong, liu gang, and shao shu. the exhibition, which will be on view on the second and third floors, extends the original attributes of ‘worldly scenery’ to production, consumption, ecology, environment, examining the situation of human civilization in the laws of nature. see designboom’s previous coverage of the project here.

image by chen xiaotie