wutopia lab has designed the first museum for architectural models in china for fengyuzhu. situated in the client’s shanghai headquarters, the project offers the public a chance to peruse an extensive archive of models from well-known contemporary chinese architects. as opposed to building a ‘warehouse’ type setting, the design team decided to form the museum as a mega-model of a future city, with the models becoming part of an urban environment in miniature.

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

all images © creatAR images

 

 

the program of the museum is split by wutopia lab into several zones. the exhibition has two main areas, ‘tijuana’ and ‘ironia’, as well as a communication space called the pod bay. besides here are three special exhibition areas, the blue ‘asgard’, the red ‘olympus’ and the yellow ‘arrakis’, with an additional collection area ‘tyrell’. there is also a VR zone ‘thunderdome’, which can be turned into a temporary exhibition space.

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

 

 

different from the traditional idea of a city, wutopia’s city of the future moves upwards, touching the ground only slightly. this notion is expressed by thin steel columns that layer the boundary and also conceal the structure. models placed on those cantilevered platforms are smaller-scaled ‘cities’, representing a new form, which keeps updating and growing. hanging streets are also hidden in this layered vertical city, connecting every corner. 

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

wutopia lab creates a miniature city for architectural model museum in shanghai

 

 

project info:

 

project name: models in model

location: fengyuzhu headquarter, shanghai, china

client: fengyuzhu

architect: wutopia lab

lead architect: yu ting

project architect: wutian sun

design team: ben zhang, haixu zhang (fengyuzhu)

construction: shanghai maichang construction ltd.

area: 10,763.9 ft2 (1000 m2)

completed: january 2019

photography: creatAR images

 

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