Description

The idea of creating a waterfront cultural landscape on a nine square kilometre industrial site in the megacity Shanghai was born during the largest world exhibition ever: the Expo Shanghai 2010. A state-owned company, the West Bund Development Group, was founded specifically to develop a master plan for the area and since then 2.7 billion euros have been invested in the Shanghai Corniche, the 8.5-kilometre-long promenade on which the new West Bund Museum stands. The triangular-shaped site follows the course of the Huangpu River and connects the park to the south with the gallery mile on Longteng Avenue. In conjunction with a boat landing quay on the river, the 17,700 m² large building takes the form of a parallelogram.

Three rectangular structures, each 17 metres high, surround an atrium and serve as the exhibition halls. Their expanses of glazing offer a broad view over the Huangpu River, the nearby green area and the Xuhui District and one can pass freely through the museum via a passage from the street to the river. Rather than a single main portal, generous open staircases provide access to the lower, upper and middle levels of the individual structures, creating a decentralised entrance situation. A roof slab extends outwards towards the riverbank, signalling the primary entrance situation. The aluminium fins and glazing of the parapets around the perimeter galleries and the ceiling rooflights create connections between the interior and exterior. The slab of the projecting roof is borne by a sturdy, slightly conical circular column that stands off-axis to the west side of the entrance where the street and river come together. The architect, David Chipperfield, was asked to design a museum that is open, but it was also not clear what the museum would exhibit, which was the source of some frustration: “The building design was not for the Centre Pompidou, but for ‘a museum’. When we asked what would be in the museum, the answer was: ‘We don’t know yet. But we need three big multifunctional spaces that can be used for everything – exhibitions, performances, parties.’” It was still not clear what the museum would be used for when construction began. Negotiations with the president of the Centre Pompidou Serge Lasvignes, who was appointed in 2015, as well as with France’s head of state led to a partnership agreement with the West Bund Museum. With that the project suddenly acquired an international dimension, and with it new complexity. Chipperfield’s team found themselves confronted with new architectural requirements from Paris, to which they could only respond with temporary solutions, much like the temporary cooperation between Europe’s largest collection of contemporary art and the West Bund Group itself. After all, according to Pompidou, the “largest cultural exchange in history” ultimately runs for a contract period of five years.

On the lower level, where cultural and museum education facilities aim to bring art closer to the public through large-scale workshops, a multifunctional 750-m²-large hall with 232 seats provides space for discussions and events. An additional exhibition hall has also been built here, at the request of Paris, and constructed as a removable 250 m² black box. Marbled terrazzo steps lead from the lower section, illuminated by a clerestory window, to the higher-lying exhibition levels. Each gallery comprises 700 m² of exhibition space spread across a variety of smaller rooms in which the visitor can lose themselves in the works of Western 20th century modernism.

Originally published in Bauwelt 2.2020, pp. 48-53, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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