The point where old and new meet is often the space where some of the most interesting architectural experiments take place; and Shanghai's brand new Tank Art Park is a case in point. The city's latest cultural space is the brainchild of Beijing based studio Open Architecture and opened its doors to the public this weekend.
Occupying five abandoned aviation fuel tanks and further facilities that once belonged to Longhua Airport, the site is an expansive 47,448 sq m situated on the West Bund district, by the river. The tanks and their surroundings have now been transformed into an integrated cultural space that brings together art, leisure and nature – something of a specialty for Open Architecture. The studio is experienced in innovative art spaces that offer eye-catching design but also blend with their context – their latest works include projects, such as the UCCA Dune Art Museum.
The new space is located on the banks of the Huangpu River in the city’s West Bund district.
The five tanks serve a large variety of uses; there's dedicated space for live music performances in one, another hosts a restaurant, while the last three are designed to contain exhibition spaces. A large open air park unites everything, creating valuable green space for the city on the banks of the Huangpu River as well as connections between the different areas. Further flexible indoor exhibition and service spaces can be found below ground level, subtly interconnecting the tanks.
The architects were keen to maintain the site's distinctive character, so, many of the original industrial features were preserved. ‘[The project transforms] containers of fuel into containers of culture, while paying tribute to the site’s industrial past', they say.
One tank hosts a restaurant, and the last three house art and cultural exhibition spaces.
The project combines contemporary art with nature and urban life.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Open Architecture
-
What is the role of fragrance in contemporary culture, asks a new exhibition at 10 Corso ComoMilan concept store 10 Corso Como has partnered with London creative agency System Preferences to launch Olfactory Projections 01
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictionsThe studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
-
Zaha Hadid Architects reveals plans for a futuristic project in Shaoxing, ChinaThe cultural and arts centre looks breathtakingly modern, but takes cues from the ancient history of Shaoxing
-
The Hengqin Culture and Art Complex is China’s newest cultural megastructureAtelier Apeiron’s Hengqin Culture and Art Complex strides across its waterside site on vast arches, bringing a host of facilities and public spaces to one of China’s most rapidly urbanising areas
-
The World Monuments Fund has announced its 2025 Watch – here are some of the endangered sites on the listEvery two years, the World Monuments Fund creates a list of 25 monuments of global significance deemed most in need of restoration. From a modernist icon in Angola to the cultural wreckage of Gaza, these are the heritage sites highlighted
-
Tour Xi'an's remarkable new 'human-centred' shopping district with designer Thomas HeatherwickXi'an district by Heatherwick Studio, a 115,000 sq m retail development in the Chinese city, opens this winter. Thomas Heatherwick talks us through its making and ambition
-
Raw, refined and dynamic: A-Cold-Wall*’s new Shanghai store is a fresh take on the industrial lookA-Cold-Wall* has a new flagship store in Shanghai, designed by architecture practice Hesselbrand to highlight positive spatial and material tensions
-
Sun Tower is a new Chinese cultural attraction that draws on the celestial cycleSun Tower, an imaginative cultural attraction by Open Architecture, draws on the natural cycle and has just opened in China's seaside town of Yantai
-
The Suzhou visitor centre in China is a perfect balance of contemporary innovation and cultural identityThe Suzhou visitor centre in China is designed by Tsing-Tien Making, a studio that designs to preserve cultural identity
-
Architectural Association's newest show uncovers the architectural legacies of rural China's lost generationThe Architectural Association’s ‘Ripple Ripple Rippling’ is not your typical architecture show, taking an anthropological look at the flux between rural and urban, and bringing a part of China to Bedford Square in London
