Spotlight: David Chipperfield’s Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in China
newsdepo.com
DAVID CHIPPERFIELD Architects recently handed over the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in China, which is scheduled to open to the public this year. Set amidst forests and hills in the picturesque Zhejiang province in Hangzhou, the 54,000m² area featuresSpotlight: David Chipperfield’s Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in China
DAVID CHIPPERFIELD Architects recently handed over the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in China, which is scheduled to open to the public this year. Set amidst forests and hills in the picturesque Zhejiang province in Hangzhou, the 54,000m² area features eight low-rise exhibition pavilions arranged around a central garden. Green roofs, the red ochre facade matching the clay earth of the hillside, and the buildings embedded in the landscape, strengthen the museum’s relationship with its natural surroundings.According to DAVID CHIPPERFIELD Architects, the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History was founded in 1929 and is home to a collection of more than 200,000 specimens, covering geology, ecology, and palaeontology. The region holds great historical significance as it was the site of many important discoveries from the Cretaceous period. DAVID CHIPPERFIELD has designed the new, second branch of the museum in the cultural district in Anji, a relatively rural area in north Zhejiang.Set on a sloping site in a large natural park, the museum is surrounded by bamboo forests, and overlooks rice fields in the valley below. “A staggered composition of eight, single-story, bar-shaped pavilions step down the hillside. They follow the natural topography, minimizing the visual impact on the landscape, and frame an open garden. A loggia or covered walkway, loops around this central space, mediating between the external and internal areas of the museum,” as described by the architects.An entrance pavilion at the northernmost point welcomes visitors and offers views over the central garden and landscape beyond. The spacious exhibition halls are located on either side of the garden, and can be accessed directly or in sequence following the stepped loggia. The education facilities are housed in the southernmost pavilion, which faces out toward a lake at the lowest end of the site, as described by the architects. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more