Contemporary architecture and industrial ruin merge in Chinese art centre

In Shanghai, Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects preserves the raw concrete structure of an industrial building and inserts new metal and polycarbonate blocks.

Renovating an industrial complex built in the 1990s, updating its functions and preserving its original identity is the challenge that Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects has been called upon to face in Shanghai for the Shenyao Art Centre.

The Chinese studio keeps the concrete frame in its raw state and reconfigures the interior spaces by adding new volumes with metal structure and polycarbonate cladding. These facilitate access to all levels, favour the entry of natural light from above and guarantee flexibility of use, responding perfectly to the artistic production needs of the new cultural centre.

Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects, Shenyao Art Centre, Shanghai, 2018

Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects has also redesigned the external facades with a motif that combines curved and orthogonal lines, so as to generate formal variety while maintaining a unified and recognisable language.

In the west wing of the complex, part of the walls and roof have been removed to make the concrete frame visible to the outside. This is flanked by a polycarbonate facade that explicitly explains the design approach.

Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects, Shenyao Art Centre, Shanghai, 2018

Preserving existing elements, demolishing unnecessary parts, adding new volumes and structures: the studio freely operates on the industrial complex, without the ideological limits that often force Western projects relating to the built heritage, the result of a debate that, from Violet Le Duc and Ruskin onwards, polarises on positions of radical conservation or integral restoration of the artifact.

From China, on the other hand, we find numerous authors – such as Vector Architects – who are able to respect and enhance existing structures, whether ancient or with a recent industrial past, without renouncing to being shamelessly contemporary, with hybrid solutions in mind that we hope will also become a reference practice for designers from other cultures.

Project:
Shenyao Art Centre
Location:
Shanghai
Architect:
Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects
Area:
14,440 sqm
Completion:
2018

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