Cloud Pavilion

Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen have completed in Shanghai the Cloud Pavilion, a permanent space for art and events on the riverside promenade.

The West Bund commissioned SHL to redesign the Cloud Pavilion as a permanent space for art and events. 

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Cloud Pavilion, Shanghai, 2016

The project brief was to maintain the steel structure of the original pavilion, create a minimium of 100 sqm space for events and small exhibitions, provide a small kitchen with storage, and maintain the original notion from the Biennale pavilion of a “cloud”.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Cloud Pavilion, Shanghai, 2016

The new pavilion creates a singular space in the form of an extruded glass cloud. The cloud shape in plan directly relates to the cartoon like form associated with how a child would draw a cloud, and how clouds are often seen depicted in traditional Chinese prints. The cloud is considered a symbol of luck in ancient Chinese painting.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Cloud Pavilion, Shanghai, 2016

At night the ceiling is illuminated against a reflective mirrored surface giving the illusion of an abstract floating cloud along the riverfront, and acts as a marker for citizens to meet and rest.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Cloud Pavilion, Shanghai, 2016


Cloud Pavilion, Shanghai
Program: pavilion
Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects

Local architect: Tongji Architectural Design Institute
Client: West Bund Development Corporation
Area: 150 sqm
Completion: 2016