Ningbo, Dongqian, China

Designed by Álvaro Siza and Carlos Castanheira, the Museum of Art Education of Ningbo occupies a site located along the North shore of Lake Donqian.

From the exterior, it is suspended above the ground as it undulates in its metal cladding.

It reflects the ever-changing daylight that makes the form move and transform.

Its plan has a triangular form, delineated by continuous walls, with slightly curved rather than angled corners.

Leaning against on the hillside, its undulating form hovers above the ground.

On the ground floor, the volume of the museum emerges isolated and bordered on its three sides by planted or paved areas.

The public entrance is reached after passing around the form of the building and experiencing an imposed, absorbing compression, to then be released into a vast space, the full height of the building, where a snaking ramp links all the floor levels.

This space extends, wrapping around the museum and connecting with the access road.

Inside, the introspective calm of the exhibition spaces contrasts with the movement of the visitors circulating in the enormous void.

Generally, on all floors, the internal spaces in a strip to the Northwest, are occupied by atriums, lifts, stairwells, services and toilets.

A second strip is occupied by spaces of larger dimensions: foyer, library, administration and exhibition rooms.

On the Southeast side, there is an ample, full-height triangular space, top-lit by a roof light and surrounded by ramps from the first to the fourth floor.

The natural lighting is highlighted by the white walls and is brought into the surrounding rooms, through deliberately placed openings.

The basement and the recessed top floor are differentiated by function and dimension.

They are organized according to the planned spatial and structural order and in accordance with the impact of other floor levels.

The building, cladded in corrugated aluminium sheeting, appears dark in the landscape.

Its image constantly shifting from black to silver, depending on the angle of incidence of light and the angle of vision.

The interior is an essay on light, captured in the internal patio and distributed from there to spaces arranged around it, becoming progressively less intense.

The controlled lighting, specific to the different exhibition spaces, uses tube lights, suspended both horizontally and vertically as suits in each case.

Carlos Castanheira states: “A Museum must be big. Inside.”

“A Museum must be bright. Inside.”

“It is intriguing in its elegance and in its mystery.”

“Nothing is obvious in this little building.”

“Dynamism is taught through Art.”

“Size doesn’t matter, but a Museum must have a Big Soul.”

Project: MoAE – Huamao Museum of Art Education
Architects: Álvaro Siza + Carlos Castanheira
Design Team: 1st phase (schematic design) – Luis Reis, Elisabete Queirós, Pedro Carvalho; 2nd phase (design development/construction) – Pedro Carvalho
Project Team: Jorge Santos, Joana Soeiro, Sara Pinto, Susana Oliveira, Francesca Tiri, Rita Ferreira, Diana Vasconcelos, Inês Bastos. Luísa Felizardo
Consultants: Zhejiang Huazhi Architecture Design Ltd (Xiuguang Tong, Zheren Li, Tianying Cheng)
Landscape Architects: Design institute of Landscape & Architecture – China Academy of Art
Construction Company: Zhejiang Wanhua Construction Ltd.
Client: Ningbo Huamao Education Culture Investment Ltd.
Photographer: Bowen Hou