Changchun, China
Located on the southeast corner of the Palace Museum of the Manchurian Regime site, Wutopia Lab’s latest development is a 16,650-square-meter underground museum with a wavy roof made from concrete and perforated with eye-shaped openings.
Named the Deep Time Palace, it is one of China’s largest fair-faced concrete underground megastructures.
“I believe the art museum should adopt a more modest approach. With this in mind, I have concealed the art museum, avoiding any alteration to the established ambiance above,” states Yu Ting, chief architect of Wutopia Lab.
“When envisioning the space, I aimed to utilize the underground structure as a starting point to convey the sense of ‘depth.”
The main entrance of the building is formed as an arched dome made of a steel mesh shell with curved glass covered in greenery and can be used partly as a space for socializing as well as a parking space.
The architects have chosen to use fair-faced concrete and a large-span structure, as an homage to the city’s industrial heritage and create a vast open exhibition space.
The eye-shaped openings\skylights at the roof are allowing natural light to get into the underground spaces offering “a sense of spirituality and sanctity” as Yu Ting claims.
Except the use of concrete and glass, the lounge area is covered in wood in order to create a more welcoming and warm atmosphere in the inside space.
Project: Deep Time Palace
Architects: Wutopia Lab
Chief Architect: Yu Ting
Project Architect: Huang He
Project Manager: Pu Shengrui
Design Team: Pu Shengrui, Pan Dali, Sun Liran, and Xie Jialin
Installation Design: Kuang Zhou, Huang He, and Xie Jialin
Client: Palace Museum of the Manchurian Regime
Photographers: CreatAR Images
