Nanjing, China

Located at the southernmost tip of Nanjing New Town, where three rivers intersect to create a landform known as “The Fish Mouth” due to its unique shape, Nanjing Art Center by Studio Link-Arc LLC. for Yo-yo Song is a new art center that aims to become a “living room” for the city. 

The area surrounding the site is a densely developed zone that will become Nanjing’s new Central Business District. 

Located in the heart of this new district, the Nanjing Art Center is a collection of noble art and new lifestyles. 

Defined by an architectural strategy that unifies architecture, landscape, and public space, the Nanjing Art Center will become an iconic presence in the region.

Nanjing Art Center has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The design concept originates from a series of sinuous folding walls that twist ninety degrees in section to combine “wall” and “floor” through a single gesture. 

This process of turning and folding generates rich spatial experiences, connects interior and exterior, and turns the building into a unified and complete form. 

The experience of wandering between these spaces shares a spiritual connection with the experience of lingering in traditional eastern gardens. 

By applying a limited number of sinuous geometries and a clearly defined circulation strategy, the building can be understood as a contemplative sequence of connected spaces. 

The strategy of setting the building back from the street created a compositional contrast to the tall and dense urban context.

The design maximizes this distinction by placing a generous reflecting pool in front, hence establishing a serene setting for the building and giving the entrance a recognizable identity.

Behind the building, a lushly planted landscape provides a respite against the hubbub of urban life.

The exterior skin of the building is clad with parametrically designed stainless steel panels, while the interior surfaces are defined by a material palette of wood and metal as a softer extension of the material strategy of the exterior. 

The metallic form of the project promotes a technological atmosphere and sense of optimism that aligns with the aspirations of the surrounding urban district.

The main body of the building comprises a steel structure and a shear wall system. 

After optimizing the folded and reversed wall into a saddle-shaped surface, a series of fractal lines on the surface were extracted, which generated a series of fan-shaped open steel space trusses.

These trusses not only support the load of the entire building, attaining column-free spaces in the main areas, but also bear the force of the curtain wall’s secondary structure. 

Based on the calculations of the structure and curtain wall, the folded wall not only achieves thinner walls but also carries important spatial functions on both sides of the hyperboloid. 

Form, space, and light enhance the perceptual dimension and conceptual experience of the interior.

The landscaped courtyard is located on the north side of the art center, where visitors can enjoy a refined setting that integrates the local scenery with a Japanese dry garden. 

Guests can access the study on the second floor through the central staircase and cross a covered bridge full of sunlight to the easternmost “bow” part of the building, where urban scenes across the Qinhuai River unravel.

The vertical space of the Nanjing Art Center volume allows for many unique spatial zones rooted in the building concept and can be seen in three spaces:

The first spatial zone finds expression in a double-height gallery space that exists at the intersection of multiple linear “ribbons.” 

This space is capped with a skylight that floods the space with natural light. 

The second space is a long ramped zone above the first space that allows for a gentle vertical transition to the third-floor zones. 

Next to the ramp, the curved linear wall creates a compelling interior experience that reinforces the design concept.

The building’s main public stair is created by folding a vertical interior wall into a horizontal surface, creating a unique curved wooden zone that emphasizes the transition from horizontal to vertical. 

The building as a whole is restrained and unique. 

Its stretched form records the passage of time along the Qinhuai River, like a ship about to set sail, reflecting Nanjing’s beautiful future. 

Project: Nanjing Art Center
Architects: Studio Link-Arc LLC.
Client: Youyou Song
General Contractor: China Resources Construction, Co., Ltd.
Photographers: Qingshan Wu