Hangzhou Tianmu

Tianmuti is located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and is the first project in China by Pritzker Prize laureate Renzo Piano. With a total building area of approximately 230,000 square meters, it integrates offices, an art museum, art center, fashion show venue, design hotel, and art retail into a landmark comprehensive art campus. The project was jointly invested in and developed by the fashion brand JNBY and goa Elephant Design. Notably, goa Elephant Design is not only one of the investors but also served as the executive designer for the entire campus, providing comprehensive and systematic technical support over more than seven years. The original design concept was an apple, wrapped in a hard shell with a soft and rich core inside. To allow more air and sunlight to reach the plaza, Renzo Piano deliberately reduced the originally permitted eleven floors to nine, and set back the seventh and eighth floors to ensure ample daylight reaches every corner. The transparency and visual permeability emphasized at the building's ground floor also stem from considerations of nature and the city. Tianmuti is therefore not a closed office park but an oasis-like city living room and art campus open to the public. The project demonstrates how a large-scale mixed-use development can be designed with human scale, natural light, and public access at its core, creating a destination that serves both the tenants and the broader city.