Shenzhen Pingshan Art Museum

The project began with an international competition in early 2013 for the Pingshan Cultural Cluster, with a consortium of Vector Architects, Urbanus, Open Architecture and O-Blink. Hosted by Pingshan New Area and operated by China Merchants, eight teams were shortlisted; the consortium won first prize. The winning scheme reflects on the new-city landmark cultural building of urbanizing China: against traditional megastructure forms, everyday-detached scales and operation models, the project seeks a new spatial type, exploring how contemporary cultural and art spaces should enter the continuous urban fabric, merging art more deeply with citizens' daily life. Frankly, this is an attempt to redefine the art museum not as an isolated monument but as a porous, urban institution woven into Pingshan's streets, with a stepped public route that climbs through the building and opens to views of the surrounding city. The museum has become a cultural anchor for Pingshan and has been widely published for its refusal to follow the giant-object convention of new Chinese cultural buildings.