The Tongxian Art Center provides a thriving community of artists with galleries and studio spaces, giving them a setting for events and a base for a visiting international audience. The complex consists of artist live-work studios and galleries (Phase 1, built) for artists-in-residence, and the secondary gallery building (Phase 2, unbuilt), which holds public spaces, sculpture courts, administrative spaces and infrastructural needs of the institution. The artist housing building acts as a prominent marker for the entry to the site. In a town that is predominantly built with red brick, this exterior is made of the traditional Chinese grey brick, as a means of defining it public identity within the town. The interior and exterior surfaces explore the material possibilities of brick, concrete, and plaster. Requirements of the program, circulation, drainage, and maximized access to light provided an opportunity to create a unique building with the benefits of passive solar technologies. The techniques adopted for this design bear a critical relationship with what was possible with the given budget and economy.
Location: Beijing, China
Size: 20,000sf
Selected Awards:
49th Progressive Architecture Awards, Design Award in Architecture