STUDIO A +
THE CENTRAL RING GALLERY
HEFEI , AN HUI PROVINCE , CHINA
A floating art gallery together with its large ‘ manmade nature ’ landscape surroundings creates an urban art utopia where art and artists meet the public . The place created by both the architecture and the landscape , is a highly welcoming and inclusive public space , where people can easily access , experience , and celebrate art while feeling inspired and enlightened .
BACKGROUND INFORMATION The design was finished in 2008 . 10 years later , the construction started and was completed by the end of July , 2019 .
12 year ago , the CEO of the Central Ring Real Estate Group , found us after visiting poor folk artists in the rural area of An Hui province . Seeing so many outstanding art works stacked inside humble residences with no opportunity to be shown to the public , he decided to build an art gallery in a new urban district in the capital city of the province .
He envisioned this low density and low-rise art district to be the place where art and artists meet the public , to radiate its unique energy to the surrounding neighborhoods , and to become a must-visit attraction . To do so , the site must stand out from the backdrop of a typical urban jungle - high-rises .
CONCEPT How do we turn this simple but idealistic goal into reality ? After analyzing the site and its surroundings , which were totally vacant at the time , we decided to introduce a ‘ manmade nature ’ into this new urban area that will be typically occupied densely by tall buildings and super wide motorways according to the planning . We believed that no one who lives in the city would refuse a land of idyllic beauty – a land full of cherry blossoms may have a better chance to be more attractive than a tall concrete forest . We wanted to create a micro-climate characterized by art and nature , or an urban oasis with an art utopia within it .
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