The Breeze Hall / SHISUO Design Office

Architects: SHISUO design office
Area: 680 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Runzi Zhu, Xiaobin Lv, DONG Image, Sanif, Jianyuan Ye
Manufacturers: CEMIMAX赛迈发科技
Lead Architects: Sanif, Chang Shan
Category: Chapel, Pavilion, Town & City Hall
Design Team: Lin Zihan,Zhang Han
Landscape Consultant: Jin Yinyin – Jian Ding Landscape Design
Structure Consultant: Yang Xiaotian, Wu Kunying – iStructure
Lighting Consultant: Hung Shenglin, Liu Jingyi – Arlit Design
Clients: Shanghai Changyuan Culture Communication Co., Ltd.
City: Hongkou District
Country: China

The Breeze Hall cultural building by SHISUO Design Office in Shanghai, China, reclaims a once-enclosed woodland at the edge of Lu Xun Park to create a publicly accessible ceremonial space, completed in 2023. Trees were relocated to define boundaries and open space, integrating new pathways with existing vegetation. A lightweight steel structure with a modular perforated roof spans 42 by 15 meters, forming a flexible venue for events. The double-layer roof filters light and weather, shaping a quiet, voluminous interior. The base blends with the landscape through steps, benches, and platforms. Inside, a tower-like volume and canyon stair lead to a viewing platform, emphasizing ritual and reflection. The winding entry path through bamboo and gravel extends the sense of arrival. Designed as a sanctuary, it combines large-scale form with human-scale details, including rainwater collection, passive cooling, and tactile materials. The pool was left untreated to support wildlife, making the building both a habitat and a civic space. In its first six months, it hosted public events and gained millions of online views. The Breeze Hall connects sacred and everyday experiences, grounding memory in spatial rituals and becoming a new cultural landmark in Shanghai.

The Breeze Hall is situated within Lu Xun Park, recognized as the most significant memorial park in Shanghai. The project site originated as a patch of mixed woodland on the south side of the Lu Xun Memorial Museum. This area had been fenced off and functioned as a neglected corner resulting from urban development. In 2023, SHISUO Design Office was appointed to redevelop the site. Several trees were transplanted to the southern section, creating a pedestrian walkway that integrates with the existing trees in front of the museum and simultaneously establishes a soft boundary for the new structure. Additional trees were relocated to the site’s periphery, defining a large, enclosed open space. Mature trees and bamboo already present were preserved, and the new paths were designed to interact harmoniously with the natural elements. These interventions collectively enhanced the site’s accessibility and public character.

The design was required to resolve two primary challenges: achieving high-quality construction within a constrained budget and timeframe, and creating a spiritually significant landmark that integrates harmoniously with its complex and disorderly urban context.

The main building features a wing-like steel structure combined with a landscape-inspired base. The slender steel frame is designed to be both lightweight and transparent while maintaining high structural performance. Steel columns measuring just 100×150 mm support an expansive space that spans 42 meters in length, 15 meters in width, and 12 meters in height, accommodating functions such as weddings, exhibitions, events, and gatherings. The roof consists of prefabricated perforated panels, and its modular construction allows for efficient on-site assembly. This porous material delivers diverse visual experiences, appearing minimal from a distance while revealing finer detail up close. The double-layer perforated roof also acts as a visual and environmental filter, creating a subdued atmosphere on overcast days and a warmer effect under sunlight. At the entrance, the roof changes form to create an inviting gesture. Inside, the spacious volume remains deliberately neutral, offering a blank spatial framework for user-defined interpretation.

The low eaves reduce noise from the commercial street opposite, revealing only reflections in the water pool and the surrounding grassland. Within this setting, air currents, natural light, and birdsong move freely, while the external chaos remains distant. The base, designed as part of the landscape, engages the site in multiple ways—functioning as steps, viewing benches, a rainbow bridge linking the structure with the lawn, or as a platform beside the water.

Inside, the base ascends and transforms into an abstract house, evoking the form of a silent monument or tower. Positioned behind it, a canyon-like staircase leads to a higher platform, framing views shaped by shifting light and shadow. Narrow windows on either side admit natural light and offer a view back toward the entrance. Each morning, the rising sun appears behind the structure, casting a halo that lends it a mysterious and sacred character.

The design emphasizes its sacred qualities to honor the poetic dimensions found in everyday life. Through the contrast and interplay between the secular and the sacred, individuals are reminded that life is composed of diverse experiences. Joy and sorrow, loss and gain, the mundane and the transcendent—all are integral to human existence. These elements coexist within each person, revealing that the divine is always present alongside the ordinary.

Approaching from the city streets, visitors step onto ancient stone steps and move through a bamboo grove, where the sound of gravel underfoot sets a contemplative tone. Touching the sliding door may leave rust on the hand, a tactile reminder of material presence. As the path gently ascends, the building remains hidden; only shifting tree shadows and the length of the route accompany the journey. Sunlight streams through the corridor’s end, leading into a gravel courtyard where the facade slowly emerges behind branches. Entering beneath the eaves and ascending the steps, the distractions of the outside world begin to fade. The winding, layered path—defined by sequences of concealment and revelation—extends the moment of arrival and deepens the visitor’s anticipation.

The Breeze Hall is conceived as a sanctuary that embodies the collective memory of the city. While it offers a monumental space for ritual and gathering, it is grounded in human-scale detailing and materiality. The low eaves are designed to channel rainwater into a collection pool, minimizing dependence on artificial water supply. The double-layer perforated panels follow the roof structure’s profile to extract wind, while ridge openings facilitate interaction with the pool’s evaporation, generating a localized microclimate that allows breezes to circulate even during the peak of summer. On the second-floor platform, soft beige plaster provides a skin-like texture, and the ribbon window handrails curve into arcs for tactile comfort, encouraging prolonged engagement. Architectural details are intentionally expressed to highlight the structure’s human scale, avoiding superfluous decoration.

The attention to detail extended beyond architectural considerations. During construction, the team observed that small animals frequently visited the site to drink water, leading to a decision to forgo algaecides in the pool. As a result, the completed building now serves as a vital water source for local wildlife, including birds, lizards, cats, and dogs. On rainy nights, the hall provides them with shelter. This gesture reflects a broader intent: to create a structure that welcomes and supports all forms of life—from urban residents to animals. Set among trees, historic landmarks, and commercial surroundings, the Breeze Hall emerges as a modern space that remains open to the city while maintaining a transparent, ceremonial presence.

Within six months of opening, the Breeze Hall has become a key venue for public activity in Shanghai, hosting a range of culturally significant events such as the Cherry Blossom Market in Lu Xun Park (in collaboration with YINYAN SPACE), the Happy Home Exhibition (with RED), International Yoga Day (with PURE YOGA), the Healing Poetry Gallery (with SOUL APP and Shanghai Mental Health Center), and the Autumn/Winter Fashion Show by LOEWE. These events have brought notable economic benefits and improved the quality of urban public space, strengthening its appeal among city residents. With over 30 million views on social media, the building has quickly become a cultural landmark. It is anticipated that the Breeze Hall will continue to create meaningful opportunities for public engagement, embedding itself as part of Shanghai’s evolving collective memory.

Although buildings may not last forever, their significance endures. Each day at sunset, sunlight filters through the tree branches and casts shifting light and shadows across the enduring triangular facade of the Breeze Hall. In those brief moments, it offers comfort to those returning home. Human life continuously unfolds between the sacred and the everyday—realms that seem distinct yet coexist—allowing glimpses of the sublime to emerge.