Whitestone Gallery Beijing 798 / Kengo Kuma & Associates

Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Area: 523 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: Yumeng Zhu
Lighting Designers: Lighting Workshop Co.
Design Team: Hirokatsu Asano, Siwen Liu, Bai Mo, Yifei Cai, Qianhe Xu, Sihan Li, Yencheng Shen, Minghui Xiong, Bo Qiao*, Ziyao Li*, Xingyue Sun*
City: Beijing
Country: China

The Whitestone Gallery Beijing 798, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, is situated in the revitalized Beijing 798 Art Zone, originally a 1950s Bauhaus-style factory complex. This marks the first Whitestone Gallery on the Chinese mainland, transforming an industrial setting into an art space. The design takes advantage of the high vaulted roof and incorporates a dramatic entrance, just 2 meters wide, featuring a striking three-dimensional canopy made of wood-grain aluminum panels. A tunnel-like passage, reminiscent of a nijiri-guchi, leads visitors into a dramatic space where a cloud-like structure crafted from wood-grain material floats overhead. Beyond the reception, minimalist white walls and the exposed vaulted concrete roof create a subdued atmosphere for showcasing collections, including works from ‘Mono-ha.’ The gallery stands as a testament to the dialogue between art, architecture, and history while connecting with Whitestone’s international network.

“Fashion and architecture should go together.”
Interview with Kengo Kuma of Kengo Kuma and Associates

Whitestone gallery beijing 798 / kengo kuma & associates

The Beijing 798 Art Zone, originally established in the 1950s as a factory campus with assistance from the Soviet Union and East Germany, was designed in the Bauhaus style for electronic equipment production. Since the 2000s, it has been revitalized into an art district, hosting prominent galleries from around the globe. Within this 798 district, the first White Stone Gallery on the Chinese mainland was designed, following its counterparts in Taipei and Hong Kong.

Leveraging the expansive space beneath the high, single-pitched vaulted roof, the gallery was designed to evoke a journey from the ordinary to the extraordinary world of art. This transformation was achieved by creatively addressing the constraints of an exceptionally narrow and elongated entrance. Situated along the factory street within the art zone, where the site interfaces with only about 2 meters of street frontage, the façade was crafted to establish a striking and enigmatic identity. A three-dimensional canopy constructed from 3mm-thick wood-grain aluminum panels serves as a prominent visual feature, making the entrance a defining landmark within the 798 district.

Passing beneath the canopy, visitors encounter a tunnel-like space evoking the ambiance of a nijiri-guchi—a small tea room entrance—emerging beyond a bamboo forest. This pathway leads to a dramatic area where a three-dimensional, cloud-like structure crafted from wood-grain material hovers overhead, creating a welcoming atmosphere. The transition from the entrance façade to the reception area was designed as a seamless journey into an extraordinary realm. This effect was achieved by carefully adapting the design to accommodate multiple spatial conditions, both interior and exterior. The construction utilized uniformly wood-printed 3mm-thick aluminum panels, which were bent, fixed with screws and bolts, and assembled in various configurations while maintaining the overall structural coherence.

Beyond the reception area, the space is curated to emphasize art, including White Stone’s collections from the ‘Mono-ha’ movement, within a serene setting. The gallery features minimalist white walls and a spacious vaulted roof that exposes rough, aged concrete, fostering a subdued lighting ambiance. The design of White Stone Gallery Beijing 798 encapsulates the essence of ‘Mono-ha,’ embodying its principles of the ‘dialogue of objects’ and ‘present existence.’ Architecturally, it asserts itself as a powerful counterpoint to the unique context of the city and its history while seamlessly integrating into the global network of White Stone Galleries.