Architects: junya ishigami + associates
Area: 20220 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: junya ishigami + associates, arch-exist
Structure Consultants: XinY Structural Consultants, Xin Yuan
MEP Engineering: Environment-friendly solution to Building services Engineering, Xueqin Yin
Lighting Designer: Environment-friendly solution to Building services Engineering, Xueqin Yin
Category: Cultural Architecture, Museum
Design Leads: Junya Ishigami, Zenan Li
Clients: Shandong Bailuwan Co.,Ltd
Project Team: Zhirui Lin, Sellua Di Ceglie, Rui Xu, Tong Zhang, Cing Lu, Yuxuan Zhou, Zhixuan Wei, Yunyi Zhang, Hanyang Zhou, Qinxuan Li, Jason Tan, Anping Song, Yichen Ji
Furniture Designers: Junya Ishigami, Zenan Li, Rui Xu, Yuxuan Zhou, Jason Tan, Anping Song, Yichen Ji
Supervision: junya.ishigami+associates, Junya Ishigami, Zenan Li, Zhixuan Wei, Rui Xu, Cing Lu, hanyang Zhou, Qinxuan Li, Yunyi Zhang
Concrete Construction: Beijing Yihuida Architectural Concrete Engineering Co.,Ltd
Site Area: 18417 m2
Building Area: 15810 m2
Floor Area Ratio: 85.8%
Number of Floors: GF, B1
Floor Height/Ceiling Height: 0-4.5 m
Maximum Eave Height/Maximum Height: 4.95m
Number of Parking Spaces: 500
Structure: Steel Reinforced Concrete Structure
Design Period: December 2016 – July 2019
Construction Period: August 2019 – December 2023
City: Rizhao
Country: China
Zaishui Art Museum, designed by junya.ishigami+associates in Rizhao, China, redefines the relationship between architecture and the vast Chinese landscape through a 20,000 m² cultural complex that includes exhibition, visitor, and retail functions. Stretching nearly 1 kilometer along the edge of an artificial lake, the building integrates with its setting by drawing water into its interior and dissolving boundaries between nature and structure. A light, sash-like roof supported by regularly spaced columns rests above the lake, with glass panels between them. Some panels can be opened to allow breeze and light, while others are submerged to channel water inside. As visitors move through the space, they encounter alternating wide exhibition grounds and narrow water-framed passages, along with shifting ceiling heights that interact with light and reflection. The structure’s soft curves align with the lake and terrain in some areas and rise toward the sky in others, blending interior space with the landscape. Zaishui Art Museum presents architecture as a “gentle giant,” creating a new continuity between inside and outside, and proposing a peaceful coexistence between human presence and the natural world.
The immense and seemingly endless landscapes of China present a significant challenge when considering architecture, embodying the concept of the “gently gigantic.”
Establishing any form of equal relationship between the small scale of architecture and the vast environment of China proves extremely difficult. Whether it is a modest dwelling or a monumental structure, buildings often appear defensive, marked by a sense of detachment and a tendency to close themselves off from their surroundings. This results in a kind of loneliness, with structures seeming isolated, as if placed arbitrarily within an infinite landscape. This impression arises both in urban areas and in more remote settings, underscoring how complex and challenging it is to create a meaningful connection between architecture and its environment in the Chinese context.
The central question becomes how to treat architecture and environment as equals within the Chinese context. How can the two be brought into closer proximity, how can the boundary between them be rendered as indistinct as possible, and how can nature be made to feel like the gentlest presence for human experience? These are the guiding themes of this project.
The project is a multi-purpose complex located in the city of Rizhao, Shandong Province, designed to support a new urban development. It functions as an exhibition space, visitor center, and shopping center. While the exhibition area currently features displays related to chocolate and associated artworks, the design allows for easy reconfiguration to accommodate different content in the future. Positioned on the edge of an artificial lake near the entrance of the development zone, the building serves as a threshold that visitors pass through on their way into the new district. The total floor area is approximately 20,000 m².
Architecture and environment are extended quietly and seamlessly, with the building skimming the surface of the lake and occupying a site that stretches approximately one kilometer, matching the lake’s length. The building draws the lake’s flat horizontal plane inward, with the floor conceived as a new terrain, offering the sensation of gliding across a surface typically inaccessible to humans. Rows of columns emerge from the water, supporting a sash-like roof that appears to float above. A new boundary is formed between the water brought inside and the ground beneath. These elements are considered together: the regularly spaced columns define a new water surface, while the edge of that surface outlines a new ground. Within the structure’s interior, a new kind of exterior space takes shape. In this way, a new form of nature that sits gently beside human presence emerges within the architecture.
Glass panels are installed between the columns, and in certain sections, they can be opened during pleasant weather, allowing a gentle breeze to enter and giving the structure a light, airy quality. The lower portions of these panels sit below the waterline and include gaps that naturally guide lake water into the interior of the building.
Within this newly formed natural environment enclosed by architecture, the interior and exterior merge into a continuous landscape. As visitors move through the space at a leisurely pace, they encounter areas where exhibitions are displayed across expansive ground surfaces, and others where the ground narrows, encircled by stretches of water. In some parts, the ceiling rises high, inviting abundant natural light and views of the surroundings, while in others, it drops low, catching the reflections of dim light gliding slowly across the water’s surface and mirrored on the ceiling. When the weather is mild and the apertures are opened, ripples from the lake outside continue into the interior, creating a softly quivering water surface. In winter, the lake freezes, but the unfrozen water beneath the ice continues to flow through the submerged gaps in the glass, collecting indoors as it awaits the arrival of spring.
A long architectural form, matching the scale of the expansive landscape, extends across the lake like a streak of wind. In some areas, the roof’s gentle curve drops low, aligning closely with the lake’s surface and the slopes of the mountains beyond. In other areas, the roof lifts upward, opening generously and allowing the interior of the building to flow outward, blending seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.
Addressing the challenge of the Chinese landscape requires viewing architecture as a “gentle giant” within its environment and pursuing an entirely new relationship between the natural and the manmade. The result is a form in which architecture, though standing alone, settles harmoniously into its natural setting, allowing both to interact. A natural environment takes shape within the building, and through its emergence as a new kind of exterior space enclosed by architecture, it establishes a gentle connection with the surrounding landscape. In doing so, the project creates a renewed relationship between nature and human presence. Achieving this integration is the central aim of the design.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Rizhao, Shandong Province, China
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
