The West Band area on the banks of the Huangpu River is now turning into a center for contemporary art (it even hosts its own biennale), but until recently industrial buildings prevailed there. The site for the construction of the second building of the Moon Museum (the first is also located in Shanghai, in the Pudong area) was no exception: there was a system for unloading hopper cars with coal, as well as an underground garage.
The architects of the Shanghai bureau Atelier Deshaus decided to keep both objects. The unloading system has turned into a "corridor" for fashion shows, and it is surrounded by "umbrella vaults" of the 2-storey above-ground part of the building, and tier -1 of the parking lot, as expected, became an exhibition space (level -2, however, retained its original function: it is a garage for museum visitors for more than 300 parking spaces).
In addition to 16,000 m2 of exhibition space, scattered over three levels, the museum provides - above ground level: a concert hall, a shop, a cafe, a restaurant overlooking the river; on the first underground level there is an exhibition hall for children, a library, restoration workshops and a bookstore.
The Long Museum (which means "dragon") was founded by collectors Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei (she acts as the director of the institution). They own the richest private collection of the PRC, which includes ancient and medieval Chinese art, works of leading "red" masters, works of the latest art from Asia and the West.
