The new recreational area in the Chinese Shenzhen, which has grown over the past ten years, has long been perceived in the world as a kind of experimental design platform of the highest professional level. Architects such as Wolf Prix ("Coop Himmelb (l) ay"), Massimiliano Fuksas, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Richard Mayer are building or have already built their objects here. "City of Design" - this is how this area is called in the press. And the OCT Design Museum, recently opened in Shenzhen, has been known for some time now as the "gateway" to this "City" (OCT stands for Overseas Chinese Town: this is the official name of the territory where it was built).
The architectural concept of the museum was developed by the Beijing Bureau "Studio Pei-Zhu". The images are based on the images of a frozen drop of water and pebbles, cut by a sea wave. Critics find direct parallels between this work and the Guangzhou Opera House, designed by Zaha Hadid, and Henning Larsen's Batumi Aquarium. In addition, the authors themselves cite installations by James Turrell as inspirational objects. However, here we can only talk about allusions based on world trends in architecture and contemporary art.
An organic building (an ellipsoid with an ovoid in the median horizontal section at the level of the second floor) with a total area of 5 thousand m2 is located 300 m from the sea coast. The proximity to the water prompted the designers to create the idea of a building that reflects the urban environment like a mirror and contrasts with it at the same time. The fact is that the building is covered with a light shell, consisting of panels of polished stainless steel. An important design feature is a small base and massive cantilever outriggers, which made it possible to create a shaded public space around the volumetric object.
On the first floor there is a huge double-height foyer and a cafe, and the main exhibition halls, where exhibitions of concept cars and new product design will take place, are located on the second and third floors. Mobile partitions allow transforming the interior in a short time. Sunlight entering through triangular windows and hatches creates an underwater atmosphere. "There are no shadows in the space of the museum, it is difficult to recognize the perspective," says architect Pei Zhu, "it feels like you are in a cloud of fog."
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