The UCCA Dune Museum of Art, which opened in 2018, is built on the shores of Bohai Bay, 300 kilometers from Beijing. It is a branch of the capital's Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, a contemporary art center created in 2007 by the couple of Belgian art patrons Ullens.
The jury for the AZ Awards, organized by the Canadian magazine AZURE, noted that the new museum embodies a unique relationship between interior and exterior, and that its space is conditioned by location, and "materiality" feeds the concept of the project. The judges gave the work of the Beijing bureau OPEN Architecture
victory in the category "Building less than 1000 m2": construction area - 930 m2.
The UCCA Dune Museum is located on one of the few unpopular seaside areas not yet occupied by expensive housing: since it is placed under the dunes, it is possible to maintain an ecosystem in its place, while the characteristic vegetation helps to keep the sand above its concrete floors. Thus, it is possible to both preserve the natural environment and take advantage of its "help".
The cavernous premises of the museum (exhibition halls of different sizes, cafes, etc.) are illuminated through the openings in the ceilings, and those that border the beach received terraces overlooking the sea. Above there is an observation deck, where a spiral staircase leads. Visitors enter the museum through an underground tunnel.
The "caves" are white neutral spaces for the exhibition of contemporary art, but their organic form reminds of "primitiveness", and the surface of the walls seems to be man-made, as the museum was built by local workers, including former shipbuilders, using formwork from small wooden parts.
The doors and windows, the reception and counter in the café, the sinks in the bathrooms, and the eight café tables, which mimic the plans of the eight main exhibition halls, were also designed by OPEN Architecture.
Green components of the project include using natural light, replacing air conditioning with a geothermal system, and keeping it cool in summer with a layer of sand and vegetation on top.
Materials for publication are provided by v2com.
