The massing of the Taiyuan Museum of Art speaks to the building’s unique plan, section, and gallery shapes. Courtyards and exterior spaces, worked into the core of the building, create opportunities for views to the outdoors from multiple galleries and other interior spaces. The careful shaping and patterning of the windows serve to choreograph a visitor’s view experience.
This diagram shows the development of the building massing and interior circulation paths. Starting with the concept of a simple knot, the architects morphed the form to create the final building shape and developed sinuous pathways through the interior space based on the interplay of forms.
The building has no fewer than five points of entry. This one, recessed into the building under a series of overhangs, signals the architects’ wish for visitors to be enveloped by the space.
The building’s unique form produces irregularly shaped exterior walls. The architects played with the patterning and orientation of the wall panels, none of which—as this flattened wall panel diagram shows—is like the others.
Ground Floor Plan
This interior rendering shows the convergence of paths that lead to multiple gallery spaces. Light filters in through a central greenhouse. The view into this verdant space gives visitors a sense of openness despite being ensconced within the mass of the building.
Careful to manage light and sight lines in the museum, the architects created several spaces like this one, which allows views to the outdoors and into other galleries on multiple floors, all in a daylight-flooded, multi-story space.
