Location: Shenzhen, China.

Architect: Various Associates.

Various Associates, a local emerging design studio, has completed an “urban memory exhibition hall” in the core area of Nantou Ancient Town, Shenzhen, as part of the Nantou Ancient Town Renovation and Upgrade project. The project aims to inherit the historical context of the town, which has a nearly 1,700-year history, and recapture the memory of Shenzhen city. The exhibition hall is a comprehensive service center and information center that exhibits the renovation and changes of Nantou Ancient Town. The building consists of three connected irregular historical blocks, which feature a great many beams and together constitute an irregular plane. The design team intended to create a zigzag corridor to connect the architectural volumes and produce an endless realm within the limited enclosed space. The corridor also serves for resting and display, which is consistent with functions of the entire space. The design team retained the original structural beams in the middle of the atrium, and endowed them with unique natural rustic textures of charred wood. The traditional material silver foil was not applied to large areas of the space. Instead, it was attached to wooden veneers to form an updated version of “silver foil” that features wood grain. The visiting route extends along the corridor, and shows an undulating form based on the vertical relationship of the two floors. Various Associates enriched the circulation routes through structural interventions, endowed the project with its own identity via materials and details, and paid attention to cultural context and demands behind the project as always. The studio sees the renovation of Nantou Ancient Town as an attempt to activate the community based on contemporary context, and to transform local culture for more than a thousand years into a popular upgraded landmark.

Photo credit: Bruce Zhen.