Our proposal for the new Exhibition Centre will emerge as a new hub for the future plans and strategies of the city: the new building mirrors the city’s vision of forthcoming ideas and intentions. It can adapt and adjust to multiple and flexible exhibitions, encouraging stimulation and repeat visits. It reflects the dynamic, compelling and modern identity of Nanjing. In doing so, the building offers sequences of parallel layers, or “strata,” allocated one after the other, representing the foundations of a new era, building on the historical and rich cultural layering of the city. These “strata” create a sequence of playful and dynamic voids and masses. A symbiotic relationship is nurtured and the limits in between gain different levels of expression, revealing the unique fluidity of the city.
Building on the city’s fluidity, natural light permeates the Exhibition Centre, creating strategic views towards the outside. The interior walls offer media exhibit displays as well as elegantly defining new spaces for presentations. Fluidity of space, air and light endow each space with individuality and interconnection: the lobby, exhibition room, bar, office, workshop room, storage and the sky gardens can naturally emerge and join together, allowing a continuous promenade from the exterior to the interior, and back again, allowing for smooth flow and ease of pedestrian traffic and communication.