Located in Songzhuang, Beijing China, Tree Art Museum is on the side of the main road in the area. Original village has vanished and has been replaced by blocks of land separated by wider roads which are better suited for cars. Even though the artist village is widely known, it is difficult to explore the area or appreciate its artistic atmosphere without guidance from local friends. As a result, our earliest goal was to create a public space that stands out from its surroundings and where people would like to linger, meet and chat.
We people might be attracted to the museum by the view at the entrance. Their eyes would follow the curvy floorslab coming from the ground all the way up to the roof. Visitors may choose to enter the space either on the second floor through the ramp or on the first floor through the courtyard with a pool—with peaceful water that would calm anyone’s emotions. Sky is reflected onto the ground, with reflecting pool together, helping visitors forget the world on the outside.
The first courtyard was separated with the main road and dust outside by a bare-concrete wall. Visitors would stay and chat under the tree in the courtyard, or, just feed fish by the reflecting pool. Meanwhile, they could enjoy artworks and watch other people lingering inside the building through curtain wall. In the bare-concrete wall, there is a corridor which could be utilized to exhibit books and small sculptures. The curvature varies slightly along the path.
The second courtyard introduces natural sunlight to the back exhibition hall and meeting room on 2nd floor, while separating the public and private space. The curvy wall leads visitors to the other side of the building, and introduces them to the public stairs-plaza on the roof, where visitors could enjoy sunshine and have a break, or look down to the pool.
There are six and half courtyards on a site of 2,695 square meters. In addition to the two larger courtyards open for exhibition, there are four more courtyards lying on the upper level. Two courtyards apply sunlight to the back space and introduce skylight to the exhibition hall below. The other two courtyards are on the top of the floor, which are open-air.
This project seeks to express itself through natural materials and open space, and to create a place where local people and visitors would communicate with natural sunlight, trees, water, and contemporary art. This simple purpose, expressed through this project, will be spread to the rest of the world.
Tree Art Museum explores the boundaries between private and public space. The project attempts to blur the lines between indoor vs. out-door and public vs. private spaces by introducing spatial continuity and freedom which enable a diverse variety of visual and experiential possibilities. More importantly, the project, by challenging the quadrangular courtyard layout to which the Chinese people are historically accustomed, combined with the Museum’s unique three-dimensional line, provide visitors with a new visual and physical experience. The relationship between the public domain and the private domain is redefined with this project.