Zhongheng Design Group Co., Ltd. 中衡设计集团股份有限公司

City under City Museum

City under City Museum

CITY UNDER CITY MUSEUM

Arts Group

CATEGORY
Museum

LOCATION
Xuzhou, China

ARCHITECTS
Arts Group

YEAR
2022

AREA
3735 m²

PHOTOGRAPHS
Wei Qin

MANUFACTURERS
Haier

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Zhengkong Feng, Xu Wang

DESIGN TEAM
Zhenggong Feng, Zhihong Wang, Xu Wang, Jieming Lu, Xiaowei Qian, Jiawei Wang

ELECTRICAL DESIGN
Yuan Zhang, Tianmeng Wei

HVAC
Yongjun Zhu, Guangying He, Shang Gao, Yuntian Zhao, Botao Sun

WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE DESIGN
Shaojun Chen, Xuebin Xue, Yitao Tang

WEAK CURRENT
Zhixiang Wang, Yeqin Li, Xiao Wang, Yienan Qian

LANDSCAPE
Junteng Zhang, Defeng Yu, Geyan Chen, Mingyan Zhu, Xiangjun Meng, Zirui Wang

CURTAIN WALL
Yun Shen, Guilin Lv, Tichao Lu, Shu Liu

INTERIOR DESIGN
Hao Zhang, Qinqin Ma, Xianlin Cao

CLIENT
Xuzhou Metro Group Co.

SIGNAGE
Dengkun Wang, Guohong Wei

ENGINEERING
Railway No.10 Engineering Group Co., Ltd.

City under City Museum

Xuzhou, formerly known as Pengcheng, was selected as the second batch of Chinese National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in 1986.

According to local chronicles, due to its unique geographical location, the Xuzhou city site has not been relocated and presents a superimposed state of the original site.

In the overall planning for the protection of the historical context of Xuzhou City, the City under the City Museum is a special urban node after the City Wall Museum project.

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

At the beginning of 2020, the design of the museum began before the excavation work of the site with the starting point of how to deal with the relationship between architecture, ruins, and the city, in order to represent the superimposed urban history.

SPATIOTEMPORAL JOURNEYS: THE URBAN SQUARE & HERITAGE MUSEUM -

While undoubtedly the primary exhibits are the ancient city ruins, the metropolis is also an important exhibit in the "stacked city" exhibition.

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

The layered urban context is formed by the past and present of Xuzhou City.

Therefore, instead of adopting a conventional linear path that spirals up or down to respond to the historical process of the superimposed city, the museum creates a spatial illusion of a shuttle between the past and present through a journey of time and space:

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

Firstly, through the spatial infiltration of the courtyard into inner space, the museum establishes a connection between the underground city ruins and the surrounding modern urban environment.

Secondly, by controlling the light in the path and enhancing the temporal and spatial transformation of ancient city ruins and modern urban environments through the contrast of light and darkness, the museum stimulates visitors' bodily perception and immerses them in the spectacle of the "city upon city."

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

SITE STRATEGIES: MUSEUM & URBAN SQUARE AS A CONTINUUM -

The museum and the dynamic ruins coexist, and the unique feature of the museum is its close integration with the urban square, underground commercial areas, and subway transportation.

Therefore, in handling the relationship between the museum, ruins, and the city, the project needs to treat the museum and the site as a complete continuum.

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

The site strategy of the museum can be summarized by the action of "lifting" in two directions: the arched structure on the south side forms a semi-open space by projecting outwards, wrapping around the main entrance to the city.

The arched structure on the north side covers the ruins as the main space of the museum while forming an entrance facing the square at the end. Through this action, the museum not only opens up the square but also lifts up the layers of history of the "stacked city."

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

As a result, the museum not only returns the activity space of the city square to the citizens but also inspires reflection on the past, present, and future of this ancient city.

REPRESENTATION OF PENGCHENG: RUINS, URBAN CONTEXT & URBAN STRUCTURE -

In a series of urban renewal practices in Xuzhou since 2010, we have tried to find scattered historical traces in the corners of the city.

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

On a larger scale, we use the organic renewal concept of urban acupuncture to systematically connect the cultural context of the ancient city.

In conclusion, the protection and renewal of historical cities are not a "blueprint" type of planning.

City under City Museum
City under City Museum

For many cities that have undergone a "new look" transformation, carefully combing through historical contexts, tirelessly adjusting design schemes, and patching up the city's structure from point to surface may be the "shortcut" for the revival of such ancient Chinese cities as Xuzhou.


City under City Museum
City under City Museum
City under City Museum
City under City Museum
City under City Museum


City under City Museum
Series of urban renewal practices in Xuzhou since 2010
City under City Museum
Site Strategies Museum & Urban Square as a continuum GIF
City under City Museum
Spatial experience and light control GIF


City under City Museum
In-site conservation of the site and design scope
City under City Museum
In-site conservation of the site and design scope
City under City Museum
Master Plan
City under City Museum
Aligning Historical Maps with Modern Maps Urban Structure and Nodal Distribution of Cultural Context GIF


City under City Museum
Section
City under City Museum
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Zhongheng Design Group Co., Ltd. 中衡设计集团股份有限公司
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Zhongheng Design Group Co., Ltd. 中衡设计集团股份有限公司
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