LOCATION: Huangpu District, Shanghai｜

TYPE: Landscape, Transport, Retail｜

SCALE: 4,000 sqm｜

DESIGN/ BUILT: 2003-2005 / 2005｜

PHOTOGRAPHY: Jeremy San｜

The story of the Shanghai MoCA is that of an architectural “Cinderella”—an abandoned greenhouse in the park, transforming into a “Princess” of contemporary art. A series of geometric glass volumes were added to the structure, dissolving the predictable form of the original glass pavilion. The diagonally-laid “Mongolian Black” stone cladding over the existing concrete building gives a much subdued yet differentiated expression, highlighted by the deep-recessed stainless steel window frames that are intentionally mis-aligned. A sweeping curvature of glass-and-steel ramp “dances” through the existing reinforced concrete columns in different tangential relationships, allowing for a circumscribed and ascending viewing of large-scale installations placed in the center of the main exhibition space.