The UCCA Dune Art Museum by OPEN Architecture wins the 2019 AZ Awards for its unique relationship between interior and exterior

UCCA Dune Art Museum in Qinhuangdao, China, designed bu OPEN, was awarded the “Best in Buildings Under 1,000 Square Metres” Winner of the 2019 AZ Awards, at the Awards Gala held in Toronto on June 21
Photo credit: WU Qingshan

This year, the AZ Awards attracted 1,175 submissions from 50 countries. The judging panel comprised of 5 leading figures in the architectural and design fields including Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne. After two rounds of careful reviews and evaluations, 20 standout winners were selected from different categories, among which are many exceptional works by pre-eminent architectural studios, including Helsinki Central Library Oodi by ALA Architects, and 520 West 28th by Zaha Hadid Architects.

“The Dune Art Museum embodies a unique relationship between interior and exterior. The space speaks of the place, and the materiality coherently fosters the concept.” ——Stefano Pujatti, the jury member Photo credit: WU Qingshan Photo credit: TIAN Fangfang Photo credit: TIAN Fangfang Photo credit: ZAIYE Studio

Pure, simple and touching, the UCCA Dune Art Museum is a sanctuary for Nature and Art. Its design seeks a return to primal and timeless forms of space, and explores fresh possibilities for the experience of viewing art. Innovatively forming the space into a series of inter-connected, organic-shaped cells, and deliberately hiding the architecture under the sand dune in order to protect this fragile and critical natural component of the coast from the area's encroaching real-estate developments, the Museum's design is deeply committed to the site's natural ecology and environment, and creates an engaging and non-traditional encounter with art and nature.

The UCCA Dune Art Museum has also been recognized as Iconic Awards Best of Best by German Design Council in 2017 for its concept design, and named 2019 Building of the Year by Archdaily. Photo credit: WU Qingshan Photo credit: WU Qingshan Photo credit: WU Qingshan Photo credit: WU Qingshan

PROJECT FACTS
Design Year: 2015 - 2018
Status: Completed
Client: Aranya
Operator: UCCA
Program: Reception, Café, Community Room, Exhibition Spaces, Outdoor Exhibition, Roof Terrace
Building Area: 930 m²
Location: Qinhuangdao, China

CREDITS
Architects: OPEN Architecture
Principals in Charge: LI Hu, HUANG Wenjing
Project Team: ZHOU Tingting (Project Architect), WANG Mengmeng, HU Boji, FANG Kuanyin, Joshua PARKER, LU Di, LIN Bihong, YE Qing, Steven SHI, JIA Han
Local Design Institute: CABR Technology Co., Ltd.
Lighting Design: X Studio, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, China + OPEN Architecture

Photographs: WU Qingshan, TIAN Fangfang, NI Nan, Zaiye Studio

Source: Open Architecture and v2com
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