Competition 2004 - 1st Prize
Design, competition Meinhard von Gerkan and Stephan Schütz with Stephan Rewolle and Doris Schaeffler
Design team Gregor Hoheisel, Katrin Kanus, Ralf Sieber, Du Peng, Chunsong Dong
Design, revision (2006) Meinhard von Gerkan and Stephan Schütz with Stephan Rewolle
Project leaders Matthias Wiegelmann mit Patrick Pfleiderer
Project team Bao Wei, Johanna Enzinger, Anna Bulanda, Kong Jing, Andreas Goetze, Guo Fuhui, Mulyanto, Chen Yue, Zheng Xin, Gao Hua, Xing Jiuzhou, Helga Reimund, Tobias Keyl, Christian Dorndorf, Anette Loeber, Verena Fischbach, Jiang LinLin, Liu Yan, Mehrafarin Ruzbehi, Yoko Uraji, Lu Han, Xia Lin, Tian Jinghai, Uli Bachmann, Ajda Guelbahar, Iris Belle, Sabine Stage
Co-operation with CABR (Chinese Academy of Building Research)
Client The National Museum of China
Gross floor area 195,000 m²
Construction period 2005-2010
The Chinese National Museum represents the merger of the former Chinese History Museum and Chinese Revolutionary Museum. It is thus a showcase of the history and art of one of the oldest cultures of mankind. The Museum is placed in the cultural and political heart of the country, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, opposite the Great Hall of the People and the Forbidden City.
In spring 2004, eleven internationally distinguished architectural firms were invited to take part in a competition for the conversion and extension of the Chinese National Museum. A key objective of the design was to integrate a 170,000-m² museum complex of old and new buildings into the landscape of Tiananmen Square.
In October 2004, the jury short-listed three designs to go on to the second design stage:
• gmp International GmbH with CABR, Beijing
• Sir Norman Foster with Beijing Architectural Design Institute
• KPF (Kohn Peddersen Fox) with Huadong Design Institute, Shanghai
After this second round, architects gmp International GmbH and CABR were commissioned at the end of 2004 to take the project forward. The design concept at the time envisaged gutting the existing museum. Removing the central structure created a large space to be spanned by a roof containing usable floor area and combining the old building and extension into a new unit.
While work was proceeding on the scheme, the architects were asked in late 2005 to attune the external appearance of the museum complex more strongly to the existing Tiananmen buildings. The new building was to be harmoniously integrated into the old building.
Following several studies for a revised scheme, the final concept was confirmed in September 2006, which has since then gone on to final design and implementation. Construction work began in March 2007.
The current design provides for an expansion of the museum a sequence of buildings towards the east containing a large proportion of the exhibition area. The sequence of roofs is derived from traditional roof design in China, of which there are fine examples in the Forbidden City, and from the museum’s counterpart building, the Great Hall of the People on the west side of the square. The former central structure and east wing of the old building were removed, so that the remaining parts of the refurbished old building enclose the new building on three sides.
The Museum is entered via the old building from two directions – through the existing western columned courtyard on Tiananmen Square and the northern entrance hall on Chang An Avenue.
From the two main entrances, visitors pass into the core area – a 260m-long forum that dovetails the new building with the old building on its original symmetrical axis. In their scale and dimensions, the arcades are typologically a cross between old and new architecture.
All exhibition areas can be accessed from the lobby via broad flights of steps with gallery levels, to follow various visitor circuits.
Outside, there are five museum courtyards (partly landscaped) between the old building and the extension building, offering space for art, relaxation and events.
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