Hidden underneath a beachside dune, the design of the Dune Art Museum is simple, pure, and touching – a return to primal and timeless forms of space.
Enveloped by sand, the museum’s interconnected, organically shaped galleries take inspiration from natural caves.
Because of the museum, the dune will be preserved instead of leveled to make space for ocean-view real estate developments, as has happened to many other dunes along the shore.
Looking through different openings framed by the building, museum-goers can observe the ever-changing expressions of the sky and sea throughout the day.
A spiral staircase leads to a lookout on top of the sand dune, guiding curious audiences from the dark recesses below to the vast openness above.
Underfoot, the museum emerges as a hidden shelter, intimate to the body and soul—a place to thoughtfully contemplate both nature and art.
The building’s skylights, each with a different orientation and size, provide carefully tempered natural lighting for the museum’s spaces at all times of the year.
CREDITS
PROJECT: UCCA Dune Art Museum
STUDIO: OPEN ARCHITECTURE
LOCATION: Qinhuangdao, China
YEAR: 2018
LEAD DESIGNERS: LI Hu, Huang Wenjing
PHOTOGRAPHS: WU Qingshan, TIAN Fangfang, Zaiye Studio
