The new project designed by Studio Zhu-Pei is located in the traditional area of Jingdezhen Shi, in Jiangxi, China, being the largest producer during ancient history of ceramics, exporting it to practically all places in the known world during its imperial era with the Ming and Qing dynasties, this city is and was known as the "Capital of porcelain".

The design evokes the city's artisan past, 9 parabolic vaults are distributed in parallel with each other, leaving spaces where archaeological remains of its past have been found in the pottery that also functions as spaces to allow ventilation and natural light in. the place.
The user who accesses the museum will understand the meaning conveyed by Studio Zhu Pei, the natural interior light that enters through the 5 patios, the skylight and the skylight that symbolize the holes that traditional ovens had as well as their materiality.

The structure is made of concrete poured between two layers of brick, a recycled brick from old kilns as a connection and reference to the use of it in local construction. In addition, Five patios of different sizes are distributed among the vaults with different themes (gold, wood, water, fire and earth) that are strongly associated with the making of porcelain.
 

Project description by Studio Zhu-Pei

Jingdezhen is known as the "Porcelain Capital" in the world because it has been producing pottery for 1,700 years. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen exported a huge amount of porcelains to Europe.
 
Jingdezhen was growing naturally fitting in the valleys surrounding rivers, hills, and mountains because of the porcelain industry. The early settlements of the city developed around kiln complexes which included kiln, workshops, and housing. The street pattern was generated by nature and the porcelain industry. Most of the small alleys in between kiln complexes have always approached the Chang river in order to transport porcelain products to the river. The main streets have always been along with Chang river to bring all businesses and commerces together.  
 
Public


Situated on a fairly restricted historical area adjacent to the east side of the Imperial Kiln ruins, the plan of the Imperial Kiln Museum was aligned with the north-south street grid of Jingdezhen. With its entry, water pools, and bridge facing west, embracing the open file of Imperial Kiln Ruins to welcome visitors from Imperial Kiln Relic Park. Public pedestrians can wander through the forest under the green canopy, going through the bridge, flowing into the foyer of the museum.
 
Concept

The Imperial Kiln Museum comprises more than half a dozen brick vaults base on the traditional form of the kiln, each of the vaults is of a different size, curvature, and length. They were naturally applied to the site, carefully integrated with many existing ruins including a few ruins that were found after the construction.
 
The unparalleled, liner, and arched structures of the museum, like old kilns, reach below the level of the street to not only give the flexibility to adapt itself into the complicated site, but also to achieve the intimate scale of interior space. This strategy - in part also as a response to the height of surrounding historical buildings - leads to productive ambiguity in relation to the building’s horizontal datum. The “insertion” of the building into the ground of the site produces a series of public spaces at street level. More importantly, it allows for the design of a number of more intimate open vaults, and courtyards within the museum. Most of those public spaces are covered under shaded and are protected from the rain because it is hot and it rains a lot during summer in Jingdezhen. One of those open spaces, two open vaults sited in both ends, will also reveal the traces of the historic fabric on the site.
 
When one walks on the bridge, enters the foyer, and turns left, he will pass a series of arched exhibition spaces lightly varied in size and with contradicting openness (enclosed or open to the sky) to encounter a gentle stair, in the end, flowing down to the underground level with five sunken courtyards. Meanwhile, people can obtain a three-in-one (kilns-porcelains-people) museum experience when they see those porcelain, ruins, and sunken courtyards which create manifold layers' experiences with ancient bricks on the façade. As someone turns right at the foyer, he will respectively pass the bookstore, cafe, tea room, and finally reach a semi-outdoor area under the arch, witnessing a picturesque scene. When daytime surfaces, these arches reflect the waves of water while low horizontal gaps tempt people to sit down on the floor to see the long horizon of the Imperial kiln ruins. A similar surprise would be created when someone sees the Longzhu Pavilion of the Imperial kiln ruins through the vertical seams when he is on the way to the auditorium before accessing the foyer.
 
Five sunken courtyards varied in size have a different theme: gold, wood, water, fire, soil. Those five themes not only reflect old Chinese thinking about the earth but also associate with porcelain making techniques.
 
The overall experience of the museum tries to rediscover the roots of Jingdezhen, to recreate the past experience among kiln, porcelain, and human being.
 
Structure and Materials


The architect was fascinated by local ancient kiln tectonic and material. Looking in the past, craftsmen built the brick kiln without scaffolding in a very special way. Thin and light brick kiln achieved a maximum interior space with minimum materials, the brick kilns appeared in organic forms reflecting heat flow from one end to another.
 
The basic structure of the museum is an arch structure system, it is made up of concrete poured in between two layers of masonry brick walls. There is a small arch to be layout perpendicularly to connect two arches.
 
Using recycled kiln bricks to build houses and all kinds of buildings is a significant character in Jingdezhen because brick kilns have to be demolished every two or three years in order to keep a certain thermal performance of the kilns. The entire city was covered by recycled kiln bricks. Those bricks record warmth and are inseparable from the lifeblood of the city. In the past, the children would take a warm brick from the firing kilns to place in their schoolbags to keep themselves warm the whole day during freezing winter.
 
The materials of the museum are dominated by bricks, recycled old kiln bricks are mixed with new bricks to reflect the local culture of construction.

This interweaving of two different historical phases proposed by the combination of new and old bricks must arouse interest, curiosity, create new questions, and give new answers. These create interaction with people's minds who inevitably evoke memories and enjoy a unique experience. The past cannot be erased but can be rewritten by recounting a new awareness and maturity, a sort of contemporary archeology.
 
The visitors can have a 360-degree sensory experience through the repeated contact between exterior and interior that stimulates the touch, smell, hearing, and sight and transports them into a sort of trip between past, present, and nature.
 
Natural light


Even the light evokes active and tangible memories and is the proof of how ancient techniques can be reinterpreted and reread in a contemporary key.

The interior natural light is achieved by both skylight and sunken courtyard and is inspired by smoke holes of the ancient brick kiln. The skylight in the hollow cylinder shape is distributed on the top part of the arch to provide natural light during daytime and artificial light at night time.

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Architects
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Studio Zhu Pei. Director.- Zhu Pei
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Project team
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You Changchen, Han Mo, He Fan, Shuhei Nakamura, Liu Ling, Wu Zhigang, Zhang Shun, Du Yang, Yang Shengchen, Chen Yida, He Chenglong, Ding Xinyue.
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Collaborators
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Architecture, Interior and Landscape Design.- Studio Zhu-Pei. Cooperative Design.- Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University. Front Criticism.- Zhou Rong. Art Consultant.- Wang Mingxian, Li Xiangning. Structural, MEP and Green Building.- Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University. Facade.- Shenzhen Dadi Facade Technology CO., LTD. Lighting.- Ning Field Lighting Design CO., LTD. Acoustic.- Building Science & Technology Institute, Zhejiang University.
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Client
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Jingdezhen Municipal Bureau of Culture Radio Television Press Publication and Tourism, Jingdezhen Ceramic Culture Tourism Group.
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Developer
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China Construction First Group Corporation Limited, Huajiang Construction CO., LTD of China Construction First Group.
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Area
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10,370sqm.
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Dates
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2020.
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Location
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Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China.
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Photography
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Schranimage, Tian Fangfang, Zhang Qinquan.
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Studio Zhu-Pei. Founded in 2005 in Beijing, Studio Zhu-Pei is one of the leading Chinese architecture firms focusing on cultural projects. Studio Zhu-Pei is recognized for its experience of ability to blend forms, space, and light with great contextual sensitivity and to utilize the unique qualities of each project to create a concept-driven design. The studio specializes in seamlessly integrating new projects into contexts with particular natural, cultural and historic importance.

Studio Zhu-Pei’s design philosophy is focused on Nature Architecture, which explores the importance and relations between the root that grounds the work deeply into a specific nature and culture, and innovation that define the revolutionary thinking to the architecture.

Zhu Pei, Hon. FAIA is the founder and principal designer of the studio. He is the Dean, professor of School of Architecture, the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He has taught as a visiting professor at Harvard University and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He was a jury member of the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011.
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