Five aviation fuel containers on the former Longhua airport in Shanghai were transformed into art and culture park Tank Shanghai, by local studio Open Architecture.

Tank Shanghai sits atop a landscaped "super-surface" – a newly constructed ground level that provides undulating green spaces and squares above, and seamlessly connects each tank together below.
Open Architecture created 60,000 square metres of gallery space on the former industrial site, for Chinese collector Qiao Zhibing.

Conceived of as both an art museum and an open park, Tank Shanghai sets itself apart as a sanctuary for both people and nature. Open, accessible, and seamlessly integrated with the surrounding landscape, the project not only pays tribute to the site’s industrial past, but also seeks to dissolve conventional ideas of site limitations and demarcations.

Central to the project’s design is the merging of architecture and landscape through a Z-shaped “Super-Surface”—a 5 hectare landscaped swath of trees and grasses which connects the five tanks and weaves different elements of the site together. Two of the tanks sit above the Super-Surface, while the other three sit halfway below, creating free-flowing indoor public spaces and offering opportunities to access each of the tanks’ galleries from beneath.
 

Project description by Open Architecture

Along the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, five decommissioned aviation fuel tanks once stood abandoned on an empty industrial site. Today, these tanks and the surrounding site—forgotten relics of the city's former Longhua Airport—have been given new life and relevancy by OPEN Architecture. Over the course of six years, the five tanks were converted from waste containers to a vibrant contemporary art center, with galleries and other public spaces housed within the tanks themselves. One of the world’s rare examples of the adaptive re-use of aviation fuel tanks, Tank Shanghai has attracted millions of visitors since its opening in March 2019 and has solidified its place in the city’s contemporary art scene.

Conceived of as both an art museum and an open park, Tank Shanghai sets itself apart as a sanctuary for both people and nature. Open, accessible, and seamlessly integrated with the surrounding landscape, the project not only pays tribute to the site’s industrial past, but also seeks to dissolve conventional ideas of site limitations and demarcations.

Tank Shanghai’s design purposefully rejects the idea of a bordered site. Long, sloping landscaped meadows down to and around each tank gallery offer open access to the street and riverside, inviting visitors and passerby to move freely between the city, nature, and art. Amidst the backdrop of Shanghai’s many more exclusive cultural projects, this gesture creates surprising social inclusivity. Many of those who come to the Tanks do so not only to view an art show, but also to jog or picnic on the project’s undulating landscaped lawns.

This unusually open approach to the museum space has already brought about unexpected benefits and inspired new operational models for the art center. Within a year, Tank Shanghai has hosted not only high-profile art exhibitions but also a fashion week, book fair, art festival, and AI conference. By introducing new audiences to the traditionally closed-off space of the art center, Tank Shanghai has brought unprecedented energy to the formerly industrial neighborhood and to the southwest banks of the city at large.

Central to the project’s design is the merging of architecture and landscape through a Z-shaped “Super-Surface”—a 5 hectare landscaped swath of trees and grasses which connects the five tanks and weaves different elements of the site together. Two of the tanks sit above the Super-Surface, while the other three sit halfway below, creating free-flowing indoor public spaces and offering opportunities to access each of the tanks’ galleries from beneath. Entrance ramps to each tank are wrapped with steel panels, which enter into dialogue with the curved structures of the existing tanks; steps around the tanks double as seating for the café. Floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights flood these otherwise dimmer underground spaces with light and allow gallery visitors to observe seasonal changes in the park landscape beyond.

With the Super-Surface stretching across the site from the Huangpu River to Longteng Avenue, Tank Shanghai restores public access to the once inaccessible Huangpu riverfront. Multiple trails across the park offer visitors the opportunity to experience not only the riverfront, but other public spaces as well. A stepped waterscape leading down toward a paved urban plaza brings visitors to hidden misting devices that create a cooling fog in the plaza in the summer; flanking the south side of the plaza is an “Urban Forest” of trees and local grasses which provide shade and a brief reprieve in nature. Covering the eastern portion of the site, a second grassy plaza provides open space for events and leisure, and doubles as a standing room for audiences during outdoor music festivals.

Two smaller galleries, together with a myriad collection of freely accessible public art installations, are scattered across the park. Wrapped in mirrored stainless steel, the Tanks’ Reflecting Gallery is secluded within the Urban Forest. A second, multipurpose Project Space, overlooking the river and a tree-lined reflecting pool, features a saw-toothed roofline that deliberately juxtaposes the curvilinearity of the tanks.

The design strategy employed to retrofit the five tanks varies according to the requirements of the different programs housed within them. Tank 1—a two-story live-house and bar—contains a drum-shaped inner tank with curving walls that improve the space’s acoustics for musical performances. Tank 2—a restaurant—is organized around a circular central courtyard, on top of which rests a roof deck for alfresco dining. Tank 3 remains intentionally unchanged, with its original interiors offering a unique domed space for displaying large contemporary artworks and installations.

The addition of an operational oculus skylight allows natural light and even rain to enter the gallery interior. Tank 4 contains a three-level cube that offers more conventional spaces for gallery and canvas art, while Tank 5 features an additive rectangular volume that passes through the body of the tank and emerges on either side to form two stages on both ends. From the exterior the surface of all of the tanks preserve their original industrial aesthetics; only occasional round or capsule-shaped openings and portholes were added.

Tank Shanghai represents a new type of urban art institution—one linking the past and the future, reconnecting people with the natural environment, and fusing art with nature. It is an art center without boundaries, and as it continues to assimilate into the life of the city more largely, Tank Shanghai will continue to facilitate and inspire the creation of more inclusive and collective cultural spaces.

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Architects
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Open Architecture. Principal in Charge.- LI Hu, HUANG Wenjing.
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Project Team
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Qing Ye, Ren Luo, Victor Quiros, Tingting Zhou, Xiuyuan Chen, Zhentao Li, Yao Zhao, Di Lu, Han Jia, Yiwen Zhang, Steven Shi, Xiaochen Zhou, Zhonghan Huang, Laurence Chan, Cynthia Yurou Cui, Qi Yang, Can Ge, Qi Gao, Stephanie Lee, Boan Jin, Hao Zhang, Mangyuan Wang, Dihua Yan, Chang Zhang, Tomas Kowalsky, Simin Jiang.
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Collaborators
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Local Design Institute.- Tongji Architectural Design Group. LDI Team.- SUN Xiaolan, ZHANG Xinpei, SHE Xiang (Architecture); YU Jinxin, YU Fayang (Structure); TANG Zhenzhong, WU Pan, SUN Xiaofeng, ZHOU Dong (MEP). Landscape Design.- OPEN Architecture + Beijing EDSA Orient Planning & Landscape Architecture Co., Ltd. Lighting Consultant.- Shanghai Ming Chi Architecture and Engineering Co., Ltd.
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Client
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Shanghai West Bund Development Group + Tank Shanghai.
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Area
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Building Area.- 10,845.0 m². Site Area.- 47,448.0 m²
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Dates
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2019
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Program
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Art Galleries, Event Spaces, Restaurant, Café, Live Music Club, Museum Offices and Art Storage.
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Location
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2380 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui District, Shanghai.
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Photography
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Qingshan Wu, INSAW Image, Fangfang Tian, Hao Chen.
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OPEN Architecture is a team of international architects and designers, with collaborators across different disciplines to practice urbanism, architecture, interior and the production of strategies in the context of new challenges of our time. It was founded by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing in New York City. It established the Beijing office in 2006.

OPEN believes that research and collaboration are the foundation for design and creation.  In recent years, OPEN’s research has focused on the social and environmental problems associated with the unprecedented speed of urban development in Asian countries, especially China. This research has enabled OPEN’s practice to be deeply rooted in the social and economic context of our time. While remaining idealistic and persistent, OPEN’s practice directly deals with the problems and challenges of our time and strives to create architecture and urban spaces that establish a new relationship with nature and society. OPEN collaborates with experts from different disciplines for architecture to broaden and enrich the potential of each unique project. OPEN has also built up expertise in sustainability and collaborative working relationships with some of the leading engineers and institutions in the field.

Li Hu was a partner at Steven Holl Architects, before focusing on the practice at OPEN. He founded and led SHA’s Beijing office, and was the partner-in-charge for the firm’s many award-winning projects in Asia. Since 2009, Li has become the director of Columbia University GSAPP’s Studio-X Beijing.

Huang Wenjing was a senior designer and associate at Pei Cobb Freed and Partners Architects prior to founding OPEN. Besides practice, she was also a visiting assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. She taught part-time at Tsinghua University in Beijing as well.

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