The architects seek that the original form of the museum can be replicated in the future, since geometry and the purity provided by the blank spaces converge. The importance of this project lies in being a receptacle for the presentation of contemporary art. In this way, traditional and modern architecture, Eastern and Western styles converge, in a space for mutual reflection.
Description of project by Vermilion Zhou
The original architecture of Victorian style with Western-style gardens, like a woman with excessive makeup, is out of fashion. The owner’s intention is to transform its function into an artistic space for the public to appreciate. Our first step was to remove all the necklaces, earrings, clothing, and decorations to show it in its purest form.
With the entire base shaped like a Chinese long scroll, we reorganized the relationship between the building and the courtyards. We scattered 199 pine trees within. With the art gallery as the main building, we restored classical buildings and placed archways to the left and right, which not only realizes the owner’s preference, but also positions the oriental style of the museum.
Leaving blank space is the highest artistic concept in the art of Chinese painting, whereas geometrical form is the most objective expression of Western logic and thought. For the architecture of the gallery, we removed the Western symbolism to give the purest white, and we used several different geometric structures to connect and create a new corridor by bridging the unrelatedness between the old buildings and echoing the scenery among the courtyards; the indoor ground going underground creates a vertical openness, extending the dimensionality. The significance of the museum’s existence is the presentation of art. As an exhibition platform, our definition of the Song Art Museum is an "art container", with "art" as the mainstay and "container" as the supplement, and it serves as a form that can be replicated in the future. Our transformation of architecture and freedom of space offer the greatest possibilities.
Song Art Museum transforms everything into geometry and purity, and takes “non-action” from the outside to within. What we offer is a kind of "clean" existence. When “contemporary art” enters various forms, they can display their vocabulary and vitality without scruples. The courtyard is surrounded by the pine trees, providing the external vitality of the Song Art Museum. The scenery becomes the breath of both the inside and outside, and the oriental freehand brushwork also becomes the natural rhythm of mutual reflection between traditional and modern architecture.
