The project site for the New Fuzhou Museum and Fuzhou Art Gallery is located at 三江口, the confluence of three major rivers: 闽江，乌龙江和马江. The flow of the rivers shapes the organic landscape surrounding the site, penetrating through slithers of streams that flows into the urban context. Celebrating the movement of water, the urban masterplan of the project is conceived as 行云流水. The idiom describes the flow of clouds and the movement of water and the organic, non-restrictive and non-materialistic forms of water.
The museum represents the flow of water whilst the art gallery signifies the non-materialistic form of water: cloud. Shaped like the merging of two rivers, the museum is split into two streams to the north that gradually merges into one towards the south. Telling the story of Fuzhou’s past, present and future, the museum’s exhibits are a flowing historical recount of the city’s heritage, a flow of stories that gets passed on from generation to generation. The rippling of the museum’s rooftop is reminiscent of the eb and flow of rivers.
The art gallery is conceived as the dissipation form of water: cloud. A place for celebrating creativity and ingenuity, the art gallery itself is a sculptural form of non-conformity ( 无拘无束). A large water feature surrounds the perimeter of the gallery towards the central urban square, forming a reflection pool that creates the illusion of floating clouds. At regular intervals throughout the day, a layer of mist forms across the pool, hiding the ground plane and almost merging with the gallery to seem as if the gallery itself is floating in mid-air.
Landscape:
The museum and gallery are connected via the undulating flows of the landscape. The landscape forms the important function of weaving of the surrounding urban context into the site, guiding the circulation flows of both motor and pedestrian traffic through the organic forms, echoing the movement of the Minjiang River, shaping the contours of the Cangshan district. In order to safely provide access for both motor vehicles and pedestrians, the landscape proposes to separate the two by weaving the existing street pedestrian circulation towards the site, away from the car entrances. Streams of greenery separates the vehicle access from the pedestrian, creating a buffer between the two and a safer access for both parties. The landscape also weaves together vertical circulation, creating a tunnel connection between the metro and the urban landscape to allow a more direct access to the museum. Elevated points along the landscape also offers direct access from carpark to allow more flexibility in circulation and a shorter travel distance from parking to the urban square. A stream of water runs through the central landscape, connecting the museum with the gallery.
