Completion

For Shanghai

For the Bund

For Pudong

Based on an urban domain, a medium and screens

The Invention of a Large Glass

• Museum of Art Pudong is a domain.
• The domain is Museum of Art Pudong.
• The domain is a medium consisting of four hectares of warm white granite stones.
• The domain is bordered in the west by water, the Huangpu River.
• The domain actually drops straight down to the water, with the stone becoming whiter there.
• In its white sheerness, towering over the water, the domain creates a restaurant loggia as close as possible to the boats for people to be able to further admire the Bund.
• The domain is bordered, surrounded by tall trees that form an undulating landscape and a huge rim, a huge windbreak.
• The domain is separated from the neighbouring towers by this windbreak of trees.
• The windbreak of trees creates a thick dark frame that brings out the bright airiness of the museum domain.
• The undulating landscape, with its large surrounding rim, is a vast V-shaped linear garden approximately 700m long showcasing trees (some of them removed from the clutches of the new museum) – tall trees of different species.
• In the landscape there will be statues and, at the back of the landscape, lights that change from day to night.
• Because the domain is a museum, statues and contemporary artworks will be positioned in the wooded landscape.
• Because the domain is a museum, there will also be artworks on the stone field, on the forecourt, on the terrace and on the waterfront walkway.
• Because the domain is a museum, the forecourt and terraces will have plinths of the same texture as well as tree planters.
• The domain’s medium will be flamed over the floor (slight non-slip relief) and mixed on the walls (smooth or flamed or very occasionally roughened).
• The stones are essentially large different-size panels with a raindrop pattern.
• The sharps points of the triangles will be lined with metal.
• The windows of the exhibition rooms will be able to be shuttered if necessary.
• The open windows will be hung with a fine sail to filter the light and create fixed shade.
• The rooms on the top floor and the exhibition space in the atrium will be lit with natural overhead lighting provided by micro sheds.

• The screens mark out the domain.
• The two vertical screen-signs, one above the museum and one on top of the ventilation tower, mark off the site and indicate and highlight a break.
• The two screens are linked at night by laser beams creating intersecting lines of light above the museum.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a major event.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be mutating.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a twin façade of glass.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be mirrors.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be unpredictable.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be images.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be reflections.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a big long box.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a gallery of large-scale mirrors over two superimposed floors.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be programmed.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be installation spaces or performance spaces, during the day.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be programmed as a video space, during the evening and at night.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a machine for surveying the Bund, a twin panorama.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a reflection of this twin panorama, depending on the lighting used.
• The western side screen on the Bund will be a reflection of the artworks superimposed periodically over the view of the Bund, depending on the lighting used.
• The western side screen seen from the Bund will show the excitement and the museum’s visitors.
• The western side screen seen from the Bund will be an incredible tool for image artists and installation artists, especially for Chinese artists who like large dimensions.
• The western side screen seen from the Bund will impose its presence through its various shades of white:

1. The white of the sail between the two façades, a fine patterned sail that gently texturizes the landscape to make it easier for people to seize.
2. A total or partial white that provides an unobstructed view over the first two or three metres.
3. The white of the various lights, of the LEDs behind the mirrors.
4. The white of the installations or artworks.
5. The white of the background which is designed to show images and visitors most effectively.

• The western side screen on the Bund side, starting at the walkway, is an actual vision of the Large Glass.
• The western side screen on the Bund side, starting at the walkway, is a joker designed to fascinate the crowd through fresh new images that disrupt the view of Shanghai and the Bund.

• The western side screen on the Bund side is a testament to the art of the 21st century.

Jean Nouvel