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Museum set to have graphic appeal
By Yao Minji |
April 26, 2012, Thursday
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THE China Comic and Animation Museum (CCAM) is expected to become another icon for Hangzhou, the scenic capital of Zhejiang Province, consolidating its position as capital of China's booming comic and animation industry.
The design for the building was chosen from an international competition that attracted numerous prestigious architecture firms. While the judges said all the finalist ideas were highly innovative with different focuses, Dutch firm MVRDV secured the commission with its eye-catching structure of eight interconnected balloon-shaped volumes, inspired by speech balloons from comic books, a universally recognized symbol of the cartoon industry.
"It's a very exciting project for everyone in the office because it's turning the graphic concept into an architectural concept and transforming 2D into 3D," Jacob van Rijs, one of the firm's three founding architects, told Shanghai Daily in a telephone interview.
"We had many different ideas, and also researched Chinese animation, comics and games, but we didn't want to simply copy from the Chinese products. This idea of the speech balloons is a universal element in comics and visitors will know right away that it's about comics."
The Rotterdam-based firm is best known for its studies and innovative design concepts concerning the efficient use of space - a crucial issue in today's ever-more crowded world. The firm has long established its international reputation with pioneering projects such as the Dutch Public Broadcasting Company VPRO headquarters, the Logrono Eco-City in Spain, the Gyre building in Japan, among many others.
MVRDV first worked with Chinese clients more than 10 years ago, and has quickly bridged cultural differences encountered by recruiting Chinese employees in the Netherlands and opening a Shanghai office.
"China's rocketing development in real estate has provided us with many housing projects there, but we are not here to transplant a Holland village into China, nor to make buildings that look Chinese. We aim to construct amazing buildings that match with our consistent and unique design concepts and are rooted in Chinese cultural elements," van Rijs explained.
"Our design concept all around the world is to have contextual links for the specific location. It is about finding the balance between what the world demands (efficient use of space and less building) and what the people want."
This is also the idea they have explored in the design of CCAM. Aware of the impact of the "cartoonization" of Chinese and Asian societies in general, the Dutch architects considered it important to highlight the cartoon features of the building and make the place a fun and educational space.
"People go there to relax, to have fun and to enjoy. So it has to have certain softness," the architect said.
"It is also a lot of fun for us, because we are always interested in explorations of spaces. And the balloons merge together with interesting open space in between that we can work with."
The 30,000-square-meter space will include several exhibition halls, cinemas, an interactive area where visitors can experience the latest technology and a library with a large collection of comic books.
The museum will be located at the Baima Lake area, a beautiful and less explored part of the "heavenly Hangzhou." The museum was originally planned to be built on an island in the beautiful lake, but MVDRV has decided to move it to one edge of the plot, allowing the island to be turned into a park and maintaining the connection between the public plaza and the lake.
"Chinese clients who have found Western architects for their projects are very open-minded about modern ideas, and this museum will become an icon of Hangzhou," van Rijs predicted.
The design for the building was chosen from an international competition that attracted numerous prestigious architecture firms. While the judges said all the finalist ideas were highly innovative with different focuses, Dutch firm MVRDV secured the commission with its eye-catching structure of eight interconnected balloon-shaped volumes, inspired by speech balloons from comic books, a universally recognized symbol of the cartoon industry.
"It's a very exciting project for everyone in the office because it's turning the graphic concept into an architectural concept and transforming 2D into 3D," Jacob van Rijs, one of the firm's three founding architects, told Shanghai Daily in a telephone interview.
"We had many different ideas, and also researched Chinese animation, comics and games, but we didn't want to simply copy from the Chinese products. This idea of the speech balloons is a universal element in comics and visitors will know right away that it's about comics."
The Rotterdam-based firm is best known for its studies and innovative design concepts concerning the efficient use of space - a crucial issue in today's ever-more crowded world. The firm has long established its international reputation with pioneering projects such as the Dutch Public Broadcasting Company VPRO headquarters, the Logrono Eco-City in Spain, the Gyre building in Japan, among many others.
MVRDV first worked with Chinese clients more than 10 years ago, and has quickly bridged cultural differences encountered by recruiting Chinese employees in the Netherlands and opening a Shanghai office.
"China's rocketing development in real estate has provided us with many housing projects there, but we are not here to transplant a Holland village into China, nor to make buildings that look Chinese. We aim to construct amazing buildings that match with our consistent and unique design concepts and are rooted in Chinese cultural elements," van Rijs explained.
"Our design concept all around the world is to have contextual links for the specific location. It is about finding the balance between what the world demands (efficient use of space and less building) and what the people want."
This is also the idea they have explored in the design of CCAM. Aware of the impact of the "cartoonization" of Chinese and Asian societies in general, the Dutch architects considered it important to highlight the cartoon features of the building and make the place a fun and educational space.
"People go there to relax, to have fun and to enjoy. So it has to have certain softness," the architect said.
"It is also a lot of fun for us, because we are always interested in explorations of spaces. And the balloons merge together with interesting open space in between that we can work with."
The 30,000-square-meter space will include several exhibition halls, cinemas, an interactive area where visitors can experience the latest technology and a library with a large collection of comic books.
The museum will be located at the Baima Lake area, a beautiful and less explored part of the "heavenly Hangzhou." The museum was originally planned to be built on an island in the beautiful lake, but MVDRV has decided to move it to one edge of the plot, allowing the island to be turned into a park and maintaining the connection between the public plaza and the lake.
"Chinese clients who have found Western architects for their projects are very open-minded about modern ideas, and this museum will become an icon of Hangzhou," van Rijs predicted.
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