Ice, Wood and Steel

In Harbin, the capital and the largest city of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, China, has recently completed the construction of the China Wood Sculpture Museum.

Long, narrow building of streamlined shape enclosed in a polished steel casing is reminiscent of instantly frozen wave, that amazing way emerged in this area. Appearing so evident amidst a thriving metropolitan district of Harbin, spanning 200 meters in length, the China Wood Sculpture Museum sits as a locational anomaly, seemingly out of place, surrounded by a densely populated Chinese-style neighborhood and residential complexes.

The irrationality of design solution emphasizes by the fact that the building is designed to house the exhibition of wooden sculptures and paintings by local artists. The museum embodies some of the foremost conceptual and formal ideals that define the work of MAD, bringing out an expression and abstraction of nature to an otherwise quotidian surrounding. The boundaries between solid and liquid are blurred throughout this 13,000 sq. m building, referencing the local natural scenery and landscape.

The building’s exterior is covered by polished steel plates, mirroring the surroundings and the changing light.

The solid walls ensure minimal heat loss while the breaking and twisting motion of the emerging skylights splits the surface and allows in light from the low-hanging sun of northern China; this provides sufficient natural diffused illumination to the three halls on the interior.

Located in Harbin, the 12,959 sq. m museum takes the form of a twisted strip of steel, punctuated with curved windows. The highly-polished metal panels on the exterior are a far cry from the material forms displayed within and some critics have already questioned whether this particular choice of material was appropriate for a museum of this nature.

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Materials provided by MAD Architects