SUBTERRANEAN GALLERIES IN BEIJING PARK
27 Mar 2024
Three sunken courtyards created for an underground car park have been transformed into gallery, event and activity spaces for Beijing MAHA Arts Centre in China by architecture studio Buzz.
Collectively named the Hermit Space, the three venues are designed with a distinct atmosphere and are intended to 'seamlessly integrate' with the parkland surroundings.
"We attempt to investigate whether other spatial categories can be inspired or filled by art and content to further extend the new forms of art space," explained Buzz. "[The project] aims to connect art spaces with nature, communities, and commuting routes, creating links between two points," it added.
The largest and most central venue is Islet Space. Enclosed with a sloping grass roof surrounded by a ring of skylights that illuminate the main gallery space and cafe below, a staircase framed by stone-clad walls surrounds its roof, leading down into the white-walled interior where sliding glass doors connect to the gallery and cafe. "Standing inside, one can see a large open void space illuminated by natural light, creating the impression of a floating metal island in a halo of light, hence its name," said the studio.
The second courtyard, named Cave Space, has been topped by a curving concrete roof that blends in with the park to create a small hill, with a glazed cut-out bringing light into the installation and media art space below. Inside, the white walls of the Islet Space have been swapped for continuous, curving surfaces of exposed concrete, intended to evoke a cave. "Its form originates from a smooth curve, as if splitting open a gap in the ground, and the entrance naturally winds its way down into the building," explained Buzz.
The smallest of the three Hermit Space venues, the Ravine Space, is topped by a skateboard area and contains an indoor climbing wall and activity room below. Surrounding a square in the centre of the park, each space is designed for visitors to encounter as they stroll through the park, or can be accessed more directly via the car park beside which they sit.
"The underground parking lot is traditionally seen as a building's negative entrance," said the studio. "However, today, the underground garage has become an unavoidable path for people's comings and goings, even serving as a crucial interface for entering communities."
Images by Yumeng Zhu and Kai Hu