The recent completion of the Long Museum West Bund by Atelier Deshaus — an architecture firm based in China — is a spectacle of concrete curves that act as structural vaults, holding up the new additions to the existed wharf for coal transportation in Xuhui, Shanghai.

This museum blurs the seams of the concrete connections, linking spatial differences to create a sense of vastness that is both minimally designed and experientially effective. The grey walls act as a background that gives rise to the displayed art pieces, while the mesh facades shed lights onto the flowing interior of this building. The blend of structures and the shear walls, the inside and outside, the old and the new, is what give the museum a unique spacelessness and timelessness. The only indication of spatial separation is the contrast of the wooden surface on the second floor with the dominance of concrete.

I personally love the whimsical and beautiful personality of the curves; they connect the two level of the museum effortlessly. This flow gives the audience a freedom of roaming through this exhibition space, which was the initial intention of the architects.

Photography courtesy of Su Shengliang & Xia Zhi.