The project brief calls for a design to relate to the Forbidden Palace and cultural artefacts of the Qing Dynasty. Meanwhile it also has very pragmatic requirements and constraints - maximum display and storage area, a large diversity of miscellaneous display items, high durability for anticipated crowds of museum visitors, a tight budget and construction time. The design aims to achieve a contemporary essence of traditional Chinese architecture and artefacts, beauty of simplicity with fine details, natural and comfortable grandeur with harmony to the museum, a journey of explorations.
The project brief calls for a design to relate to the Forbidden Palace and cultural artefacts of the Qing Dynasty. Meanwhile it also has very pragmatic requirements and constraints - maximum display and storage area, a large diversity of miscellaneous display items, high durability for anticipated crowds of museum visitors, a tight budget and construction time. The design aims to achieve a contemporary essence of traditional Chinese architecture and artefacts, beauty of simplicity with fine details, natural and comfortable grandeur with harmony to the museum, a journey of explorations.
The team arrived at a design concept – “The Emperor’s Curio Boxes” 「多寶格」, which is a useful strategy to contain the various products in a neat and decent way. The boxes and racks relate to the Forbidden Palace and Qing artifacts and enable the team to design display furniture with fine details – a contemporary simplification of antique joinery.
The idea ‘A Day of the Emperor’ helps to organize the space into 6 zones - Exhibits, Gallery, Lane, Gems, Books, and Home – and to arrange the merchandise accordingly into a journey.
The journey starts with a long red plinth, which anchors this asymmetrical plan with a sense of formality. It continues through off-gird display plinths, which raise gradually to lay out all goods.
Beyond the stepping plinth is the book zone fronting the dazzling harbor view with ample daylight. Here bookshelves, book bars and sitting benches form an integrated and user-friendly design, to give a pleasant togetherness with the books.
Coated aluminum mesh forms a simple, powerful abstraction of the gable roof. This together with hanging lights mediates the high ceiling space with human scale. It forms a mesmerizing attraction from the West Kowloon Park. It is moreover an economic means to screen off the ceiling mechanical items.
Client : SUP Retail(Hong Kong) Limited
Design Team : Ida Sze, Billy Chan
Location : The Hong Kong Palace Museum
Contractor : EDM Construction Limited
Images credits : Courtesy of Ida & Billy Architects Ltd.
ida&billy architects
