Shenzhen Bay Culture Park

Shenzhen Bay Culture Park will see an ambitious urban development project that brings a vibrant cultural complex along the waterfront in Shenzhen, China. Numerous high-rises emerged over the past decade have become a contrasting backdrop for MAD’s design of the culture park: a 9.7-hectare piece of land occupied by a Museum of Craft and Design, and a Museum of Life and Science.

The scheme introduces a surreal, large-scale scene into the cityscape: an earth-sheltered architecture – an expansive green surface with a staggered layout of sculpturesque stones resting above, quietly settling into the landscape. Public exhibition spaces are spread across the ground floor, sunken into the ground.

The galleries speak to the surreal exterior, providing visitors with a unique experience that takes them on a journey through time and space. The stone-shaped buildings are mirrored on the interior, delivering flexible and stunning architectural effects. Reaching a height of 30 meters, it can house an exhibition of 5,000 sqm spread out horizontally. Natural light penetrates the exhibition space through subtle openings along the facade of the semi-concealed stones with stairs inviting visitors to climb up.