We used two main ideas to get rid of walls and to eliminate the boundaries between inside and outside. First is water. We installed large water basins at the entrance instead of walls. The second is “rods.” Instead of having solid walls, countless white rods are hanging from ceiling. It represents the elements found in nature, such as rain, clouds, and sunlight. The placement of the basins and rods blurs the boundary between the outside and the inside of the museum, which draws visitor’s attention without stepping into the museum.

By combining facilities and eliminating walls, we were able to achieve creating a completely new entertainment venue where people feel more comfortable stopping by at place that was traditionally considered high culture and exclusive. The entire design reflects the culture, people, and the city of Nanjing. Our design team lived in Nanjing for several months to get the sense of its culture, people, environment, and ambiance. We incorporated what we learned into the design. For example, the passageway leading from entrance reflects the beauty you would see in the city such as lights filtering through lines of Aogiri trees on street.

We noticed Nanjing doesn’t need a trendy flashy mall. We designed this plaza to complements the calm and classy feeling.