Nanjing Sifang Art Museum

2002–2011 | Nanjing CHINA

Client Nanjing Foshou Lake Architecture and Art Developments
Architect Steven Holl Architects
Associate Architects Architectural Design Institute, Nanjing University
Consulting Structural Engineer Guy Nordenson and Associates
Engineer of Record Architectural Design Institute, Nanjing University with Architectural Design and Research Institute, Southeast University

This 30,000sf museum devoted to art and architecture sits at the entrance to the Contemporary International Practical Exhibition of Architecture near Nanjing CHINA and is composed of winding gallery passages that culminate in a topmost suspended gallery. The structure of this floating gallery consists of a tube system with Pratt trusses in its horizontal and vertical planes. For gravity loads, all diagonals in the walls of the tube are in tension, and verticals are in compression. The diagonals in the floor and roof system provide structural continuity and resist lateral wind and earthquake forces.