Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
Discovery and Exploration Exhibition Space
by Biwei Zhu
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Wilbur Studio
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 17,249
- Verification code D79FF21BED · Verify this award
About Discovery and Exploration Exhibition Space
Discovery and Exploration is an exhibition space for recent archaeological findings from Shaanxi, China. About 500 artifacts, dating from prehistory to the Tang Dynasty, are shown in an area of 485 square meters with a height of 2.7 meters. Grids of 10 by 10 centimeters and 30 by 30 centimeters are used as a visual language, referring to the squares drawn by archaeological excavators. The grid helps visitors read the scale of each object in the dense display. Copper structures of different sizes were produced in advance to fix the objects safely on the walls.
Biwei Zhu's Discovery and Exploration Exhibition Space represents a distinguished achievement in contemporary museum design, one that thoughtfully mediates between the demands of artifact preservation and the experiential dimensions of cultural encounter. The spatial composition demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of processional movement through gallery environments, employing the extended corridor format to create a journey of gradual revelation that honors the contemplative nature of engaging with antiquity. The designer appears to have drawn upon established traditions of East Asian exhibition practice while incorporating contemporary museographic principles that prioritize both conservation requirements and visitor experience. The chromatic restraint of the architectural envelope, rendered in tones of slate and charcoal, functions as a deliberate strategy of visual deference, allowing the warm terracotta hues of the displayed objects to achieve maximum chromatic presence against their neutral surroundings. Particularly noteworthy is the integration of traditional ink-wash landscape imagery along the display wall, which establishes cultural continuity between the ancient artifacts and their presentation context while adding atmospheric depth through its subtle tonal gradations. The lighting design merits recognition for its precision, with warm spotlighting that models the three-dimensional forms of the figurines while maintaining appropriate illumination levels for conservation. The equestrian sculpture positioned prominently in the foreground serves as an anchoring presence that establishes scale and invites intimate examination before visitors proceed along the gallery's linear trajectory. One might consider how this spatial arrangement transforms the act of viewing from passive observation into active pilgrimage, inviting visitors to contemplate the relationship between contemporary exhibition practice and the enduring human impulse to preserve cultural memory.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The objects on display are the latest archaeological findings in Shaanxi in recent years. In this limited space, the audience can feel the charm of archaeological discoveries and understand the results of archaeological research in Shaanxi. The soul of the project is not about design, but in providing new experience for the historical and cultural heritage.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 485 square meter. The existing height is 2.7 meter.
- Tags
- Exploration, Discovery, Proportion, Scale
- Production Technology
- The work started in the design with a lot of sketches and drawings for the combined display of different implements. In order to ensure stability and safety, they designed fixed structures of different sizes and let the factory process them in advance.The fixed structure is made of copper material, which is processed and manufactured by professional technicians according to the drawings, and finally installed on site.
- Design Challenge
- Cultural relics vary in size, variety and weight, so how to show the best effect in an appropriate way has become the most difficult part of our design activities. We integrate the visual grid application into the design, and try to perceive the scale relations of various cultural relics in the dense display through the grid. Another part of the difficulty is that there are about 150 bronze mirrors,.ceramic and tiles in one area, and how to fix them on the wall safely and aesthetically is a problem. In order to solve this problem, we designed different types of fixed copper structures and spent one month to process it.
- Project Duration
- The project started in August 2018 and finished in October 2018 in Xi'an City.
- Operation Flow
- This is an intensive display design created in a limited space. It uses modern techniques to deduce the continuous history and culture, while seeking the sense of order, and the mixing of multiple levels of visual impact to complete the artistic expression of space.
- Research
- Proportion and scale are the core of design.How to classify different kinds and sizes of objects in limited space,and then interpret them with visual aesthetics is the goal of design research.The designer considers using 10*10CM and 30*30CM grid as visual language in space,and then think about the transformation of time and space.Grid is a square symbol used by archaeological excavators in exploring and drawing.At the same time, people can also perceive the scale relationship of various cultural relics in such a dense display space through grid vision,which is a new understanding and experience in function or visual aesthetics.
- Inspiration
- About 500 artifacts from prehistory to Tang Dynasty are exhibited in this space. These cultural relics have certain historical and artistic value and are the national treasure of China. In order to present the exhibition to the audience more clearly and intuitively at the first time, they designed the exhibition according to the objective conditions, trying to create different exhibition experience.
- Image Credits
- Wilbur Images
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Biwei Zhu,2018
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