Xinanying City Gate Arch

The Xinanying City Gate Arch is a threshold between the city’s ancient core and its modern peripheral built-out. The site once housed a city wall and a gate arch until the wall replaced by early twenties century townhouses and later on replaced again by late 90s developments. 

Our design introduces a new structure as a footnote to the site’s layered history. The arch takes the height and curvature proportions of a traditional city gate but extends the depth to 9 meters. The profile thickness of the walls gradually increases from both ends toward the center, creating the appearance of an alien object, smooth and silent. Consequentially people here would encounter a landscape that is both unfamiliar and familiar: the exterior form stands apart from the surrounding retro commercial buildings, while the interior experience evokes something recognizable and traditional, pointing to the city’s ancient past.   

The structure is made entirely of stainless steel framing and panels, with a black fluorocarbon coating. The thickest part of the tapered walls houses observation windows on both sides, at eye level. These windows offer views into small exhibition spaces set in the adjacent side rooms, where rotating displays of images or physical objects are presented.

Area:

45 sqm