Ten Bamboo Studio Art Gallery | Situate Architecture

Ten Bamboo Studio Art Gallery 

Transformation of Traditional Technique

Inheritance and Transmission

Traditional techniques lie in cultural and historical context. They look remote and abstract in parallel to our daily life. In Ten Bamboo Studio Art Gallery project, SITUATE Architecture tempts to translate traditional technique with space by introducing interaction, creating echoes of the past with present.

Ten Bamboo Studio

Originated in Ming dynasty (1584-1674) as a publishing house, Ten Bamboo Studio’s wood-block printing technique was honorably inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2014. This technique is used as the method of reproducing the masterpiece of artworks and calligraphies with 3 key steps: tracing works, carving blocks and printing pieces.

Reinterpretation of Tradition

The core of this technique is that several printing blocks are applied in succession with different inks to achieve the appearance of a hand-painted watercolor. Inspired by this key procedure, we print these successions on layers of PC sheets in order and combine them into layered installation, communicating the core of the technique.

Present and Past

Ten Bamboo Studio Art Gallery is located in a commercial area where there exists a strong contrast between “the present” (on the busy street) and “the past” (in the Gallery space). We bridge the present and the past by creating a “time tunnel” in between, a transitional space as entrance hall. In this space, the layered installations showcasing the core of the technique intercross and divide the space, attracting the passengers from the street. Wandering among these installations, people get a clear idea of this technique at a glance, and be curious to go further into the main exhibition hall to explore more of the past.

Space Collage

Another feature of this project is that the Gallery is inserted in a chain-hotel. It shares the lounge with the hotel. This “24-hour Gallery” in the downtown initiates a dialogue between historical cultural heritage and contemporary life.

Project: Ten Bamboo Studio Art Gallery

Location: No. 58 Gaoyin Street, Hangzhou, China

Client: Podinns Hotel Group

Artist/Inheritor: WEI Lizhong/Hanghzou Ten Bamboo Studio Art Gallery

Interior/Installation Design: SITUATE Architecture

Design Team: ZHANG Minghui, ZHANG Zhen, ZHANG Hongyu

Curator: HUANG Shan/Will Lab

Materials: Terrazzo, Stretched Aluminum Mesh, Plywood, Mirror Stainless Steel, Polycarbonate Sheet

Building Area: 150㎡

Design Period: 12/2019-08/2020

Construction Period: 08/2020-10/2020

Photograph: DU Chen