ANAND  DEVARAJAN  ARCHITECTURE

Scope for the Zhengzhou Museum project included developing a facilities program for a world class museum and cultural art park, part of a 64-acre mixed-use real estate development in central China. The museum consists of a unique concept of merging a gemstone collection with a modern and contemporary art narrative with the goal to create a destination attraction for the region. The museum envisions a cultural journey celebrating the importance of nature and humanity using natural beauty and art as the medium for dialogue. The mission is to explore a unique, poignant and globally relevant narrative- bridging geology, natural history, and the fine arts in order to reveal and celebrate our fragile relationship with our planet.

Intrinsic to the museum’s program vision, was a research center which serves the education needs of all audiences, enabling academics, artists, families and children to participate in the creative process. The research center is intended to be a cultural forum and intellectual hub for the region and a foundation to expand critical thinking through research and involvement in the arts. Ancillary programs such as public spaces, restaurant and retail programs, administrative functions and museum support spaces support museum exhibition functions. 

The programming scope we developed involved regular workshops with the client to define functional areas and interrelationship of spaces. The final facilities program document included the client’s museum exhibition program vision, options for development of the museum layout adjacencies and contents, circulation diagrams mapping the variety of users and paths, technical narratives of building systems, outline of museum staffing requirements and a detailed area table which is the basis for the architectural design. The museum building is planned to be designed by internationally renowned architect Tadao Ando.