ABOVE A mix of nature, industrial remnants and clever architecture create a magic atmosphere around the complex.
RIGHT No matter how rough,
all architectural elements come together to support the main protagonists: the light and the industrial outdoors.
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WHERE WE LEARN
SHANGHAI In a uniquely iconic site, the renovation realised by Kokaistudios brings together a derelict industrial site, all its grit and signs of intense usage, with the neat contrast of minimal architectural intervention. The specificity of the site lies precisely in highlighting this relationship between the old and the new rather than hiding it or cleaning it up. The industrial memory stays intact here, accentuated by prefabricated elements and reusable materials that speak of a different time. In a straightforward construction process of only 4 months, the architects have succeeded in installing a sanctuary to exhibit models, drawings and plans outlining the broader development of the site, playing an essential educational role through hosting students studying green energy strategies. Through a well-considered dialogue between light and heavy materials, translucent and solid, dirty and clean, the exhibition centre brings to the fore the need for a new ecological context and future to be considered. Touching the strings of its visitors and collaborators already when they look at the site for the first time creates an emotional connection and situation of direct physical understanding of an abstract and complex issue. DESIGN FOR INNOVATION
