North Zone Silk Factory

Design: 2016
Construction: 2016

Before tourism transformed Wuzhen, China, into a destination known for its traditional architecture, it was a rural town centered around a prominent silk factory along the canal. In recent years, Chen Xianghong, the developer behind Wuzhen’s growth, set out to preserve the factory both as a physical structure and as a lesser-known piece of the town’s cultural heritage—and as the new home for the biennial Wuzhen Art Festival.

Built before the modernization of China, the factory used construction techniques that saved on materials, like notably elaborate concrete trusses carrying a traditional wooden roof frame.

Each hall was built successively with its own structural system and natural lighting.

Adapted from those existing structures, the gallery spaces were stripped of all prior additions and preserved in their original, unadulterated state. This decision recovers and preserves the factory’s original human qualities as it transforms into an exhibition space for contemporary art. Original doors, windows, and skylights create cross views to the interior street and bring in a distinctive quality of light.

The spatial character of each hall emerges both from this relationship with the outside and from the craftsmanship of its construction and, in contrast to a white-box gallery, give way to a series of distinct potential art installation strategies.

The lighting design reinforces the project’s placemaking strategy: on the exterior, linear light fixtures highlight the building facades and trace the connecting lines between the halls. Inside, a system of suspended lighting channels weaves through the roof trusses, providing the flexible display lighting without detracting from the museum’s architectural character.

The inaugural Wuzhen Art Festival exhibited work from international artists like Ai Wei Wei, Maya Lin, Studio Job, Florentin Hoffman and Richard Deacon—a testament to the success of the transformation.

Project Gallery