An Arts Centre Modelled on a Walled City

In designing the Shou County Culture and Art Center, Studio Zhu-Pei drew on the traditional vertical courtyard houses and narrow lanes of the ancient walled city to conceive a contemporary urban cultural space that is at once introverted and inviting

Architect Zhu Pei’s eponymous studio is known for its work on cultural projects that blend forms, space, and light with deep sensitivity for context, drawing on the unique qualities of a project to conceive concept-driven architecture. 

This approach is undoubtedly evident in the recently completed Shou County Art and Culture Center, for which the architect looked to the traditional vernacular and features of Shou County, a walled city within Huainan in the Chinese province of Anhui. The project site was a piece of flat farmland in a newly built city just kilometres from Shou, where a crop of tall and unremarkable buildings had been erected to serve the growing population and economy. Looking to contribute a unique piece of architecture that would embody and reflect the local culture and traditions, Pei plumbed Shou for inspiration. 

The concept of a walled city is central to the Shou Culture and Art Center. Pei spent time within the county walls, observing its cultural roots, its old homes and ruins, and taking note of the city’s inward nature, from the city walls to the inward-oriented vertical courtyard houses and the narrow lanes that connect them. Another critical factor was designing for the natural climate; the courtyard homes feature weatherproofing features like small windows and solid stone walls intended to keep occupants warm in winter and cool in summer.  

It’s this traditional, context-specific experience that Pei reimagined and embedded within the arts and culture centre, giving it an identity that resonates with the local community but also positions it as a contemporary, forward-looking cultural institution. 

Mirroring the layout of the walled city itself, the building — which includes an art gallery, cultural centre, library and archive — takes the form of a semi-enclosed rectangular block. At the main entrance, a generous garden is intended to represent the central room in typical Shou County homes, while the garden to the rear evokes the backyards of local folk homes. Inside the ‘walls’, multiple courtyards provide open spaces complete with tranquil water features. These are connected by a snaking undercover walkway that guides visitors over the moat at the entrance and into the building, while a series of staircases, voids and entryways line the walking loop, leading visitors between floors and spaces and creating a play of light and shadow that lends the building a sense of sense of discovery and surprise.

Text / Simone Schultz
Images / Schran Images, courtesy of Studio Zhu-Pei