First glimpse of OPEN Architecture's “Dialogue by the Sea” museums

OPEN Architecture's “Dialogue by the Sea” recently won a top accolade in the German Design Council's honorable Iconic Awards 2017. Located on a quiet beach along the coast of Bohai Bay in China, the project comprises two separate but related landscape-themed museums: the Dune Art Space and the Sea Art Space. The architects were inspired by mysterious ancient caves for the Dune Art Space, while they envisioned the Sea Art Space as a solitary rock emerging from the sea. Together, the two spaces “create a silent dialogue”.

The project is currently expected to be complete in 2018. OPEN Architecture shared more details below.

Dune Art Space

“Caves are the primal form of human inhabitance, and the earliest sites of man’s artistic creation. Inspired by kids’ tireless digging in the sand, this art space is carved in the dunes with openings looking out to the sky and to the sea.” 

”A series of cell-like connected spaces accommodate different functions such as exhibition, studios, dining hall and a bar. The largest one is a multifunctional space where art related exhibitions, lectures and events can take place.” 

“When the building structure is completed, sand will be put back in between and on top of the ‘art cells’, and dune’s original state will be restored including the local sand-stabilizing shrubs.”

“Except for the skylights, openings and a viewing platform that appear floating in the sands, the building will quietly disappear in the dunes by the sea.”

Sea Art Space

“The Sea Art Space exhibits only one piece of art at a given time, and accommodates a hidden studio as [an] artists’ retreat.”

“At high tide, the space can only be accessed by boat. The ‘rock’ erupts out of the sea, enticing visitors to climb or to stop at some point along the way.”

“The path that links the ‘rock’ to the shore is a path for the pilgrimage of art. This path is only revealed at certain times, with the right tide and in the right moment.”

“Facing the sea, the gallery is open and transparent, extending from the interior to the exterior, reaching to the sky and to the sea.”

More project images in the gallery below.