Deep Time Palace / Wutopia Lab

Architects: Wutopia Lab
Area: 16,650 m²
Year: 2023
Photography: CreatAR Images
Chief Architect: Ting Yu
Project Architect: He Huang
Project Manager: Shengrui Pu
Design Team: Shengrui Pu, Dali Pan, Liran Sun (Conceptual Design Phase), Jialin Xie (Drawing Compilation Phase)
Installation Design: Zhou Kuang, He Huang, Jialin Xie
Construction Proxy: Changchun Municipal Government Investment Construction Project Management Center
Construction Drawing: Tianjin Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd.
Construction: China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Co., Ltd. (North China)
Design Consultant: Minfei Wei, Binhai Miao, Zhun Zhang, Yanmin Qian, Xingchun Lin, Kejie Zhang
Lighting Consultant: Gradient Lighting Design / Chloe Zhang, Yanting Zang, Xiaodan Deng
Interior Design (Non Fair Faced Concrete Area): Jilin Wuyi Construction Co., Ltd. / Shanghai Hip-pop Architectural Decoration Design Co., Ltd. (Concept)
Low Voltage System Design: Jilin Beihua Electric Power Technology Design & Research Institute Jilin Yongji Branch
Landscape Design: Changchun Garden Planning Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Owner: Palace Museum of The Manchurian Regime
City: Chang Chun
Country: China

Deep Time Palace, a museum designed by Wutopia Lab in Changchun, showcases innovative use of fair-faced concrete. Completed in 2023, the largest thin-shell large-span earth-sheltered swept surface underground building in China integrates industrial elements with contemporary expressionism. The museum’s design respects Changchun’s historical context and uses large-span structures to create vast interior spaces. Natural light plays a crucial role, creating a dynamic and spiritual atmosphere. The underground structure, with its complex construction and strategic use of light, evokes a sense of deep time, inviting visitors to contemplate history and the meaning of life.

The concrete palace designed by Wutopia Lab, known as The Eye of The Museum of The Palace Museum of The Manchurian Regime (Changchun), is the first decorative fair-faced concrete building in Jilin Province, the largest fair-faced concrete building in Northeastern China, and the largest thin-shell large-span earth-sheltered swept surface underground building in China. It was officially completed and inaugurated on May 18th, 2023, International Museum Day, after six years of design and construction. Just before May 1st, 2017, Mr. Wang, the museum director who had vetoed more than 20 rounds of unsuccessful proposals, approached Wutopia Lab with a request for a proposal that would truly capture the essence of Changchun. Accepting the challenge, Wutopia Lab embarked on uncovering the brilliance within the fragments of the city’s history.

Changchun, once the most developed city in East Asia, remains a pivotal industrial center, resonating with echoes of its former grandeur. The palace of The Manchurian Regime, though small in area, showcases meticulous attention to detail, merging Western classical elements with refined ornamentation. The white Museum of The History of Northeast China Under Japanese Occupation, designed by Master Qi Kang, features a gently sloping roof beneath the palace’s principal ridge. To maintain the stable landscape of the museum, the art museum was concealed underground, preserving the ambiance above. By introducing the large-span structure typical of industrial buildings, vast interior spaces were created to effectively showcase the city’s pride. The design employs elegant curves and rhetorical devices like symbolism and metaphor to convey Changchun’s pursuit of reviving its former grandeur. The art museum serves as a contemporary expressionist sanctuary, liberating visitors from the grip of time, allowing them to reexamine history and memory.

Fair-faced concrete was chosen for its industrial character. Drawing upon familiarity with steel, it was used as formwork to shape large-span thin-shell swept surface concrete domes. In response to concerns about the thickness of the protective coating potentially obscuring the meticulously arranged panel joints and tie rod eyelets visualized through BIM technology, it was assured that this approach has considerable merit. The protective coating establishes a transparent boundary on the concrete surface, allowing light to create a radiant halo that traverses the curves, unveiling a restrained dynamism.

The project faced complexities due to Changchun’s frozen ground periods, which limited construction time, and unexpected stoppages. The art museum, situated on a razor-shaped site between historical buildings, features two underground levels and spans 16,650 square meters. The structure includes a 2,000-square-meter plaza, parking, and green space on the roof, and an underground passage connecting to the exhibition hall. Stability and connectivity are ensured, meeting stringent requirements for temperature, humidity control, and safety.

The fascination with museums lies in their ability to transcend mere chronicles of human history. The word “museum” now implies delving into the Earth’s 4.6 billion years of history to search for life’s true meaning and its relationship with time. Different temporal scales give rise to varied perspectives on history, a concept known as “Deep Time.” The underground structure of the museum conveys a sense of depth, challenging the conventional linear timeline by introducing an immense scale that disorients viewers. Central focal points in the form of wing-shaped swept surface domes, measuring 27.5m in length, 18m in width, and 16.5m in height, guide visitors in understanding the intricate connections between life, history, environment, and society. Skylights resembling eyes are integrated into these domes, symbolizing introspection and amplifying the role of natural light in shaping viewers’ experiences and interpretations.

Natural light shapes the essence of the art museum, uncovering the profound depth behind the museum’s grandeur and imbuing it with a sense of spirituality. As visitors stand amidst interconnected spaces, guided by skylights, they may perceive a fleeting illusion of eternity or the essence of time itself. Shadows cast by natural light undergo a gradual metamorphosis, evoking restlessness, compulsion, and eventually an appreciation of light’s captivating beauty. This evokes a sense of wonder at life’s nature, prompting gentle recitations of verses or impromptu dances of awe. The design draws inspiration from an experience at the Pantheon in 2003, where a sudden burst of sunlight created a profound sense of disorientation and awe.

The museum’s intricate functions are concealed on either side of the main space, emphasizing purity and evoking the perception of time as eternity. However, this concept of eternity is questioned, as it is often an illusion due to life’s brevity. The subterranean natural light creates moments of perceived eternity, though they are fleeting. The Deep Time Palace captures this fleeting eternity within its seemingly immobile material expanse.

Before the inaugural ceremony, traversing through the exhibition hall to the museum’s depths revealed the descent of morning sunlight through skylights. The curved dome seemed to breathe, awakening the art museum as if emerging from the earth’s embrace. These moments, where unassuming days are imbued with formidable forces, evoke a sense of reimagining the present with stories of making and unmaking, considering the legacy left for future epochs.

Alongside the grand opening on May 18th, Wutopia Lab unveiled Wuto-Art, featuring perforated aluminum panels by Yu Ting. Customized thematic installations and digital derivatives by Wuto-Art will feature in all future Wutopia Lab projects, marking the commencement of a new cycle.