OMA scoops Shanghai exhibition centre competition

«The building’s materiality and architecture establish a dialogue with the site’s industrial past; a mysterious object wrapped in a metallic mesh exposes its steel structure, echoing the unfinished ship hulls which used to populate the site.»
Axonometric diagram –   click for larger imageThe project is being led by OMA partners David Giannoten and Michael Kokora, who ran OMA’s Asian office together until Giannoten was named the firm’s managing partner earlier this month. The Shanghai Lujiazui Exhibition Centre will be located in an area of the waterfront known as the Shanghai Shipyard, thanks to its history as a centre for boat building. It will focus around a semi-circular public plaza and a large outdoor «theatrical space» that will utilise the slope of the ramp. A narrow building to one side will extend up from the slope, providing covered events facilities that culminate in a square-shaped events space   above the theatre. This boxy   volume will also shelter a small area for more «intimate happenings» behind the building. Related story: «Chinese architecture will benefit» from CCTV building, says Rem KoolhaasThe centre will occupy the ramp of a former ship’s cradle – a structure used to hold a ship upright while on dry land for building and repairs – and host film screenings, fashion shows, and concerts. Project credits:
Client: LuJiaZui Central Financial District (Phase II) Development Corporation
Partners in charge: David Gianotten, Michael Kokora
Associate in charge: Paolo Caracini
Project architect: Ricky Suen
Team: Paul Feeney, Vincent McIlduff, Yuye Peng, Tony Yang, with Mafalda Brandao, Thomas Brown, Gemawang Swaribathoro, Stella Tong, Mavis Wong, Shu Yang
Structure consultancy: Ramboll
Facade consultancy: Front News: OMA is set to transform part of a former shipyard in Shanghai into a 1,500-square-metre exhibition centre, after winning an international design competition. Project site overview – click for larger imageEarlier this year, OMA founder Rem Koolhaas defended one of his Asian office’s key projects, the CCTV building, after Chinese president Xi Jinping called for an end to the construction of «weird architecture» in the country.