Branimir Medic and Pero Puljiz, partners in the firm de Architekten Cie, have won an international invited competition for the Qixing district Urban Planning Museum of Tianjin, China.

The building is composed of 3 distinct programs: urban planning museum and offices, New Year’s painting gallery and studios, and a conference centre totaling 29,000 sq m including parking. The conceptual framework for the project emerged from superimposing different urban fabrics from the traditional city plan of Tianjin to produce a bored block of varying porosity. The relationship between voids and solids in the resulting block inspired strategies for accessibility, daylighting and ventilation in the Tianjin Urban Planning Museum. Furthermore, through a combined analysis of historical building methods and materials indigenous to the region, the proposal was able to engage with the Chinese building tradition while developing a distinctly modern and highly sustainable museum project.
De Architekten Cie collaborated with Arup Amsterdam on issues of sustainability and structure and was assisted throughout the design and presentation process by their partners in Shanghai, UNIT Architects.

Cie.Asia is the Shanghai branch office of de Architekten Cie. Amsterdam. The office has recently completed the DSM China Campus, a combined headquarters and R&D facilities in Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech park in Shanghai. It is China’s second and Shanghai’s first LEED Gold project. Among others, ongoing projects include the Dadong Performing Arts Centre in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and the 100 sq km masterplan for TEDA district of Tianjin. Since it’s inception in 2006, Cie.Asia has been directed by Jason Lee.