7/29/2014 Islamic influences inspire exhibition centre in China | Architecture | Agenda | Phaidon

http://de.phaidon.com/agenda/architecture/articles/2013/february/01/islamic-influences-inspire-exhibition-centre-in-northern-china/ 1/3

Architecture Articles Islamic influences inspire exhibition centre in China

Islamic influences inspire exhibition centre in ChinaSure Architects uses West Xia Helan stone and traditional Chinese techniques to create Islamic patterning

Ningxia Exhibition Centre - Sure Architecture

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When it comes to local architectural styles, the designers of the

Ningxia Exhibition Centre had plenty to draw on. The museum is

planned for Yinchuan, the 2m-strong capital of Ningxia in the far north-

west of China. In fact it’s so far north that it rubs up against Inner

Mongolia.

Ningxia – sparsely-populated and mostly desert - is an autonomous

region for the Chinese-speaking Hui people, China’s Muslim minority of

which there are just shy of 10m across the republic. It was from this

group’s heritage that the centre’s architects, Sure, drew its inspiration.

“We broke through conventional museum design, taking into

consideration the history and the culture of this city,” says Sure, which

stands for Sustainable Urban Regeneration and Eco-Architecture.

The practice, which was set up in London in 2006, explains its design

thinking. “Our first idea was to use West Xia Helan stone, and using

some traditional Chinese techniques we started to work with the stone

to create the Islamic pattern. The history of Yinchuan, the tradition of

the Chinese Art Stone and the Muslim culture were fused in the design

of the Yinchuan Exhibition Centre. It will become a landmark and will be

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7/29/2014 Islamic influences inspire exhibition centre in China | Architecture | Agenda | Phaidon

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the starting point of the China and Arab Axis; furthermore, Yinchuan is

the historical mission of China's bridge to the Arab world.”

Ningxia Exhibition Centre - Sure Architecture

However, while the Hui are the predominant ethnic group in Yinchuan,

accounting for more than a quarter of the population, Sure could have

chosen from a number of other cultural influences, including Han,

Manchu, Mongolian and Chaoxian. Because the city’s mix has resulted

in dozens of mosques, pagodas, pavilions, temples and imperial

tombs, making it a popular tourist destination.

As it is, the museum’s façade has been carved with a latticed pattern

that derives from traditional Islamic designs. The effect will be as

striking from the outside, with the building’s lighting shining through the

latticing, as it is from the inside, as natural light finds its way in.

What’s more, the architects believe that their configuration of the

centre’s five levels with their functional partitions is “a new way of

arrangement for the visiting people flow”. If the Yinchuan Government

gives the scheme the go-ahead it will get built in a new central

business district which is intended to extend the existing city

boundaries.

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7/29/2014 Islamic influences inspire exhibition centre in China | Architecture | Agenda | Phaidon

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