Mad Unveils Design of Sanxingdui Museum Inspired by Ancient Bronze Eye Masks  

Project Specifications

Architects: MAD Architects

Location: Guanghan, Sichuan, China

Construction area: Museum: 28,650sqm 

Visitor Reception: 5,830sqm

Ma Yansong, the founder of MAD unveils design for their newest upcoming project recently named ‘The Eye of Sanxingdui’ for the Sanxingdui Ancient Shu Cultural Heritage museum. It will be spread across 30,000 meters of area. Check out MAD Unveils the Design for Sanxingdui Museum.

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It will comprise a group of scattered wooden structures housed near the timeless natural environment of the ancient Guanghan in China. 

After the completion of the Sanxingdui museum, it will attract a lot of visitors who are still unaware about the Shu Civilization. The museum will comprehend exhibition spaces and a visitor center for the complex. 

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It will merge with the existing ancient land and will form a new environment, thus celebrating the mysteries of the Sanxingdui civilization. At the end, the resultant will be a park that would act as an urban and cultural public space both where humanity and nature; past and future coincides. 

The Eyes of Sanxingdui will be located in the western area of Guanghan city, Sichuan Province. This area consists of unearthed, cultural artifacts that date back to around 4500-2800 years ago.

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So, you can say it’s a very historic site, isn’t it? The site is so historic that its archaeology is rooted in the echoes of ancient cities, ancient states, and the ancient Shu culture of southwest China. This site is recognized as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO along with the nearby Jinsha site. 

The Sanxingdui Site

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Let’s talk about the Sanxingdui site. Basically, it is located on the west of Guanghan city, in Sichuan province. The Guanghan city as the core, the historic site is spread approx an area of 600 hectares. It is also the cultural center of Bronze Civilization in Sichuan Basin since about 1800 BC.

During the olden age, the Sanxindgui city was surrounded by high walls spanning over in an area of about 360 hectares with a clear functioning zone. For instance, the river acted as the central line from east to west direction while the north had large palaces built and the south was considered as the religious area symbolized by sacred temples.

However, there were some transformations around the 1200 BC when the temples were buried and the temple vessels were damaged and submerged inside the earth. The archeologists came to know about it from the valuable monumental remains that they have obtained from the site.

The Eye of Sanxingdui by MAD Architects

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The MAD unveils design of the Eye of Sanxingdui which contains a cluster of 6 wooden buildings. Here east of Xiangxin road is the site’s first building: the visitor center covering an area of 5,830 sqm, followed by the other five buildings of different sizes extending westward forming a museum.

In total, the area covers around 30,000 sqm with a construction area of 28,650 sqm. The site also hosts a number of antiques including longitudinal bronze eye masks and large bronze standing figures, many of which are adopted, strange, and in ornate shapes. 

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As the sun sets, the building’s beauty is enhanced with the torch-like eyes of the golden masks of Sanxingdui. This will make people wander between history and the future.

During the daytime, the museum’s intricate wooden exterior will blend with the natural landscape of the ancient city. While the large timber structure enhances the interior and makes it look more spacious and airy for the exhibition layouts. While the cherry on the cake will be the rooftop skylight that would offer natural light for the museum. 

Also Read: Datong Art Museum by Foster + Partners in Datong, China

The Visit To The Museum

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The visitors start with the main building: the visitor’s center. From there, they will proceed to the viewing hall which offers an introduction of the ancient culture. Visitors then proceed to the underground corridor to the museum’s first floor entrance hall.

The exhibition halls will be connected with each other through a south-facing glass corridor from where the visitors can enjoy the scenic view of the changing landscapes as they keep moving forward.

About the museum, the architects at MAD comments that “as humans, we find intrigue in the unknown and the mysterious. The global fascination with Sanxingdui lies in how the wider world can comprehend about the ancient city’s geographical location and the ancient Shu culture it represents”.

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Further they even added that, “one of the most understood facts about the site is that the Shu kingdom was located at the intersection of the Yangtze and Yellow river basins in China. Therefore the antiques dug out at the Sanxingdui offer clues of the mysterious local culture of the historic Shu, linked with the traces of cultural influence from the middle kingdom that emerged when the population started to migrate.”

Wrapping Up

In the end, The Eye of Sanxingdui is the museum that will connect the past with the future. It will be spread across the land area of 30,000 sqm with a beautiful landscape and water bodies around. The five building’s design capitalizes on the interaction between architecture and nature. 

However, if you want to have a look at the artifacts then you can visit the Sanxingdui museum which displays the bronze, jade, gold, stone, pottery, ivory, and sea shells. 

After visiting the Sanxingdui museum, the visitors can even explore their journey towards the Digital Experience Hall, the Cultural Relics Conservation and Restoration Exhibition Center, and the Study Hall. All in all, it is the perfect place for people that love history and want to know more about the antiques.

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