Chanel Culture Fund Explores ‘Dynamic Architecture’ at Shanghai’s Power Station of Art
Chanel is shining a spotlight on China‘s architectural south with its latest exhibition at Shanghai’s Power Station of Art.
The exhibition, themed “The Shape of Shadow” is the winning group show proposal of the “Dynamic Architecture” program, the second-leg of Chanel’s “Next Cultural Producer” project launched in collaboration with PSA.
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Curated by Chen Donghua, an architect and professor at South China University of Technology, the exhibition examines dynamic “shaded” architectural projects in Southern China. The exhibition runs to Oct. 8.
“This year, thanks to a proposal by Chen Donghua, it explores the concept of the space between South China’s abundant sunshine and its rain; the space of shadow,” said Yana Peel, Chanel’s global head of arts and culture.
“Shadows are not just where the sun casts its shade of course. They expand the boundaries of architectural space. Always specific to their location, and shaped by the climate, the shadows in this part of the world reveal something of profound inner nature of Chinese culture as this shows reveal,” Peel added.
According to Chen, in Southern China, the shadow space is not only a physical environment that reflects the tropical or subtropical climate but also “a collective venue that accommodates publicness and routineness,” Chen said.
“It is also a spatial concept that renews and corrects the idea of space created by modernist architecture,” Chen added, referencing Le Corbusier’s frequent use of “Pilotis,” or columns that elevate a building from above ground to create public space.
The exhibition brings together ten contemporary sites in southern Chinese cities, small towns and villages, such as the Delta Gallery in Shenzhen, the Reception Center of Yiyuan Elderly Community in Guangzhou, the Lianzhou Museum of Photography in Lianzhou, a remote city in Northern Guangdong, and the Timber Bridge in Gulou Waterfront, a resort town in Jiangmen City.
The sites provide examples of “semi-natural, semi-artificial, semi-indoor” spaces free from physical enclosures and modern air-conditioning equipment, which forms “a kind of primitive vitality,” according to the exhibition notes.
Intricately constructed wooden models of the projects are juxtaposed with six umbrella-like structures outfitted with vintage bamboo chairs, which creates a market space-like atmosphere that emulates “spontaneously formed shadow spaces in the South.”
Viewers are invited to step into the constructed shade to briefly experience the vibrancy of everyday life in the South.
A screening room featuring a view inside the architectural sites lets viewers experience the locations virtually.
Chanel launched “Next Cultural Producer” at PSA in September 2021. This annual open call invites observers, researchers, experimenters and practitioners to propose group show ideas centered around revitalizing practices in contemporary Chinese craft and architecture.
The two-year program marked the company’s first partnership with a museum in Asia.
The inaugural edition of the program, “Art of Craft,” was launched as a dual exhibition held at PSA from November 2022 to February 2023. The dual exhibitions, “Back to the Future: Breaking the Time Barrier” and “Hill of the Madman,” explored the current state of traditional Chinese craft.
Most recently, Chanel announced its first-ever Hong Kong partnership with M+, one of Asia’s most popular art museums that opened last year. The three-year partnership will support a lead curatorial position, titled “Chanel Lead Curator, Moving Image,” to boost the museum’s moving image offerings.
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