The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art has opened on the shore of Jinji Lake in China, following a trial run involving three of its exhibition halls earlier this year.
With approximately 59,500m² of floor space, including 11,300m² for exhibitions, it is the largest art museum in Suzhou. The complex occupies a 48,800m² site beside the Suzhou Eye Ferris wheel.
Designed by Danish architecture practice BIG, the museum comprises low-rise buildings and gardens connected by a continuous roof. The buildings are arranged around the Ferris wheel, leaving routes through the site from the city to the waterfront.
BIG worked on the design with Chinese architecture and engineering company ARTS Group, and VIA, a façade design and technical consultancy. Shanghai landscape practice SHUISHI designed the grounds.
Museum buildings arranged around Suzhou Eye
Paths cross the museum grounds towards the Ferris wheel and the edge of Jinji Lake. BIG divided the original two-storey volume into smaller buildings and rotated them around the wheel, opening up courtyards, gardens and public squares between them.
The museum is divided into interconnected pavilions rather than contained within a single institutional block. A main route links its galleries, gathering areas and cultural venues. Secondary paths branch from this route, passing between the exhibition spaces and continuing towards the lake. Bridges and tunnels provide connections above and below ground.
Covered passages refer to Suzhou gardens
A ribbon-like roof links the pavilions and shelters the routes between them. Its form refers to the lang, a covered corridor traditionally used to connect buildings and frame views in Suzhou gardens.
The museum uses this corridor as part of its circulation system. Galleries are interspersed with glazed passages, gardens and courtyards, giving visitors several ways to move between exhibitions.
Rippled and curved glass and stainless steel clad the façades, reflecting the surrounding planting, water and sky. The roof is fully visible from the neighbouring Ferris wheel and was treated as a fifth façade. Viewed from the gondolas, it loops between the wheel’s supports before extending towards the lake.
SHUISHI developed the landscape around water and stone, with pine, bamboo and plum among the planting. Planting and paths soften the boundary between the museum grounds, adjoining public spaces and the lakefront.
Museum opens with four exhibitions
The museum contains four exhibition halls, reaching heights of up to 18 metres, as well as public education and exchange spaces, commercial areas and a multipurpose performance and exhibition venue with black-box theatre functions.
It operates as a state-owned public art museum. Its activities cover exhibitions, collections, research, education, cultural programmes and international exchange.
Four exhibitions accompanied the opening. Picasso and the World of His Influence centres on the complete 100-print Vollard Suite, shown with more than 30 works by 21 artists or artist groups from nine countries.
The programme also includes a survey of contemporary Chinese art, an exhibition examining art in the algorithmic age and BIG: Materialism. The latter, co-curated by the museum and BIG, uses models and large-scale mock-ups to examine ten materials found in the practice’s work. It will remain on display after the opening season.
A 51-day trial operation ran from 17 January to 8 March 2026, opening exhibition halls 1, 4 and 7 to visitors. Two preview exhibitions were presented during the trial, which recorded more than 18,000 visits.
The museum formally opened to the public on 30 August. Its opening art season runs until 31 December 2026 and includes nearly 100 lectures, seminars, workshops and participatory events.
The project was commissioned by the Suzhou Industrial Park Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and Suzhou Harmony Development Group. Other collaborators included lighting design studio Rdesign International Lighting, signage specialist Shanghai Hopesun Signage Design and BIG Engineering.
Images: Courtesy of BIG
