Herzog & de Meuron's M+ museum begins construction in Hong Kong
Construction is under way on the M+, a museum designed by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron on Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, Dezeen reports.
The museum, which is dedicated to art, architecture, and film, broke ground on Jan. 29. During the groundbreaking ceremony, a time capsule filled with artwork by local children was placed in the construction site, marking the countdown for the 60,000-sm museum’s completion scheduled for 2018.
According to Dezeen, Herzog & de Meuron won a competition for the museum’s design in 2013, beating out other architectural big names such as Renzo Piano, Toyo Ito, Snøhetta, and Shigeru Ban.
The building’s design consists of a translucent tower with research, retail, and restaurant spaces that rests on a horizontal slab filled with exhibition galleries.
“As in a city, the arrangement of all the galleries is based on an orthogonal grid,” the practice said in a statement. A central plaza will provide direct access to the entire exhibition area.
The Swiss practice formed a design team with TFP Farrells as local partner architect and ARUP HK as an engineering consultant.
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