Yangtze River – 8342 Cultural Center

AND Studio

Project description

Yangtze River – 8342 Cultural Center is a cultural project of 15,000m² located on the site of a former 17th century Ming Dynasty brick kiln, located north of Shanghai. It is composed of twelve buildings including a coworking space, art galleries, restaurants, a conference room, and a multifunctional space. AND Studio played as an active participant in the entire development process, with the role of an architect, art director, engineer, and strategist. During the site visit, we were immediately seduced by the urban composition of the buildings, their poetic decadence, and the still very present soul of the old factory. The original approach of the owner was to replace the existing buildings with new ones. However, because of the strong Chinese heritage of the site, our objective was to restore and restructure them. Yangtze River - 8342 Cultural District is a timeless project. A project that lived in the past and keeps living in the present while maintaining its strong identity. We restructured the original framework and completed the urban structure to reinvent a village, a place for exchange and encounters while cherishing the memento of the original site. We have used local materials, notably bricks, highlighting the history of the site. We used mainly natural ventilation, water recycling, and tried to minimize the impact on the environment, using renewable energies. The project has been awarded the prestigious LEED Platinum certification for its environmental sustainability.