Architectural features of Suzhou Museum

The new Suzhou Museum, designed by world architect I.M. Pei and Bayesian Architects, took three years to build and invested 339 million yuan. Located in the east of Qimen Road and the north of Northeast Street, it is close to the Old Suzhou Museum and Loyal Palace. This site selection has profound cultural heritage, concentrated content and profound connotation, and is full of historical vision and humanistic spirit of blending ancient and modern times and integrating development. It is based on a profound understanding, careful grasp and scientific decision-making of the cultural heritage in the region. It was determined by repeated comparison, multi-party argumentation, layer-by-layer examination and approval, and even the final review of the World Heritage Committee meeting, which aroused widespread concern in society. The new building adopts open steel structure, which replaces the wooden materials of traditional buildings in Suzhou. We can see this feature on the inner roofs of gates, skylight corridors, pavilions and different exhibition halls of new buildings. Open steel structure is not only the skeleton of the building, but also the characteristic of modeling, which brings simplicity and lightness to the building and provides the possibility and guarantee for the innovation and functional expansion of the building.

The unique roof form of the new building breaks through the shackles of the "big roof" of the traditional building in China in lighting. The pyramid-shaped glass skylight design in the three-dimensional geometric framework above the roof of the new building is full of wisdom, interest and ingenuity. The wide application of wood grain metal sunshade makes the museum full of warm and soft sunshine. "Let the light do the design" is a famous saying of Bayesian. We can see this feature in the gates of new buildings, skylight corridors, cool halls and glass ceilings of different exhibition halls.

The new building regards triangle as a prominent modeling element and structural feature, which is reflected in every detail of the building. In the central hall and many exhibition halls, the border of the roof is composed of squares and triangles, and the glass and white ceiling in the frame are interlaced with each other, which is like a geometric illusion painting, giving people a wonderful visual experience.