人工的な環境でつくる「特異」な空間

© Kevin Mak

ヘルツォーク＆ド・ムーロンがアート、建築、映像作品を展示するだけでなく、その製作活動もサポートする香港の美術館〈M+〉を設計しました。

（以下、ヘルツォーク＆ド・ムーロンから提供されたプレスキットのテキストの抄訳）

© Kevin Mak

〈M+〉はただの美術館ではありません。〈M+〉は20世紀と21世紀のアート、デザイン、建築、映像のための文化センターです。そして、これらの展示や鑑賞に関連するスペースや展示方法、製作活動の全領域を包含しています。空間としては、従来のホワイトキューブ、試写室、多目的施設、さらには「インダストリアル・スペース」まで、多岐にわたります。この「インダストリアル・スペース」に対する特別な要望があったからこそ、私たちはこのセンターの特異性について、より詳細に検討する必要がありました。

© Kevin Mak

人工物から生まれる特別な体験

20年前には港であった場所を埋め立ててつくられたのが、敷地である西九龍文化地区です。この埋め立てられた、人工的な土地に、何か本物らしさを与えることができるのでしょうか。

この場所の特異性を決定づけたもの、それはエアポートエクスプレスの地下トンネルでした。当初は計画を複雑にする障害物でしたが、このトンネルを掘り起こすことで、アートやデザイン、インスタレーション、パフォーマンスのための壮大な空間「Found Space」が生まれました。これにより西九龍文化地区という場所性と紐づいたユニークなアート体験を提供します。

© Kevin Mak

この「インダストリアル」なランドスケープの上に建つ横長の展示棟には、オーソドックスな展示スペースが設けられています。
すべてのギャラリーは直交グリッドを基本に配置され、中央プラザから各展示エリアへ直接アクセスできます。中央プラザの4つのコーナーからそれぞれアクセスすることができるギャラリーには、細長いスカイライト、屋上テラスに直接アクセスできる中庭、西九龍公園に面した大きなガラス張りの部屋、ヴィクトリア湾に面した講堂など、特徴的な空間が導入されています。

© Kevin Mak

また、「Found Space」とリフトアップされた横長の展示棟の間には、一般客向けの広々としたエントランスエリアが設けられています。このエリアは、アクセスや光を遮るソリッドな空間とするのではなく、あらゆる側面から入ることができる、明るく心地よいプラットフォームとなっています。

このエリアは、西九龍文化地区と公園、新しく建設された道路、ビクトリア湾を結ぶ広場であり、〈M+〉のすべての用途と活動を見渡すことができる中心的な場所でもあります。

© Kevin Mak

展示だけでなく製作活動もサポートする施設

スラブ状の展示棟の中心には、垂直に伸びるスタッフ・教育棟があります。マスタープランで定められた高さに建てられたこの薄く長い棟には、研究施設、アーティスト・イン・レジデンス・スタジオ、キュレーター・センターが含まれ、自然のフィルターによる昼光と広大な街の眺めが、研究、学習、仕事を特別な体験に変えてくれます。

© Kevin Mak

スカイラインに馴染みつつアートにもなる建築

港に面したファサードの水平ルーバーに組み込まれたLED照明システムは、作品を映し出す大型ディスプレイスクリーンとして機能します。これにより〈M+〉は九龍の都会的な高層ビルのスカイラインに馴染むだけでなく、遠くからも見えるアートにもなります。その結果、〈M+〉を既定の形に閉じ込めるのではなく、常に更新される場とすることができました。

〈M+〉はオープンさと透明性によって、コンテンツと空間の複雑さをさまざまな方法で結びつけることができます。コンテンツと空間の複雑さをさまざまな方法で結びつけることができます。そしてこの特性により、香港における特徴的で特異なピースとなります。しかし何よりも、〈M+〉はパブリックフォーラムであり、人とアートの交流、出会い、活動のための構築されたプラットフォームなのです。

© Virgile Simon Bertrand

以下、Herzog & de Meuronのリリース（英文）です。

No. 415
M+
Hong Kong
Competition 2012-2013, Project 2013-2021, Opening 2021

M+ is not just another museum. M+ is a cultural centre for 20th and 21st century art, design, architecture, and the moving image. As such, it embraces the entire spectrum of spaces, means of display and activities related to exhibiting and viewing these media. The spaces range from the conventional white cube, reconfigurable spaces, screening rooms and multipurpose facilities to so-called third spaces and even an “Industrial Space”. It was the special request for this “Industrial Space” that motivated us to take a closer look at the specificity of the centre’s future location. How should a post-industrial space be created from vacant land? A mere 20 years ago, the ground occupied by the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) was part of the seaport. Section by section, the land has been reclaimed from the sea and the natural harbour filled with earth. This artificial piece of land is now the construction site for the new buildings of the WKCD. What can lend authenticity to reclaimed land? Paradoxically, yet another work of engineering defines the specificity of this place: the underground tunnel of the Airport Express. Initially an obstacle that complicated planning, this distinctive feature has become the raison d’être for our project, consisting of a rough, large-scale exhibition universe that quite literally anchors the entire building in the ground. By uncovering the tunnel, a spectacular space is created for art and design, installation and performance; the excavations reveal nature of a “second order”, a “Found Space” that is a challenge to artist and curator alike, a space of unprecedented potential. Combined with an L-shaped Black Box, a reconfigurable Studio Space, direct access to the loading dock as well as a large part of the storage area, a sunken forum and (exhibition) topography have been created. These are not only tailored to the needs of art and design in the 21st century, but also set the stage for a unique art experience, inseparable from the specific character of this location.

The horizontal building hovering above this “industrial” landscape houses the more conventional display spaces. As in a city, the arrangement of all the galleries is based on an orthogonal grid. A central plaza provides direct access to the entire exhibition area. This includes not only the temporary exhibitions but also a clearly defined Anchor Room. A tall “Focus Gallery”, with two lateral bands of daylight just below the ceiling, rises out of the horizontal exhibition building and plugs into the lower part of the vertical staff and education building. A sequence of galleries is accessed from each of the four corners of the central plaza. A specific space introduces each sequence: an elongated sky-lit gallery, a courtyard with direct access to the roof terrace, a room with extensive glazing towards West Kowloon Park and an auditorium facing Victoria Harbour. They distinguish and structure the sequence of exhibition spaces, which can in turn be combined or divided into smaller units by additional third spaces. The galleries themselves may be illuminated from above or from the sides; they may be introverted or extroverted. A variety of precise openings in the façade frame views of the Artist Square, the Park and the skyline of Hong Kong Island across the harbour.

In the joint between the “Found Space” and the lifted horizontal exhibition building, there is a spacious entrance area for the public. Instead of building a solid object that blocks off access, light and views, this covered area forms a bright, welcoming platform that can be entered from all sides and levels: open and transparent yet shielded from direct sunlight. It is a forum and focal point between the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Park, the newly built Avenue and Victoria Harbour. Here, visitors encounter all the uses and activities of M+ at a single glance. Specific functions are assigned to each quadrant of the platform. The museum shop is situated in the corner next to Artist Square. The large temporary exhibition space faces the Park and is accessible directly from the main platform. Overlooking the waterfront promenade and Victoria Harbour, there is the auditorium on one side, and on the other, the glazed Learning Centre with a public courtyard leading to the rooftop terrace. Ticketing and information desks are located in the centre of the lobby. A broad diagonal opening in the floor of the platform affords a view of the excavated “Found Space”, while large ceiling cut-outs allow visitors to see the exhibition level and its intersection with the vertical building as well as a view of open skies.

The diaphanous vertical extension of the M+ building is centred on the horizontal slab of exhibition spaces. The two elements form a single entity, fused into the shape of an upside-down T. Built to the height specified in the master plan, this thin and long vertical structure provides research facilities, artist-in-residence studios and a curatorial centre where natural filtered daylight and expansive city views make researching, learning and working a special experience. A member lounge and public restaurants with panoramic views are housed on its top floors. Integrated into the sun-shading horizontal louvers of the façade facing the harbour, an LED lighting system activates the building as a coarse-grained, oversized display screen for selected or especially commissioned works of art and establishes M+ as part of the Victoria Harbour skyline.

The resulting structure is not simply anchored in its surroundings; it is also formed by them. The precise and urban, almost archaic shape reiterates the iconic character of Kowloon’s skyline on one hand, yet on the other hand, this convention is subverted by the transmitted message of the art, visible from afar, which will consequently make M+ a site of constant renewal, rather than being locked into a predefined form. This is a universal place with an inner organization whose openness and transparency make it possible to link the complexities of the content and the space in many different ways. Through its specificity, it becomes a distinctive, singular and unmistakable piece of Hong Kong. But above all, M+ is a public forum, a built platform for the exchange, encounter and activity of people and art.

Herzog & de Meuron, 2015

PROJECT KEY DATA 

Project Number 

415

Project Official Name 

M+

Location 

West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong

Project Phases 

Competition Dec 2012 – Mar 2013 

Schematic Design Sep 2013 – Feb 2014 

Design Development Mar 2014 – Dec 2014 

Construction Documents Sep 2013 – May 2015 

Construction Services Apr 2014 – Feb 2021

Milestones

Construction Start Apr 2014 

Foundation Works Commencement Aug 2014 

Main Works Commencement Oct 2015 

Topping Out Nov 2018 

Occupation Permit Dec 2020 

Practical Completion Feb 2021

Client

West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), Hong Kong

Herzog & de Meuron Project Team

Partners: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Ascan Mergenthaler, Wim Walschap (Partner in Charge)

Project Team: Edman Choy (Associate, Project Director), Stefan Goeddertz (Associate, Project Manager), Volker Jacob (Project Manager), Mai Komuro (Associate, Project Manager), Kwamina Monney (Associate, Project Manager), Maximilian Beckenbauer (Project Manager), Alexander Berger (Contract Manager)

Arrate Abaigar Villota, Roman Aebi (Workshop), Emmanuelle Agustoni, Farhad Ahmad, Bruno de Almeida Martins (Visualisations), Jeanne Autran-Edorh, Meskerem Ayalew-Duthaler, Mark Bähr, Tiago Baldaque, Michal Baurycza (Visualisations), Frédéric Beaupère (Design Technologies), Frederik Bojesen, Vincent Bourassa, Caetano Braga da Costa de Bragança, Paul Bréchignac, Alessia Catellani, Chi-Yan Chan, Emma Chan, Sonja Cheng, Massimo Corradi (Design Technologies), Roy Coupland, Maur Dessauvage, Linxi Dong (Associate), David Dwars, Dave Edwards, Carlos Higinio Esteban, Blanca García Gardelegui, Pablo Garrido, Luis Gisler, Paula Gonzalez, Christian Hahn, Carsten Happel (Associate), Adriana Hernández Arteaga, Stefan Hörner (Associate), Simon Hsu, Shusuke Inoue (Design Technologies), Sara Jiménez Núñez (Design Technologies), Vasileios Kalisperakis (Visualisations), Hyun Seok Kang, Ewa Kaszuba, Paul Kath, Thorsten Kemper, Martin Knüsel (Associate), Rina Ko, Dannes Kok, Daniel Koo, Lap Chi Kwong, Isabel Labrador, John Lau, Victor Lefebvre, María Luisa León Palacios, Richard Leung, Xin Li, Jens Ljunggren, Áron Lőrincz (Visualisations), Johnny Lui, Becky Luk, Donald Mak (Associate), Clément Thomas Mathieu, Alfonso Miguel Caballero, Jon Morrison, Helen Ng, Tyler Noblin, Dominik Nüssen (Design Technologies), Mònica Ors Romagosa (Associate), Antje Paetz, Martina Palocci, Felipe Pecegueiro Curado, Svetlin Peev, Enrique Peláez, Pedro Peña Jurado, Catia Polido, Steffen Riegas (Design Technologies), Aleris Rodgers, Eduardo Salgado Mordt, Amro Sallam, Günter Schwob (Workshop), Iva Smrke (Associate), Jorge Sotelo de Santiago, Magdalena Stadler, Kai Strehlke (Associate, Design Technologies), Raha Talebi, Haotian Tang, Nuria Tejerina, Emma Thomas, Raúl Torres Martín (Visualisations), Francesco Valente-Gorjup, Maria Vega Lopez, Tess Walraven, Fanny Wong, Human Wu

PLANNING

M+ Consultancy JV
Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland, TFP Farrells, Hong Kong & Arup, Hong Kong

Design Consultant
Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland

Executive Architect
TFP Farrells, Hong Kong

Structural Engineering
Arup, Hong Kong

Mechanical Engineering
Arup, Hong Kong

Electrical Engineering
Arup, Hong Kong

Plumbing & Drainage Engineering
Arup, Hong Kong

Facade Engineering
Arup, Hong Kong

Lighting Engineering
Arup, Hong Kong

Acoustic Consultant
Arup, Hong Kong

Traffic Consultant
Arup, Hong Kong

Filename: 415_FSE_211110_COM.pdf
© Herzog & de Meuron

SPECIALIST / CONSULTING Landscape Design
Vogt Landscape Architects AG, Zurich, Switzerland

Facade Media Screen Design
iArt, Basel, Switzerland

Art Storage & Conservation Consultant
Prevart, Zurich, Switzerland

Signage Design
Cartlidge Levene Ltd, London, United Kingdom

Signage Execution
Atelier Pacific Ltd., Hong Kong

「M+」Herzog & de Meuron公式サイト

https://www.herzogdemeuron.com/index/projects/complete-works/401-425/415-m-plus.html