Bank

MORE Architecture designed the new space for contemporary art gallery BANK in Shanghai’s Former French Concession. The proposal is a balancing act between being underground and being established. Although located in one of Shanghai’s most upmarket neighbourhoods, BANK is literally underground: the gallery occupies a basement on Anfu Road.

BANK has always set itself apart from the established gallery model. It hosts unconventional group exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks and other public programmes. Its move to Anfu Road confronted the gallery with the notion of becoming part of the establishment – both in its business model and through its new location.

The design embraces this tension. Rather than erasing the qualities of the existing basement, MORE Architecture combines its raw character with the emblematic ‘white cube’ of the contemporary art gallery. The design process became a game of leaving and taking away: a collage of what was there to stay and what was to become new.

The existing columns generate a layered perspective through the gallery. MORE Architecture emphasizes this linearity in the ceiling, creating a coulisse landscape in which visitors can explore and discover artworks from different perspectives.

The resulting space plays with the contrast between old and new, raw and fresh. The rough qualities of the basement are combined with clean white surfaces and glamorous details, creating an environment that reflects BANK itself: unconventional, contemporary and deliberately on the edge of the establishment.