TEAM_BLDG redesigns Songzhuang Z Museum as China’s first rural weaving museum
The Z Museum in Songzhuang Village, Zhejiang Province, marks a significant moment in China’s rural architectural and cultural development.
Envisioned as the country’s first contemporary rural art museum focused on the theme of weaving, it represents a thoughtful reinterpretation of a 1990s concrete residence in a 600-year-old mountain village.
Designed by TEAM_BLDG in collaboration with Mountain Creations, the museum reimagines the spatial and cultural potential of a structure long at odds with its surroundings.
The original building stood out sharply among Songzhuang’s traditional rammed-earth houses, with its boxy form and industrial materials. Rather than mask this incongruity, the design embraces and refines it.
The concept centers on contrast, recognizing the building’s dissonance as a feature that could become meaningful and beautiful when approached with sensitivity.
Internally, the structure was divided into four interconnected volumes, each interspersed with courtyards and terraces that echo the fragmented rhythm of village architecture. This spatial configuration inspired the architects to refer to it as a “quartet.”
Visually, the museum’s most distinctive element is its woven façade. Inspired by traditional weaving techniques, the exterior is enveloped in a mesh of aluminum square tubes painted red on three sides and white on the fourth.
This treatment creates an ever-changing visual texture as the building interacts with light, time of day, and weather. The subtle shifts in hue give the museum a dynamic presence, offering a different experience with each visit.
The interplay of color and shadow lends the structure a sense of movement and softness, contrasting with the rigidity of the original volume.
Inside, TEAM_BLDG’s approach to spatial design is intentionally restrained. The focus lies on clear movement and seamless visual connections between interior and exterior.
A skylit atrium acts as the vertical heart of the building, bringing light into all three levels and anchoring the exhibition halls.
From each floor, visitors can look across to other galleries or outward to curated views of the surrounding landscape. This strategy invites a dialogue between art and place, reinforcing the museum’s relationship with the village and its setting.
Even the furniture extends the weaving theme. Custom pieces for the museum café and shop are made with red woven straps and metal frames, reflecting the façade’s lattice language.
This consistency of material language reinforces the museum’s central narrative. With its innovative design and commitment to local identity, the Z Museum by TEAM_BLDG stands as a thoughtful example of contemporary rural revitalization.
Photography: Jonathan Leijonhufvud / Photography Assistant：Wai Wai, with courtesy of TEAM_BLDG
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