Projects > Shanghai Riverside Textscape Installation Sailing through Shanghai Shipyard MIFA 1862 by Kengo Kuma

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Hongtao ZHOU installed his iconic Textscape sculptures in ship section to sail through the historical Shanghai Shipyard MIFA 1862 designed by Kengo Kuma. The installation is a composition of section plans of three large ships, referring to the curvature of the structural beams in the shipyard. Side by side, they carry the urban skylines of Shanghai riverside, along the Bund of the Huangpu River, the mother river of Shanghai. They combine the descriptive text with three-dimensional city skyline to create interactive storytelling and reading experience about Shanghai and Shanghai Shipyard. The Huangpu River flows through the ships, from which the city rises. As China's major hub for shipping, trading and finance, Shanghai metropolitan reaches out to the rest of the world. Shanghai is UNESCO's creative city and City of Design, it carries the hope for innovative transformation to create a better future.

The dynamic sculptures carried by these three ships are sailing through the gigantic concrete structures of the Shipyard. Suspending along the atrium, they provide various vantage points within the space and encourage the audience to move from the ground floor upwards, in order to gain a complete experience of their sculptural reading.

Hongtao Zhou is a Shanghai Oriental Scholar Professor at the College of Design and Innovation (D&I) of Tongii University and Visiting Professor at School of Architecture of the University of Hawaii-Manoa,


Project Collaboration:
CSSC COMPLEX PROPERTY CO.,LTD / HARBOUR CITY
Tongji University, College of Design and Innovation (D&I) Making Lab/Tongji University Shanghai Institute of Design and Innovation
Design Support:
China National Art Fund
Shanghai Oriental Scholar Distinguished Professorship Project
Hongtaozhou Studio/ Re.riddle
Shanghai Riverside Textscape Team: Hongtao ZHOU, Xiaotong ZHANG, Guanqing HUA, Wenjie DAI, Xingyu CHEN
Fabrication and Installation:
Shanghai SUJING Sculpture Art Co., LTD


Text on Ship One
These three ship section plans are wave-shaped textscape statements, a hybrid interactive art form of text and cityscape, created by artist Hongtao Zhou. They are dynamic waves and momentums carrying the ever-changing urban fabric of Shanghai along the Huangpu river.

Text on Ship Two
The textscape showcases Pudong Lujiazui skyline, the historical Bund, People's Park and the 157-year-old shipyard converted MIFA 1862 designed by Kengo Kuma. Shanghai shipyard was one of the birthplaces of China's modern ship industry. Kuma gave MIFA 1862 an eye-catching pixelated orange brick facade, preserved the shipyard's original structure, including pillars, pipelines and old signs. The main hall is spacious with high ceilings and big picture windows looking out to the Huangpu river.

Text on Ship Three
As the largest direct-controlled municipalities of China, Shanghai is one of the most populous cities in the world, a global financial center, and a transport hub. Shanghai is also UNESCO's creative city and "City of Design". These moving blueprints on the ship plans demonstrate Shanghai's plan to promote art and design in the thriving metropolitan city, to make Shanghai a global center for culture, art and design.