Thangka Art Museum

  • Prize
    Winner in Architectural Design - Cultural
  • Company/Firm
    AND Studio
  • Lead Designer
    Ning Wang, Duccio Cardelli
  • Design Team
    Tomasso di Francia, Yutong Ma, Qinyi Li, Luca Amighetti, Dominika Kowalczyk
  • Architect
    AND Studio
  • Const. Company
    Lhasa City Investment Financial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd.
  • Photographer Credit
    Arch-Exist Photography
  • Location
    Tibet, China
  • Client
    Lhasa City Investment Financial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd.
  • Project Date
    2022.05

The project was intended to be an example of how local culture, traditions, and modernity could be in perfect harmony and we think the right equilibrium is found.
The building is deeply connected to Lhasa culture; following the inclined walls traditions, the monastery’s composition of volumes.
This museum is designed to promote learning and meditation. Light and scenography aims to sublimate the century-old paintings, which will serve as inspiration and testimony for future generations.
The project is organized in 2 paths
External path: takes up the path of the Tibetan monastery, a climb between the different volumes, leads to the high square, where during the Sho Dun festival, you can admire a large Thangka suspended against the tower.
Interior path: organizes the exhibition spaces and the display objects following the path of the believer in search of enlightenment.
We convinced our Client not to import materials from elsewhere, avoiding long supply transportation, favoring local manpower and materials.
Traditional motifs have inspired the designs of some details.
We used pressed clay, a local ancestral technique, to create the floor of the exhibition spaces.