The Osmanthus Moon Project: Reinterpreting the Relationship Between Public Art and Cultural Heritage

A Magical Moment in the Heart of the Garden

There is something enchanting about discovering an unexpected glow within a public park. Shanghai’s Century Park has become the stage for a unique experience where art, architecture, and cultural traditions converge, an experience visitors can walk into and feel for themselves.

The Osmanthus Moon: A Temporary Installation Blending Old and New

The Osmanthus Moon is a temporary installation designed by HCCH Studio, transforming a semicircular grassy area into a space of awe. Imagine a transparent dome, as if someone had gently captured the full moon and placed it delicately on the lawn. The visual beauty of the installation extends beyond the mere view; it manifests in a delicate balance between tradition and innovation.

Cultural and Artistic Details

The frame features a bronze lattice adorned with osmanthus flowers, the tiny blossoms that fill China’s autumn air with fragrance and carry deep cultural significance. The vines intertwine and wrap across the surface, creating a play of light and shadow that shifts throughout the day, adding a dynamic dimension to the experience.

Light Fabric Adds a Dynamic Dimension

HCCH Studio’s designers stretched a light and flexible fabric across the bronze structure, giving the installation a sense of a space that breathes and shimmers. This fabric is not merely a covering; it has become an active element in interacting with light and air within the installation.

Natural Light and a Meditative Experience

During daylight hours, natural light softly filters through the dome, creating a diffused, tranquil atmosphere reminiscent of meditation. Shadows interact with the subtle curves of the fabric, making every moment inside the installation a shifting visual experience.

Irregular Openings for a Different Perspective

The entry openings were designed irregularly, moving away from traditional perfect circles, to create a sense of surprise upon entry. Once you pass through these openings, you find yourself embraced within this shimmering space, where the outside world feels simultaneously near and far, adding a psychological dimension to the architectural experience.

More Than Just Visual Beauty

The experience becomes even more compelling when considering the cultural purpose behind the installation. The goal was not merely to create a visually striking scene for photography or social media; rather, the installation was conceived as an initiative by Shanghai’s Power Station of Art specifically for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese celebration where families gather to observe the full moon and enjoy mooncakes.

The Osmanthus Flower and Its Cultural Symbolism

The osmanthus flower was not chosen at random. In Chinese culture, these small golden blossoms symbolize autumn and appear in various aspects of life, from tea and poetry to folk tales about the Moon Palace. This thoughtful choice adds a profound cultural layer to the installation, making it not only a visual experience but also one rich in meaning and tradition.

A Dialogue Between Tradition and Contemporary Art

What clearly distinguishes this project is its ability to connect folk heritage with contemporary art in a seamless and innovative way. HCCH Studio collaborated with an artist from Zao Hua, a practitioner of the traditional craft of painting furnace flowers, a practice considered part of China’s intangible cultural heritage.

Engravings and Bronze Lattices: A Visual and Cultural Interaction

The ground engravings were not mere decoration; they echo the bronze lattice above the installation, as if the two are engaged in a visual dialogue across space. This interaction allows each element of the installation to reflect the other in a refined manner, anchoring the ethereal structure to the ground and literally embodying traditional rituals, making the project a fully integrated visual and cultural experience.

The Osmanthus Moon at Night: Transforming the Space into a Light Experience

As night falls, the Osmanthus Moon truly begins to reveal its magic. The interior lighting of the pavilion transforms it into a semi-transparent beacon, seemingly floating quietly in the darkness, adding a dreamlike dimension to the space.

Shadows and Light Gradients

The bronze frame casts shifting shadows across the shimmering fabric, creating dynamic light gradients that change as you move around and within the space. This interplay between light and material makes the installation more than a mere structure; it becomes a living experience between sculpture and shelter, a place that connects visitors to the surrounding environment in a sensory and artistic way.

The Temporary Nature and the Importance of the Fleeting Moment

The project lasted only twelve days, which imparts a sense of abundance yet simultaneously a tragic brevity. The temporary nature is part of the concept itself; much like the Mid-Autumn Festival or the short season when osmanthus flowers fill the air with fragrance, the installation was meant to be a fleeting moment for reflection and celebration rather than a permanent monument.

Dimensions and Purpose of the Installation

With a diameter of 7.2 meters and a height of 3.6 meters, the installation did not seek to dominate the scene or make a permanent statement. Instead, its goal was to create an intimate space allowing visitors to interact with light and shadow, and explore cultural traditions in a personal and sensory way, emphasizing that beauty sometimes lies in the fleeting moment itself.

Innovation in Material and Form

HCCH Studio, a Shanghai-based design practice gaining recognition for its innovative approach to materials and form, managed to create an exceptional architectural experience with this project. They drew inspiration from cultural symbols that could have felt heavy-handed or purely decorative, integrating them into a contemporary structure without losing their historical and cultural roots.

Artistic Execution and Its Role in Enhancing the Vision

The artistic execution went beyond aesthetics; it included fabric tensioning and lighting design in collaboration with ADA Lighting, all serving the conceptual vision of the project. In this way, every element of the installation becomes more than decoration, it becomes part of a holistic experience that balances art, architecture, and culture.

Blending Beauty, Meaning, and Innovation

The Osmanthus Moon succeeded in finding the perfect intersection of beauty, meaning, and accessibility, avoiding public art that can sometimes be either too obscure or overly obvious.

Temporary Installations as a Tool for Cultural Experience

This project demonstrated that temporary installations can leave lasting impressions on visitors’ consciousness, and that looking back to traditional symbols does not mean halting innovation. On the contrary, these symbols can be used to breathe new life into cultural heritage and explore innovative ways to revitalize it in a contemporary context.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The Osmanthus Moon project can be seen as an opportunity to study how traditional symbols can be integrated into contemporary installations. It provides an example of using light, materials, and decorative lattices to impart cultural character to public space. The project demonstrates the ability of temporary installations to create time-bound sensory experiences, offering architects and planners innovative ways to engage visitors with a place.

However, the project raises several points of caution when considering its broader application. Its reliance on a very short display period and temporary nature makes evaluating its long-term impact challenging. Additionally, the focus on an individual sensory experience may not easily translate to larger public spaces or permanent architectural projects. Implementing such installations also requires precise materials and complex lighting techniques, which can increase costs and limit replicability across different locations.

From an architectural perspective, the project can serve as inspiration for experimental public-space interventions, while taking into account challenges related to measurement, sustainability, and expanding cultural and social impact. The project illustrates the potential of manipulating light, shadow, and flexible materials to reinterpret heritage, while simultaneously highlighting the limitations of temporary installations compared to permanent architecture or projects with broader social engagement.

Prepared by the ArchUp Editorial Team

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