Have you ever wondered what the future holds?
While we all have hopes and expectations, design professionals never cease to amaze us with their fascinating imaginations that hint at the unknown. Commissioned by Shanghai-based company Fengyuzhu, architecture and design practice Wutopia Lab created China’s first museum for architectural models, The Last Redoubt, at the client’s headquarters. Scroll through the gallery below (Photography: CreatAR Images) to dive into the entheral world:
Wutopia Lab's meticulous concept for the future city is based on many architectural wonders conceived by Chinese creatives.
Inspired by Archi-Depot, an architectural model museum in a Tokyo warehouse, Yu Ting, the chief architect of Wutopia Lab, was determined to build a mega-model of a future city. “The museum focuses on models of various built or unbuilt projects; if we look at these vastly different projects from a macro perspective, and ignore the difference in region and time period, they can form a world together,” he explains.
By displaying selected models in miniature size at different levels, each represents a divergent prediction of a future urban environment that encourages growing and expanding with its vertical scale.
Spanning more than 10,000sqft, the otherworldly museum pays tribute to sci-fi films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Dune and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, not only through themed titles for its designated zones, but also by incorporating “invisible structures” that consider both human and model scales.
At a staggering height of 10 levels, a series of cantilevered model plates are welded on the round bars to complete the shape of The Last Redoubt.
On a human scale, meanwhile, a mezzanine suspended by white round steel tubes spans the entire exhibition space and is concealed between interfaces formed by steel bars.
Yu Ting explains, “This is to avoid visual conflicts between the two scales. Visitors can walk between models in a vaguely visible way and observe them, which forms an important circulation for experiencing the museum and constitutes a part of the overall model – The Last Redoubt’s three-dimensional traffic system.”
Instead of curtains, steel rods have been adopted as partitions between spaces, creating an intriguing interplay of light.
Upon arrival at The Last Redoubt, visitors discover an inner city formed by three main exhibition areas: Tijuana, Ironia and Pod Bay.
There’s a circular space for communication, VR shows and rest called The Thunder Dome; another special exhibition hall is named Tyrell; and Olympus, Asgard and Arrakis present themselves in red, blue and yellow to symbolise a purity and fluidity of space that breaks boundaries to achieve sustainable development.
Last but not least, there are three outdoor areas – The Eclipse represents the ambition to conquer, The Covenant stands for curiosity and exploration, and The Serenity suggests luck and courage.
At The Last Redoubt, everything is taken into consideration so that humans can face the future without fear as they re-emerge in the outside world.
The ethereal setting of the museum encourages visitors to linger and ponder the endless possibilities of the future.
Apart from the serene colour scheme dominating the museum, the three special exhibition halls are highlighted by primary colours that strike a pleasing contrast.
The Thunder Dome is a common space highlighted by curves.
The museum is filled with soothing white that leaves plenty of room for imagination.
On display are architecture models in different sizes.
You are as if transported to a sci-fi movie set.
An intriguing play of light and shadow creates visual delights to the venue.
