Kengo Kuma & Associates have completed the UCCA Clay Museum in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, opening in October 2024. Known as China’s “ceramic capital,” Yixing has been renowned for over a thousand years for its purple clay pottery. The new museum, which spans 3,437 square meters across two floors and one basement level, is dedicated to celebrating this heritage while serving as a catalyst for the redevelopment of the historic ceramic district.
CULTURAL
The site once housed a dense network of pottery factories and ateliers. The design respects these traces of industry while introducing new spaces for exhibitions, ateliers, and workshops, establishing the museum as both a cultural landmark and an educational hub. The project seeks to weave together memory and innovation, creating a space that both preserves and reinterprets the city’s unique craft legacy.
Formally, the building takes the shape of a mountain of pottery, its profile inspired by Shushan Mountain, a site admired by Northern Song dynasty writer Su Dongpo, as well as by the dragon kiln, a traditional climbing kiln that has been in continuous use for more than 600 years. The volume is punctured to connect with the canal and the remnants of the pottery factory, embedding the structure within the site’s historic fabric. Above, a distinctive inverted shell roof carved by virtual spheres is supported by four layers of wooden lattice beams, producing a light yet resilient structure. The geometry channels both light and circulation, drawing visitors deeper into the museum’s interior.
The facade embodies the tactile and sensory qualities of clay itself. Developed in collaboration with local artisans, its ceramic panels are uneven in texture and glazed in gradual tones that shift with the season and the angle of the sun. With surfaces that feel warm and slightly coarse, like the finish of traditional Chinese teaware, the facade directly translates the culture of Yixing ceramics into architectural expression.
By fusing craft tradition with contemporary design, Kengo Kuma & Associates have established a cultural centerpiece that anchors Yixing’s identity as a city of clay. The UCCA Clay Museum demonstrates how architecture can protect and reinterpret artisanal heritage while shaping new forms of cultural life for the future.
