CCC Gallery

CCC in Beijing is the name of a private gallery belonging to a married couple, both painters living in Beijing. The building is located in a rapidly developing arts district. The project involved a very confined site, and the initial brief concerned only the front façade. As work on the design progressed, the brief expanded to encompass the entire building.
This three-storey building houses a gallery with support facilities and amenities, studios for rent, and the owners’ apartment and studio. The building follows the layout of historic Chinese buildings with an atrium. According to feng shui principles, the opening in the front façade draws in well-being and prosperity.
Traditional grey overfired bricks are used here in a manner familiar from masterpieces of Czech Baroque architecture.
The building carries both formal and structural references to traditional Chinese architecture. Its façade expresses my vision of China’s past, present and future.
Building remotely is entirely commonplace today and enriches the spirit. Asia revealed itself to me as a continent where I could quite realistically live. Frequent visits to China, necessary for the success of these and other planned projects, brought me many wonderful opportunities, insights and several great friendships.
The idea for the building emerged overnight in a Beijing hotel, inspired by the powerful impression of flying over the landscape surrounding Beijing as the plane came in to land. Its structure, monochromatic palette and cosmic grandeur. This is how Cosmos Gallery came into being.