Commissioned to curate the unused space at the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower, a Shanghai landmark that has been losing its appeal for young people. The project sets out to break the spatial status of the Black Cube and turn a conventional science-popularization show into a scientific and humanistic exhibition with aesthetic and educational weight. Its theme is the future department store and supermarket, an exhibition that draws people in and prompts them to think about how technological change shapes humanity and society.
Research came first: a thematic map of the tower and the routes around it, a timeline of its history, and field research inside the dome (Floors 1 and 2). Earlier exhibitions there had followed the same science-fiction formula of dark interiors, cold light bands, and low-grade content, so the team designed new light strips based on the tower’s own lighting system and worked with programmers on the lighting.
Every exhibit is designed as a shelving system, named after its inspiration: Container, Pallets, Suspension, Gravity, Loft, Rotating, and Sailing. Each is mobile and changeable, and can be shown alone or in sets. The ring-shaped dome becomes an exhibition with no beginning and no end, so visitors choose their own route. The elevator, fitted with silver aluminium profiles, sound, and air blowers, gives a sense of travel up to the 339-metre dome.