Project Name: Simple Design Archive Gallery

Location: Hefei, Anhui Province, China

Design Team: HAS design and research

Lead Architects: Jenchieh Hung, Kulthida Songkittipakdee

Total Area: 440 m²

Completion: 2024

Photography: W Workspace

Lighting Consultants: Jenna Tsailin Liu, Visual Feast (VF)

Landscape Consultant: Weili Yang

Construction Consultant: Zaiwei Song

Contractor:Guangdong Xingyi Decoration Group Anhui Co., Ltd

Feature：

Project - HAS Design and Research has unveiled the Simple Design Archive Gallery in Hefei, China – a 440-square-metre museum space that masterfully blurs the boundaries between architecture, nature, and sound. The project stands as a testament to how thoughtful design can create sanctuary-like spaces within busy urban environments.

Drawing inspiration from the legendary Huangshan Mountain, architects Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee have crafted a series of curved walls that form the building's distinctive entrance. Unlike traditional museums that open directly to their surroundings, these undulating walls create what the architects call an "echo chamber" courtyard – a poetic intervention that both shields the interior from urban noise and cultivates a unique acoustic environment.

The museum's innovation lies in its sophisticated approach to environmental design. The curved walls serve multiple functions: they act as noise barriers, create dynamic light patterns throughout the day, and establish a microecosystem that attracts local wildlife. This careful consideration of natural elements transforms the space into more than just a gallery – it becomes a living, breathing entity that changes with the rhythms of nature.

Inside, the flowing forms continue, with curved walls extending seamlessly from exterior to interior. The gallery space features a dramatic five-meter-high skylight that works in concert with a seasonal forest garden, creating ever-changing patterns of light and shadow. The art and materials library, housing contemporary Asian artworks and modern Northern European furniture, employs continuous walls that double as display surfaces and storage solutions.

What sets this project apart is its successful integration of seemingly contradictory elements: it's both a protective sanctuary and an open, flowing space; a carefully curated gallery and a natural ecosystem; a modern architectural intervention and a spiritual retreat. The Simple Design Archive Gallery represents a new typology of cultural space – one that prioritizes experiential quality and environmental harmony while fulfilling its primary function as a museum and archive.

Design Team -  HAS design and research, established by Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee with offices in Bangkok and Shanghai, has emerged as one of Asia's most innovative architectural practices. The firm's philosophy centers on a unique "design + research" methodology that explores the intersection of natural and manufactured environments in contemporary Asian urbanism.

The practice's design approach, which they term "The Improvised, MANufAcTURE and Chameleon Architecture," investigates the synthesis between urban phenomena and architectural intervention. Their portfolio encompasses cultural institutions, religious architecture, installations, and experimental projects, with a particular focus on how temporary structures and informal spaces can create new forms of "nature" within dense urban environments.

Under the leadership of Hung and Songkittipakdee, both acclaimed for their academic and professional achievements, the firm has garnered numerous international accolades, including the 2024 Architonic Top 10 Curated Projects and the 2023 INDE Award. Their work is characterized by a sophisticated understanding of materiality, tectonic expression, and environmental sensitivity.

The firm's research-driven approach extends beyond conventional architectural practice, with both principals serving as visiting professors at prestigious institutions and contributing to architectural discourse through publications, exhibitions, and lectures, establishing them as key figures in shaping contemporary Asian architecture.