Opening hours are subject to further notice in event of special festivals or activities.
Admission is free of charge for daily exhibition. It is subject to further notice in event of special exhibitions..
A Case of the Urbanization Process of the PRD
Times Museum, formerly known as Times Branch of the Guangdong Museum of Art, was funded by the Times Property in 2003. In 2005, during the D-Lab project in the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, the Times Property decided to invite Rem Koolhaas and Alain Fouraux to work together towards designing a permanent museum. The Museum was completed and put into use in October, 2010, later became known officially as Times Museum. It is registered with the Guangdong Administration Bureau of Civil Organizations as a non-governmental organization, which is under the category of non-profit institution.
Times Museum is not only an experimental achievement with great significance, which resulted from the curatorial concepts of the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, but also a product of artists(architects)’ imaginary ideas. Through its open attitude towards urban landscape and city life, and which was reflected upon by the museum building and its space, we hope to prove that a residential building block could absorb the commercial, cultural and social content of urban life, as well as inject innovative and diverse vitality within. From concepting to designing, and till its materialization, Times Museum reflects the unique working conditions and fast-developing urbanization process of the Pearl River Delta.
A Gateway to the World of Arts
As a non-profit institution caters to the public and persists on academic independence, Times Museum aims at reaching beyond canonical programming to nurture creative processes and cutting-edge practices in the area of art, design and architecture. In addition, it endeavors to discover the potential “contact zone” between contemporary art and the public through the tight integration between various exhibitions and academic communication, as well as of art education and community service by a conscientious effort and, by that means, Times Museum could, on one hand provide potential opportunities and inspirations for artistic production, and on another hand, promote public awareness towards contemporary art and the production process of artists.
A Platform for Artistic Production and Communication
Times Museum is not only a place for exhibition, but also an arena to stimulate artistic creation and production. It’s a platform which bestows with abundant possibilities of artistic production and facilitates local art activities. It’s a museum that allows visitors to experience art in production as well as art in exhibition. It’s a site where artists can gather to exchange ideas and realize works. Furthermore, it’s a research centre and think-tank which initiates series of exhibitions, projects and public cultural events.
An Intervention of the Living Space
The different functionalities of Times Museum are distributed over different floors of a residential building, it became an interweaving structure of everyday life and the living space. The Museum entrance is on the ground floor opened to the street, which has a bookstore, a cafeteria and an art shop. With a height of 7.8 metres, the lobby is in good position to hold a variety of public events. Its office area on the 14th floor is converted from three apartment units. The Museum’s own elevator vertically goes through the whole building and directly arrives at the exhibition hall on the 19th floor. The exhibition hall is equipped with a 75 metres by 12 metres light-weighted mega-sized roof. From its balcony and two glasshouses, visitors could have a bird’s view of the city landscape of northern Guangzhou, which is a typical yet distinctive Chinese urban-rural converge area. Through its uniquely designed roof windows, the skylight provides natural lighting to the main exhibition hall. The roofs of high-rise buildings in the estate fit perfectly as visual elements of the exhibition wall. The mezzanine on the top floor is used as the archival reading room, while the basement is used for collection and storage.