red travertine slabs have square cutouts that let the light into this museum

How an Award-Winning Museum Lets the Light In

2023 Best of Year Winner for International Museum

What’s the crowning glory of an innovative, mixed-use addition for the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts in Xi’an, China, housing retail, hospitality, and events programming? A lanternlike structure anchoring the east entry. Clad in red travertine slabs, the cylindrical edifice by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office features evenly spaced portals that usher daylight down into the walkway wrapping the cylinder’s base, while, up top, a hollowed-out, bowl-shape amphitheater with stepped seating encircles a lightwell that descends straight through the core. It’s a new community beacon—and another home run from the firm led by Interior Design Hall of Fame members Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu.


Best of Year Awards 2023

See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees

Explore must-see projects and innovative products that took home high honors.


an aerial view of the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts extension
a red cylinder base in a bowl-shaped ampitheater
the skylight top of Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts extension
red travertine slabs have square cutouts that let the light into this museum
PROJECT TEAM

Lyndon Neri; Rossana Hu; Zhao Lei; Ivy Feng; Wenbo Da; Joy Han; Tian Hua; Bella Wu.

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