Ole Scheeren © Buro-OS
Ole Scheeren’s design for Róng Museum of Art creates a symbiotic space in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District dedicated to visual and digital culture of the 20th and 21st century, including art, design, architecture and film. The museum forms the cornerstone of the Houhai Hybrid Campus – also designed by Ole Scheeren – which integrates residences, offices, curated specialty retail, and a House Hotel operated by Swire Properties into a 24‑hour urban ecosystem.
Named after the Chinese character for “symbiosis” and “integration,” the Róng Museum of Art marks a significant milestone in how Shenzhen’s tech‑driven economy supports arts and culture. Commissioned by the founder of Tencent, the tech giant behind WeChat, the museum reflects a growing ambition among China’s most successful technology entrepreneurs to contribute to public life and cultural infrastructure. Nanshan District alone generates an economy comparable to that of Singapore or some European countries, while the city of Shenzhen produces a GDP on the scale of nations such as Thailand. Against this backdrop, the Róng Museum of Art becomes a unique cultural institution that channels technology-based prosperity to support the wider urban development of Shenzhen into a global city with its own artistic voice.
“What is significant is that the founder of Tencent, one of China’s most successful innovation businesses, is using his company’s position at the forefront of China’s tech industry to open new ground for culture and urban development. From the very beginning, we worked closely to define a museum and overall complex that is not only a showcase, but a symbiotic urban and ecological statement with big tech as a central cultural patron” says Ole Scheeren.
“Around the world, most tech environments are relentlessly self‑focused. Here, the ambition is to chart a different path by investing in public space, cultural venues and education, and to use economic success to underwrite a deeper, more generous engagement with the city and wider society.”
Architecturally, the Róng Museum of Art is designed to generate curiosity and invite movement and exchange between the museum, the Hybrid Campus and the surrounding city. The museum comprises a total of 4,500 square meters, with 2,300 square meters of gallery space, as well as extensive educational facilities, including a major public art library, workshops, spaces for lectures and screenings, culture- focused retail and cafes and restaurants. The exhibition spaces are lifted on five sculptural pavilions that touch the ground as slender structures and expand as they rise, forming a distinctive figure within the broader ensemble of Shenzhen’s towers. By suspending the building’s main body above the ground, Ole Scheeren’s design frees its base as a covered, naturally ventilated public plaza.
The Róng Museum of Art is currently under construction, with its opening to the public scheduled for 2027.
