This is a project winner of the international invitation competition for the construction of the Automobile Museum in Nanjing, designed by Italy-based architecture studio 3GATTI to discover the connection between car and museum. The international competition was organized last year by the government of Nanjing and Jiangsu Head Investment Group.

"A building to be dedicated to the automobile, where the automobile is also the vehicle to visit the space. You visit the first external ramp of the museum with your own private car, like a SAFARI, you park your car on the roof and visit by foot the internal ramp going down. The building could seem to appear as an urban car exhibitor, with its corners and angles filled with tempting shining exposed automobiles." - Francesco Gatti - Chief architect of 3GATTI

Project credits / data

Programme: Automobile and car components exhibition, educational installations, design centre, office, workshops laboratories, technical laboratories, conference rooms, space for special events, restaurants, retail, sales office.

Location: Jiangning area, high-tech zone, Nanjing, China.

Total floor area: 15000 m²

Procedure: International invitation competition first price

Design period: May 2008

Intended construction period: 2009

Materials: Steel structure, resin coating, glass partitions

Client: Jiangsu Head Investment group CO.,LTD

Architecture Firm: 3GATTI

Chief architect: Francesco Gatti

Project manager: Summer Nie

Collaborators: Nicole Ni, Muavii Sun, Chen qiuju, Jimmy Chu, Luca Spreafico, Damiano Fossati, Kelly Han. [via plusmood]