About
Conceived as a "museum without boundaries," TANK Shanghai is a monumental cultural landmark located on the West Bund waterfront. Designed by OPEN Architecture, the center occupies five decommissioned aviation fuel tanks that once belonged to the historic 1917 Longhua Airport. Over a six-year period, these rusted steel rotundas were transformed into a 60,000-square-meter art park. The design features a Z-shaped "Super-Surface"—a landscaped meadows and plazas—that interconnects the five tanks from beneath while offering the public an open, inclusive urban forest above.
Each of the five tanks is retrofitted to accommodate a different facet of contemporary culture: Tank 1 houses a live-house and bar, Tank 2 features a restaurant with a circular courtyard, while Tanks 3, 4, and 5 serve as world-class exhibition spaces. By preserving the industrial soul of the oil containers while stripping away traditional institutional walls, TANK Shanghai facilitates a unique dialogue between nature and art. It stands as a sanctuary for both people and nature, bridging the city’s industrial past with a vision for a more collective and accessible cultural future.