The world’s first museum dedicated to roses has recently opened in Daxing – the district famous for cultivating roses – in Beijing, China. The Rose Museum blends traditional and historical cultural influences withcontemporary architecture.
The Rose museum is wrapped in semi – transparent stainless steel facade, total 300 metres long and 17 metres tall and perforated with papercut pattern of Chinese roses. The silky looking wall is detached from the main building and creates half – open courtyards between the facade and main building, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. During the day, in the courtyards, facade forms patterned shadows, whilst in the night, glowing lights from the inside project shadows of the flowers outside. This performance of lights looks even more spectacular in the reflection observable across the lake.
Walled courtyards are traditional in Chinese architecture, as they create the perfect balance between man, house and nature. According to architects “the main challenge with the rose museum was to find a modern Chinese identity for a building which significance is so deeply rooted in Chinese culture“.
The opening of Rose Museum in May coincided with The World Federation of Rose Societies (WFRS) Regional Convention, where participated over 30 countries. In the 100 – hectare rose park were exhibited over 2000 species of roses. This event, not only the building itself, is historically relevant to China’s culture, as the cultivating of roses dates back to 11th century B.C. The rose museum tells about the history of Chinese roses, the geographical distribution of the species, early rose fossils, and depictions of roses in art, ceramics and clothing.
The museum has been designed by architecture company NEXT Architects.
