Shanghai Museum of Glass

Glass is a nearly ubiquitous resource, a compound of common application in both art and industry. To honor its history in craft and construction, the city of Shanghai has opened the Shanghai Museum of Glass, a two-story temple of translucence. The Shanghai Museum of Glass was built into a re-purposed glass factory in Shanghai’s Baoshan District, an industrial area where much of China’s glass was produced and refined. With the help of Logon Architecture and Coordination Asia, the city of Shanghai now has a remarkable new museum that is a true work of art in its own right.

The interior, crafted by Coordination Asia, is awash with glass on nearly every surface. Even the floor, walls and furniture are coated with a black lacquered glass. The contents of the museum range from stained glass windows to glass sculptures and other historic uses of glass, including a shared focus on its industrial history.

The Shanghai Museum of Glass is to be one of 100 museums constructed in Shanghai in this decade. China’s most populous city aims to be a world beacon for culture, and its latest museum in the Baoshan District could make it the world capitol for the study and celebration of clean, clear glass.