Tao Cang Art Center opens in China, converting 1950s grain silos into museum

Two 1950s grain silos in Wangjiangjing village, China, have been converted into the Tao Cang Art Center, a 2,448-square-meter hub for the area's development. The silos, originally built during Mao's Great Leap Forward to store increased harvests from industrialized agriculture, now serve as the main exhibition spaces: one as a commercial gallery, the other as an art gallery. Architects added two complementary corridors with internal arcades and inclined structures, clad in brick, housing service and circulation spaces without altering the original buildings. Interiors feature white museum-style surfaces, while the floor incorporates an ancient lotus flower motif referencing past cultivations. The project is part of a broader rural development plan announced at the 2018 Venice Biennale, emphasizing recovery of existing structures or new construction using traditional models and techniques. Local authorities, aware of damage from indiscriminate demolition of historic centers and rural villages, have shifted toward preservation. The center's opening is expected by end of 2021.