d+a | Issue 121 • 2021

/ COMMERCIAL / 56 S imple. Straightforward. These are two adjectives that keep coming up as Tan Hock Beng describes tar Art Gallery, a project completed earlier this year in Anning City in Kunming, China. Contrasted against the complex, multi- faceted hospitality buildings that Tan typically designs, this one does indeed seem so. Yet, there is also much beauty in simplicity and something the Principal of MAPS managed to evoke with this project. OF MOUNTAINS AND STARS Located on elevated ground, the site is visible from the highway that leads from Kunming into Anning City. “The first impression was that the hill is actually an outcrop framed by the high, craggy mountains of Yunnan,” says Tan. “When we were there in the evening, it happened to be a clear night and I saw the sky covered with stars, which was quite fascinating. 02-03. Triangular windows are cut into the sides of the roof, which because of the way it folds over the building, becomes the walls of the second floor. 02