In the vote for the best project of the week, The Seed by Wutopia Lab came out on top — an underground exhibition hall on the Shanghai waterfront, in the Xuhui district. The space is part of Westbund Central, the largest development project of its kind in Asia today, comprising 1.8 million square meters of offices, housing, retail, and art venues.
"When we were invited, the architectural scheme was already largely finalized. As an exhibition space, The Seed lacked a narrative that would connect the above-ground and underground parts. That became our point of departure," the architects explain.
The project took three years to complete. The original basement was stripped down to nothing: the architects removed the internal elevator and staircase, and, together with the structural engineers, demolished eight columns, creating a completely free-span hall. The side glass wall was closed off and replaced by a descending corridor, where the light gradually dims and the space tightens, evoking the sensation of moving deeper underground.
At the center of the hall, a circular opening in the ceiling allows daylight to pour in from above. Rising toward it is a sculptural form in textured stainless steel, shaped like a root system. The image recalls the Tree of Life illustration from the 1847 Icelandic Edda. The artwork conceals all of The Seed’s technical infrastructure: smoke extraction, sprinklers, ventilation, lighting, and service routes are hidden within it. Seen from outside, the sculpture resembles a seed sprouting from the earth, fully living up to the project’s name.
The main space is clad in roughly cut dark basalt and cut through with slender vertical light strips. The floor is made of organic terrazzo, inspired by layers of fallen leaves — pale in tone, finely speckled, and reflecting the light from above. Together, these materials create the impression of a natural cave shaped by time and geology.
Wutopia Lab describes its approach as magical realism. Among its references are Mies van der Rohe, Roland Barthes, and quantum mechanics. Yu Ting, the studio’s founder, spent 18 years at a state design institute, rising to deputy chief architect before leaving because, as he put it, he had grown bored. In 2013, he founded Wutopia Lab together with his wife.
Today, Yu Ting is also working to revive abandoned micro-spaces across Shanghai, writing a newspaper column on food, and curating the discussion club Let’s Talk, which has hosted more than 100 conversations with architects and thinkers. Boredom, apparently, is no longer part of the picture.