City under City Museum by ARTS Group: A Dialogue Between Past and Present

Located in Xuzhou, China, the City under City Museum by ARTS Group is a remarkable cultural project that embodies the city’s rich history while embracing its modern identity. Covering 3,735 m² and completed in 2022, the museum is not just a container for artifacts—it is an urban narrative woven into the very fabric of the city.

Historical Context: A Stacked City

Xuzhou, historically known as Pengcheng, is one of China’s National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities. Unlike many ancient cities that relocated over time, Xuzhou has continuously evolved on the same site, creating a unique superimposed urban fabric. Layers of history—ruins of past civilizations beneath the foundations of a bustling metropolis—form the basis of the museum’s architectural and curatorial vision.

The museum emerges as an extension of the city’s master plan for cultural preservation, following the City Wall Museum project. Its challenge was profound: how to reconcile architecture, ruins, and urban life while offering an engaging spatial experience that represents this “city upon city.”

Spatiotemporal Journeys

The design avoids conventional museum circulation. Instead of a linear path, ARTS Group conceived a spatial journey between past and present, immersing visitors in an atmosphere where time and space overlap.

• Courtyard infiltration: The museum connects the underground ruins to the living city above, integrating heritage with the urban square.
• Light and shadow: Controlled daylight and dramatic contrasts guide visitors through transitions between ancient ruins and contemporary cityscapes, heightening sensory engagement.

This creates a powerful immersive narrative, allowing visitors to feel the layered essence of Xuzhou’s identity.

Urban Integration: Museum and Square as One

More than a cultural destination, the museum is designed as a continuum with the city itself. It interfaces seamlessly with the urban square, underground commercial networks, and subway connections—making it a node of public life.

The architectural strategy is defined by the concept of “lifting”:

• On the south side, an arched structure projects outward, shaping a semi-open space around the main entrance.
• On the north side, another arched volume shelters the ruins while opening onto the square.

This dual gesture returns public space to citizens while symbolically raising the city’s historical layers into contemporary consciousness.

Representation of Pengcheng

As part of broader urban renewal strategies in Xuzhou, the project exemplifies “urban acupuncture”—small, precise interventions that reconnect scattered fragments of cultural heritage. Instead of imposing a rigid blueprint, ARTS Group pursued an adaptive, context-sensitive design process that acknowledges the evolving nature of historical cities.

The City under City Museum is both a cultural landmark and a civic platform, encouraging reflection on Xuzhou’s long history while creating space for its modern identity to thrive.

All Photographs are works of Wei Qin