Shenzhen‘s new natural history museum opened on 28 July 2026 as part of the city’s new cultural infrastructure. Designed by a consortium of 3XN, B+H Architects, and Zhubo Design, the project spans more than 100,000m2 and is distinguished by its interpretation of the museum not as a conventional exhibition building, but as a topographic civic landscape.
Set within the river-delta terrain near Yanzi Lake, the building is formed by a continuous sequence of gently rising roofs, terraces, and plazas. The design extends the ground plane onto the building itself, integrating a walkable roof into the city‘s everyday circulation. The roof serves not only as a viewing space but also as a large platform connecting architecture, landscape, and public programs.
From the city, the museum reads as a massive landform emerging from the terrain. Vertical granite louvers line the façade, creating a texture reminiscent of eroded cliffs and stratified rock formations. Deep shadows between the louvers and carved openings emphasize spatial depth. The flowing silhouette draws on the surrounding rivers and rolling hills of Shenzhen, following the logic of curves shaped by water and topography rather than an orthogonal order. By translating geological processes such as erosion, sedimentation, uplift, and incision into architectural form, the museum expresses the passage of geological time.
At the center of the interior are five cone-shaped volumes that house the principal exhibition halls and establish the building‘s structural and spatial order. Visitors move between the cones through cave-like passages, vertical atria, terraces, and framed views of the landscape. Rather than relying on a sequence of corridors and doors, the museum is conceived as a journey through terrain, allowing visitors to experience natural history through movement.
The exhibition program is organized into eight themed galleries covering the origins of the universe, the emergence of life, dinosaurs, human evolution, and ecological systems. The emphasis lies less on the exhibits than on the spatial experience surrounding them. Curved walls, conical geometries, and tall vertical spaces accommodate large specimens and media installations while choreographing sightlines and circulation in three dimensions. In the cone-shaped galleries, curved surfaces, skylights, and vertical volumes merge with media environments to create immersive scenes. Roof parks and exterior public spaces further soften the boundary between museum and city, allowing the building to be perceived as part of a continuous urban landscape.
Despite its scale and sculptural presence, Shenzhen Natural History Museum proposes an alternative to the conventional object-like landmark. By linking topography, movement, ecology, and exhibition into a continuous spatial flow, it extends architecture into landscape. As 3XN founder Kim Herforth Nielsen noted, “From the beginning, the goal was not to create a building, but to create a landscape that had always existed there.” The project ultimately presents natural history not simply as a sequence of exhibits, but as an inhabitable terrain shaped by the forces of time, erosion, and transformation.
Project: Shenzhen Natural History Museum / Location: Pingshan District, Shenzhen, China / Architects: 3XN, B+H Architects, Zhubo Design / Structural engineer: Zhubo Design / Mechanical engineer: Zhubo Design / Electrical engineer: Zhubo Design / Client: Shenzhen Government, Bureau of Public Works of Shenzhen Municipality / Use: museum / Gross floor area: 105,300m2 / Construction: 2022.3-2026.7 / Completion: 2026 / Photograph: © Adam Mørk (courtesy of the architect)
