He Art Museum — HEM, 和美术馆 — stands in Beijiao, Shunde, a district of Foshan in Guangdong Province better known for its appliance factories than its cultural institutions. The name carries the Chinese character 和 (hé): harmony, balance, togetherness. It is also the family name of the founder, He Jianfeng, whose father built the Midea Group into one of the world's largest home appliance manufacturers.
Tadao Ando organized the 16,000-square-meter building around concentric circles. A double-helix staircase spirals through the atrium, drawing light down through the core. The cast-in-place concrete carries Ando's signature precision — smooth formwork, exposed tie-holes, surfaces that register the weather and the hour. Water courts wrap the perimeter, reflecting the circular geometry back on itself.
Inside, the galleries shift between intimate rooms and double-height halls. The collection spans modern Chinese art alongside international contemporary work. But the architecture keeps asserting itself — every corridor curves, every sightline bends, and the building never quite lets you forget that you are moving through a circle.
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