jxy studio curates modular system of octagonal units for 'extended art-chitecture' exhibition

JXY Studio’s Design for ‘The Extended Art-chitecture’ exhibition

JXY Studio presents Function Is Art: Exhibition Design for ‘The Extended Art-chitecture,’ held in the North Gallery of SCUT School of Architecture in Guangzhou, China. The exhibition showcases recent interdisciplinary works of design and art by alumni across experimental architecture, art installation, and conceptual furniture. In response, the exhibition design introduces a lightweight, modular spatial system that emerges from the conceptual common ground shared by the exhibited works. Through a calibrated interplay of visual perception, bodily scale, and curatorial logic, the design invites exploration and subtly choreographs the viewer’s experience, offering a spatial metaphor for the exhibition’s intellectual framework. The installation consists mainly of five regular octagonal structures, each defining a distinct experiential field. These modules mediate between the architectural space of the gallery and the individual exhibits, forming perceptual and spatial transitions while linking together along a continuous circulation path. The geometry is derived from the walls on the north side of the gallery, expanding into octagons that integrate with the existing column grid. The columns themselves are repurposed as structural and spatial boundaries, emphasizing how functional spatial elements can actively shape both display and experience.

intersecting paths define a moment of calibrated spatial transition | all images courtesy of JXY Studio

exhibition unfolds within a lightweight, modular spatial system

Constructed from prefabricated steel and wood components, the spatial system is designed for efficient assembly, disassembly, and reuse. Translucent mesh curtains delineate space without obstructing movement, allowing for layered visual and physical engagement through touring within. Each octagonal unit features a single, asymmetrically positioned opening that suggests a possible set path for experience, while still leaving room for improvisation. Visitors may bypass, repeat, or redefine the intended route through reappropriation of spatial elements, generating personal trajectories through the exhibition. ‘The Extended Art-chitecture’ foregrounds the intertextual dialogues between architecture and art embedded in the exhibited works themselves, while more than a backdrop, the exhibition design by JXY Studio’s creative team seeks to reflect and amplify the given theme. Through its raw material expression, exposed construction details, and rigorous spatial logic, the design reexamines the long-standing tension, or perhaps the potential overlap, between utility and experience. Within a precisely orchestrated system, function itself becomes a vehicle for expressive meaning, which is not separate from art, but contrarily, its very form: function is art.

a layered entrance sequence introduces the spatial system and curatorial logic

overlapping sightlines construct a layered field of visual perception

octagonal geometries emerge from and integrate with the existing column grid

exposed joints and raw materials foreground the construction logic

raw materiality and exposed details highlight the system’s construction

asymmetrical openings suggest a possible set path while allowing improvisation

translucent mesh and nested geometries define an immersive experiential field

visitors bypass, repeat, or redefine the intended route through reappropriation

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each module articulates a distinct experiential field within the system

each module articulates a distinct experiential field within the system

the floor plan unfolds as a continuous, flexible circulation path

project info:

name: Function Is Art: Exhibition Design for ‘The Extended Art-chitecture’

architect: JXY Studio | @jxy_studio

design team: Jiaxun Xu | @jiaxunxu_, Yue Xu | @noraxuyue

exhibition: The Extended Art-chitecture 

dates: April 7th – May 7th, 2025

curator: Guoqing Yi

venue: North Gallery, SCUT School of Architecture

location: Guangzhou, China

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom