Under a Common Sky, Sheltered to Gather
for Shanghai Picnic, Rockbund Art Museum: RAM assembles 2025

In cities that are constantly evolving—where new spaces emerge and old ones are redefined—the question is not only what to build, but also how lightly we can intervene. The roof designed for RAM Assembles is not a conventional building. It is a temporary shelter—the most minimal gesture of architecture. A roof that offers protection from the sun and rain, while creating a space of intimacy, joy, and connection. A space where people come together—under the same roof—with renewed hope for the environments they inhabit.

Suspended gently above the ground, this structure softens the plaza and frames a temporary room in the open air. It brings the scale of the city down to the scale of the body, offering shade, lightness, and openness. The use of colors and playful forms brings visual warmth to the urban fabric—inviting delight, curiosity, and unexpected encounters. This is not architecture as object, but as occasion—meant to disappear without trace, but not without impact.

Its form is inspired by the spirit of the picnic—informal, adaptive, shaped by its participants. It is also influenced by the selected proposals from the open call for RAM Assembles, reflecting diverse visions across Asia and beyond. Beneath its canopy, people gather to eat, listen, speak, and rest. It becomes a temporary commons—offering not only shelter, but a sense of belonging and wonder within the built environment.

Though it exists only for a short time, the structure is designed to continue elsewhere—in another place, another form. Every element is reusable, modular, and conceived with circularity in mind. It reminds us that even the lightest architectural gesture—especially one rendered in color—can uplift, comfort, and inspire. And sometimes, that is enough to bring joy back to the places we call home.

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