The museum of Dongying was conceived as one of the defining buildings of a new cultural and commercial district planned along the Guang Li River. The urban concept for this new district in the multi-million-inhabitant oil city at the mouth of the Yellow River was also developed by ZDA, combining European urban design experience with the demands of contemporary Chinese development.

The museum was intended to provide a contemporary and comprehensive presentation of the region’s historical, cultural and natural heritage. Rather than appearing as an isolated institution, the building forms part of the civic and urban system of the riverfront district, establishing connections with the waterfront, the urban promenades and the surrounding cultural programmes.

Two design versions were developed for the museum complex. One proposal, drawing directly from the museum’s thematic content, established a physical connection with the Guang Li River and made the building a distinctive and recognisable element of the riverfront. The other concept linked a series of separate exhibition units of differing themes through a dramatic common foyer and a spiral glazed atrium, which also enriched the functioning of the museum as an independent communal space.