^{Words by Allegra Salvadori | Images courtesy of Power Station of Art (PSA)}

Shanghai’s cultural landscape expands with the opening of Espace Gabrielle Chanel, an ambitious new destination housed on the reimagined third floor of the Power Station of Art (PSA). Conceived by Japanese architect Kazunari Sakamoto, the 1,700-square-meter space introduces Mainland China’s first public library entirely devoted to contemporary art and design, marking a decisive moment in the long-term partnership between Chanel and the Shanghai museum.

Sakamoto’s architectural approach dissolves the boundary between reading and movement. The library is organised along a slow, ascending ramp — a continuous path where shelving merges with structure, creating a fluid landscape that encourages visitors to drift, linger, and explore. More than 10,000 books are now publicly accessible, selected from a 50,000-item collection spanning visual culture, architecture, design, and social thought.

Above the library, PSA inaugurates the Chinese Contemporary Art Documentation Center, a new hub for archival research and collaborative scholarship. Working with artists, curators, and academics, the center frames documentation as a dynamic process: exhibitions, talks, workshops, and publishing initiatives aim to contextualise the evolution of contemporary art practices within China and beyond.

The opening of Espace Gabrielle Chanel is part of a broader transformation of PSA’s third floor. The renewal includes a 300-seat theater designed for film, performance, sound works, and hybrid formats; an expanded hall for the Power Station of Design, advancing the museum’s commitment to design as cultural inquiry; and a new riverside terrace and café, supported by Chanel, offering open views of the Huangpu River.

Espace Gabrielle Chanel acts as a cultural engine — a place where reading becomes spatial, research becomes public, and architecture becomes a frame for encounter. It signals Chanel’s deepening investment in knowledge-making, artistic exchange, and the contemporary cultural life of China.