嘉德艺术中心，坐落于北京王府井大街一号，与故宫为邻，位于北京最著名的王府井商业街和新文化运动发源地五四大街的交界处，融商业和文化为一体，于2017年10月投入运营。
56000平方米的空间，集艺术会展、拍卖、教育、书店、艺术品保管库、酒店等功能为一体。整座建筑兼备灵活性与多功能性，大楼一层为无柱空间的专业展厅，地下一层的两大多功能厅能满足展览、拍卖及宴会等多用途的需求，连同二层展厅，形成丰富的艺术中心整体空间形态。
嘉德艺术中心的设计理念从当代视野去融汇历史和传统，由世界知名的德国建筑师奥雷·舍人（Ole Scheeren）担纲设计。建筑上层的四方体为璞瑄酒店，漂浮的、大尺度的玻璃外型，呼应附近的北京胡同和四合院纹理。大楼底部的圆孔 “像素” 巧妙地投映出举世闻名的中国山水画《富春山居图》。
嘉德艺术中心在展览类型、题材和形式上始终保持开放性、丰富性和包容性，同时秉持专业性、艺术性与公共性相结合的理念，坚持对公共价值的把握。依托独特的地理位置、空间形态、功能定位、文化景观、行业积淀，嘉德艺术中心将持续致力于构建高品质的艺术品交流平台，深度参与和见证中国文化艺术品市场的蓬勃发展。
Guardian Art Center is located at No.1 Wangfujing Street, the intersection of Beijing’s most well-known commercial district Wangfujing Street and Wusi Avenue – the cradle of the New Culture Movement. It neighbors the Forbidden City and commenced operation in October 2017.
The 56,000-square meters space incorporates functions such as art fair & exhibition, auction, education, bookstore and hotel. The building allows for maximum flexibility and versatility: the long-span, columnfree space on the ground floor functions as a professional exhibition hall while the two major multifunction halls in the basement cater to multiple uses from exhibition and auction to banquet. Besides, the exhibition hall on the second floor adds more diversity to this dynamic arts center.
Helmed by world-renowned German architect Ole Scheeren, the Guardian Art Center’s design principles adopt a contemporary perspective to incorporate and iterate history and tradition. The cube on the top of the structure is the PuXuan Hotel and Spa. The floating and revealing glass exterior gives a nod to the grid-like layout of hutong alleys and their constitutive siheyuan quadrangle courtyards that are signatures of Beijing. The circular “pixel” at the bottom of the building is an ingenious projection of the world-famous Chinese landscape painting Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.
The Guardian Art Center has always upheld an attitude of open-mindedness, variety and inclusiveness in the type, theme and format of its exhibitions while upholding a principle that fuses professionalism, artistry and public qualities, and insists on attention to public value. Thanks to its unique geographical location, spatial form, functional positioning, cultural landscape and industry experience, the Guardian Art Center will continue to dedicate efforts to building a high-quality artwork exchange platform, partake extensively and witness the robust advancement of the Chinese culture and artwork market.
