The initiative for a museum especially designed for this relatively recent art form brings the opportunity to create a platform which will unite the worlds of art and entertainment. By using one of the cartoon’s prime characteristics – the speech balloon here represented in 3D – the building will instantly be recognized as a place for cartoons, comics, and animations. The 30.000 square meters are distributed over eight volumes which are interconnected allowing for a circular tour of the entire program. Some services such as the lobby, education, three theaters/cinemas, and a comic book library occupy each their own balloon. If two balloons touch in the interior a large opening allows access and views in-between the volumes.

The museum is part of a larger intervention of 13,7 hectares on several islands of White Horse Lake in Hangzhou, where other facilities like fair grounds, a park, and a large square will host the CICAF (China International Comic and Animation Festival). As the central piece of the complex, the new museum will offer year-round entertainment. Focussing towards energy efficiency, the building will contain natural ventilation and adiabatic cooling.