The Yiwu Grand Theater in China’s Zhejiang province is designed to look like a boat floating on the river, reminiscent of Chinese junks that used to transport goods across the waters.
Layered glass “sails” provide transparency and lightness while also acting as a protective canopy around the building. The Yiwu Grand Theater will encompass a 1,600-seat grand theater, a 1,200-seat medium theater, and an international conference center with a capacity of 2,000 people.
See Also: Gensler, Corgan reveal their design concepts for Uber Air Skyports
The theater uses a passive solar design. The semi-transparent glass curtain wall was developed as a shading system and also as a way to optimize the use of natural light within the indoor public spaces. This forms a solar greenhouse effect in the winter while in the summer it serves as a ventilation system to enhance airflow circulation inside and outside of the building.
Vehicular transportation will be able to enter from the south shore while a series of tree-lined foot bridges from the north allow people to walk along the water and enjoy views of the theater and the surrounding city. An open plaza and an amphitheater extend into the water on the southern edge and landscaped terraces provide elevated views of the surroundings.
Construction is expected to begin in 2020.
Related Stories
| Apr 26, 2013
Documentary shows 'starchitects' competing for museum project
"The Competition," a new documentary produced by Angel Borrego Cuberto of Madrid, focuses on the efforts of five 'starchitects' to capture the design contract for the new National Museum of Art of Andorra: a small country in the Pyrenees between Spain and France.
| Apr 24, 2013
Los Angeles may add cool roofs to its building code
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants cool roofs added to the city’s building code. He is also asking the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to create incentives that make it financially attractive for homeowners to install cool roofs.
| Apr 23, 2013
Architects to MoMA: Don't destroy Williams/Tsien project
Richard Meier, Thom Mayne, Steven Holl, Hugh Hardy and Robert A.M. Stern are among the prominent architects who on Monday called for the Museum of Modern Art to reconsider its decision to demolish the former home of the American Folk Art Museum.
| Apr 19, 2013
Must see: Shell of gutted church on stilts, 40 feet off the ground
Construction crews are going to extremes to save the ornate brick façade of the Provo (Utah) Tabernacle temple, which was ravaged by a fire in December 2010.
| Apr 17, 2013
First look: Renzo Piano's glass-domed motion pictures museum
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last week released preliminary plans for its $300 million Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences museum in Los Angeles, designed by Renzo Piano and local architect Zoltan Pali.
| Apr 16, 2013
5 projects that profited from insulated metal panels
From an orchid-shaped visitor center to California’s largest public works project, each of these projects benefited from IMP technology.
| Apr 12, 2013
Nation's first 'food forest' planned in Seattle
Seattle's Beacon Food Forest project is transforming a seven-acre lot in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood into a self-sustaining, edible public park.
| Apr 12, 2013
Chicago rail conversion puts local twist on High Line strategy
Plans are moving forward to convert an unused, century-old Chicago rail artery to a 2.7 mile, 13 acre recreational facility and transit corridor.
| Apr 11, 2013
George W. Bush Presidential Center achieves LEED Platinum certification
The George W. Bush Presidential Center announced today it has earned Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The Bush Center is the first presidential library to achieve LEED Platinum certification under New Construction.
