Fuzhou’s art centre by PES Architects takes its cues from jasmine blossom
Fuzhou, China, has recently been hailed as one of the fastest growing metropoles in the world, so no surprise that this aspiring urban hub was in need of a world-class cultural and performing arts centre to match. Enter Helsinki and Shanghai based studio PES-Architects, who have just completed a striking complex there; the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre.
The highly expressive, large scale commission is the architecture practice's fourth completed work in China, and takes its inspiration from the Chinese jasmine blossom, the official city flower of Fuzhou. Five ‘petals' host the centre's main functions; a 1600-seat opera house, a 1000-seat concert hall, a multi-functional theatre, and an art exhibition hall and cinema centre.
The fine main buildings – the ‘petals' – are linked together by a central concourse on the ground level, and an accessible roof terrace at the top. Dramatic internal ramps and staircases, an open space at the project's heart, called the Central Jasmine Plaza, and seamless connections to the nearby Minjiang River, make for an ambitious and theatrical experience that is however firmly rooted in its context.
Inside, meticulously composed digital geometries and crafts unite in highly bespoke spaces that use materials, such as customised tiles and solid bamboo wood. The specially made ceramics are in fact a reference to the ‘historical context of the maritime Silk Road trade connection between China and the rest of the world', explain the architects. Highlighting this, Taiwanese ceramic artist Samuel Hsuan-yu Shih was invited to work on the interiors of the two main auditoriums, resulting in a pair of breathtaking halls full of sweeping curves and flowing spaces that are both pleasing to the eye and truly state-of-the-art when it comes to their acoustic properties.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Pes Architects.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Get to know Issey Miyake’s innovative A-POC ABLE line as it arrives in the UK
As A-POC ABLE Issey Miyake launches in London this week, designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae gives Wallpaper* the lowdown on the experimental Issey Miyake offshoot
By Jack Moss Published
-
Eurovision unveils its 2024 stage, designed by Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour creatives
This year's stage design aims to bring the audience into the performance more than ever before.
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Ikea meets Japan in this new pattern-filled collection
New Ikea Sötrönn collection by Japanese artist Hiroko Takahashi brings Japan and Scandinavia together in a pattern-filled, joyful range for the home
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Beijing City Library is an otherworldly escape from the digital world
Beijing City Library by Snøhetta is a flowing, welcoming space to share knowledge and socialise
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house opens as a museum and bookshop in Suzhou
20th-century Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house in Suzhou has opened to the public as a museum, featuring a bookshop designed by Tsing-Tien Making
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Jiaxing’s sunken train station is a hub of urban greenspace and efficient city links
Jiaxing Train Station by MAD Architects is a bubble of urban green space with a blend of reconstructed historical design and modern minimalism
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Junya Ishigami’s Zaishui Art Museum in China was conceived as a ‘gentle giant’
Japanese architect Junya Ishigami completes Zaishui Art Museum, a kilometre-long building positioned in a manmade lake and aiming to ‘bring the outside landscape in’
By Joanna Kawecki Published
-
Sun Tower, rising on Yantai’s waterfront, wins Best Building Site in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024
We take a tour of the building site at Sun Tower, Open Architecture's new nature-inspired cultural attraction for the seaside town of Yantai in China
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Forest Villa transforms an existing building shell into a minimalist villa engulfed in nature
Forest Villa by HAS is a minimalist home in suburban China, crafted in an existing building shell, and working with its idyllic natural context
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Chinese island house brings luxury minimalism to seaside living
L House by AD Architecture is a Chinese island house that bridges luxury minimalism and seaside living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Boatyard Hotel in Suzhou embraces the surrounding landscape
GOA and WJ Studio’s Boatyard Hotel in China takes its design cues from the nearby river
By Hannah Silver Published