Chongqing, China
Tanghua Architects, appointed by the Chongqing Lvdao New District Management Committee, have created one of the most important public service complexes in the area; Bishan Art, and Cultural Center.
The project was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The County Annals of Bishan in the Qing dynasty recorded that: In the past, the mountains on four sides are likened as Bi (circular jade artifact).
The mountains were also said to yield white stones that resemble jade. Therefore, it is named Bi Shan (Bi/Jade Mountain).
The design of the Bishan Cultural and Art Center recreates that ancient image of Bishan with architectural language, whilst its formal relations are a kind of reflection of its environment.
The team hoped this public project would provide a place rather than just another building.
In the original site, three hills stood opposite to each other, with a valley in-between.
The relationship between hills and the valley had inspired the design, which seeks to respond to the natural context with appropriate emptiness.
The building mass is cut into three volumes based on the site topography. Spaces generated from the cut form important public spaces for circulation and public events.
That public space also enables the landscape in the western part of the site to flow in. The formal logic of subtraction has the consequence of demarcating the boundary between the sites’ interior and exterior.
The exterior building envelope is made of curtain walls with horizontal grey aluminum shadings, in order to dampen the east-west facing solar intake.
Aesthetically, this exterior envelope is made to be simple, clean, and modern.
On the other hand, the interior envelopes are organized by ice-crack patterns and are made of multiple materials alternated between glass, metal panels, and aluminum mesh.
The crystal quality of this interior has then illuminated the central void as a public space.
The architects separate the Cultural and Art Center into three parts: main space, auxiliary space, and circulation space.
All these spaces are organized around a public platform based on the original terrain.
The theater is in the east part of the building, while the conference center, cultural center, and other functions are located in the west.
Visitors may enter different venues from the platform, while service rooms are located beneath the platform that connects all architectural volumes.
Project: Bishan Art and Cultural Center
Architects: Shenzhen Tanghua Architect & Associates Co., Ltd.
Client: Chongqing Lvdao New District Management Committee
General Contractor: Chongqing Jinfeng Construction (Group) Co., Ltd.
Photographers: Arch-Exist
