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large plains, small grains, and the in-between:
BAU686 Longgang Arts Centre, Shenzhen

Longgang District, Shenzhen, China

Discipline

Architecture

Typology

Culture

City

Longgang District, Shenzhen, China

Date

2020

Status

Second Place Invited Competition

Client

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd

Program

1600-seat Grand Theater, 600-seat Small Theater, 300-seat Black-box Theater, Art Exhibition Center, Art Education Center, etc.

Located in the Longgang District of Shenzhen, the project provides a range of visual and performing arts facilities and a high-quality cultural landmark for the fast-growing Banxuegang Technology City. The programs comprise a grand theatre, small theatre, black box theatre, major digital art gallery, traditional art gallery, art school, function centre, art supplies, food and beverage and retail support spaces.

The design seeks to provide a cultural venue that welcomes the public to stay to enjoy the outdoor exhibitions, activities, and performances, or to relax and explore the wide variety of public garden spaces situated on three levels. The design provides each major program with an independent identity within the larger arts complex. By accommodating the primary programs in individual buildings, a village assemblage emerges: a virtual arts campus or city of art.

Inspired by the lively alleys of Shenzhen’s urban villages, the urban strategy creates a highly permeable small grain urban environment. It allows the public to walk into and across the art centre between the blocks, allowing people to explore and discover what is on offer, especially those passing through from the metro to other destinations.

A culture plaza is located at the centre of the arts village, defining the centre of the site and providing opportunity for outdoor performance events. A black box theatre adjacent to the culture plaza has an operable façade, allowing performances and events to flow inside and out.

The performing arts programs are situated on ground level with loading utilizing the site slope to slip underground. These buildings are clad in stone, a traditional material for a traditional art form. Windows take the form of billowing curtains, a pop-art signifier of the activities within.

The visual arts gallery distinguishes itself at the top of the art complex and become a highlight of the entire district. Its horizontal form provides uninterrupted, flexible exhibition facilities. The continuous elevated volume of the art gallery creates a surprising in-between space: a weather protected sculpture garden on the network of rooftops below. The sculpture garden virtually extends the Golden Hill landscape into the arts centre and smoothly connects to it via a bridge. The rooftop of the art gallery is a sky garden providing a third public outdoor space, an extensive plain of potential, suitable for large scale artworks and events. The elevated building will house the region’s largest digital art gallery. It heroically expresses modernity with long engineering spans and white glass cladding with embedded LED lighting. The building will be a horizontal beacon as it showcases dynamic works in this new art medium.