This Saturday January 28th, officially marks the first day of the Year of the Rooster. The Chinese Lunar New Year is also referred to as the Spring Festival and is the most important day of the year in China. Let’s celebrate with some excellent examples of Chinese modern architecture:
The Shanghai Tower:
Designed by Gensler, an American design and architecture firm headquartered in San Francisco, the Shanghai Tower, finished in 2013, is the tallest building in the world from its entry to usable floors. Chinese architect Jun Xia led the design team, and the form of the tower is nine cylindrical buildings that are stacked upon each other, with each encompassing 121 floors.
The National Library of China:
Designed by KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten, the expansion completed in 2007, and spanning 250,0000 square meters, visitors enter the library through a geometrically arranged garden by large steps set between two lower building sections, which then lead to the third story. From here, there is a spectacular view of the entire library and the steel structure that spans the roof.
The National Centre For The Performing Arts:
Architect Paul Andreu built The National Centre For The Performing Arts in Beijing and it was finished in 2007; It is said to resemble a giant egg floating on water, or a water drop. This ellipse shaped structure is made entirely of titanium and glass and is surrounded entirely by water. It is used as an arts center that is home to China’s Opera.
The CCTV Headquarters:
The new CCTV Headquarters(The China Central Television Headquarters), built by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and completed in 2012, is not a usual tower, but is comprised of a loop of six horizontal and vertical sections covering about 5 million square feet of floor space. This creates an irregular grid on the building’s facade with an open center. The building’s construction is considered to be a structural challenge due to the fact it is located in a seismic zone. Inside it is comprised of a revolving restaurant, open-air platform, indoor viewing hall, and a white cloud Hall, each on different floors. Under the tower is home to the Pacific Underwater World, an aquarium with hundreds of marine animals.
The Harbin Opera House:
The Harbin Opera House, completed in 2015, is located in the city of Harbin and was designed by MAD Architects. It is 850,000 square feet and its curved linear facade is covered with aluminum panels. This opera house is a focal point of the Harbin Cultural Island, which MAD won the international open competition for its design. It’s designed to appear as if its sculpted from wind and water, and the structure blends seamlessly within its environment.
