Mecanoo-Longgang Cultural Centre
선진의 동부 룽강 지구에 위치한 문화센터는 상징적인 도시 연결관에 보관된 풍부하고 다양한 문화 프로그램을 제공한다. 인접 도로와 일직선으로 연결된 이 건물들 사이의 통로는 건물 서쪽의 새로운 비지니스 지구에서 동쪽의 공원으로의 접근을 제공한다. 볼륨은 모두 둥근 모서리와 기울어진 정며을 가지고 있어 역동적인 전망을 제공하고 공공 광장을 보호하며 보행자의 흐름을 자연스럽게 안내한다.
Shenzhen has been growing rapidly since being named a ‘special economic zone’ in 1980. High-rise structures have transformed the city’s skyline as its population has grown to over 12 million. Located in the city’s eastern Longgang district, the Cultural Centre contributes a rich and varied cultural programme housed in an iconic urban connector.
Urban Connector. Sitting on a long and narrow 3.8 ha site with strict height restrictions, the building connects the surrounding areas by subdividing the programme into separate volumes. The passages between these buildings, which align with the adjacent roads, provide access from the new business district on the west side of the building to the park on the east.
The volumes all have curved edges and tilting facades, which frame dynamic views, shelter public squares and naturally guide pedestrian flows. The fluid forms also channel air currents and provide protection against the sun and rain in Shenzhen’s subtropical climate. By sharing the same formal language, height, and material, the volumes form a visually cohesive whole without an apparent front or back facade.
Varied cultural programme. The Longgang Cultural Centre has four main programmatic elements: an art museum, a youth centre, a science centre, and a book mall. The science centre focuses on popular science for children and young adults. Next, to it, the youth centre offers a place for meeting and extracurricular activities such as music and sports. The art museum combines public arts on the upper floors with an urban planning centre on the ground floor and in the basement. By locating the entrances to the cultural centres at the covered squares, the various cultural programmes can extend outdoors. The largest of the four volumes contains a “book mall” – a mall exclusively for books and book-related events such as book-signing sessions, book launches, and exhibitions.
Sculptural interior. The in-situ concrete structure was carefully designed to become part of the visitors’ experience; wandering through the building is like viewing a cast concrete sculpture from the inside. The structural facade of each volume integrates beams, columns and massive concrete cores, resulting in a building where everything is revealed. The full-height tilted interior spaces at the edges of the volumes become architectural highlights where the visitor can experience the impressive scale of the construction elements.
Photography by Zhang Chao
from archdaily