ASIA
Major entertainment venues open in China
TWO large-scale leisure venues have opened in Wuhan, China, with UK-based architectural firm, Stufish Entertainment Architects, helping to redefine the city’s skyline with a mixture of traditional and ultra-modern elements. December 20 marked the opening of two new entertainment buildings – The Han Show Theatre and The Wanda Movie Park – in Wuhan, China. The buildings were designed by Stufish Entertainment Architects, the London- based firm, for development company Dalian Wanda Group. Stufish was founded by the late Mark Fisher, the mastermind architect
behind some of the most seminal entertainment stages in history, including sets for Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Tina Turner, U2, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, among others. Fisher and his team at Stufish began creating the Han Show Theatre and
the Wanda Movie Park in 2010, envisioning the innovative technology and thoughtful design. However, he passed away in 2013 – a year and a half before the projects’ completion. As such, the Han Show Theatre and the Wuhan Movie Theme were left to Stufish studio to carry out to fruition. Both the Han Show Theatre and
the Wanda Movie Park buildings have been designed around ground- breaking technology and will be cultural focal points in the Hubei Province, the east-central region of China, in which Wuhan is located. The new facilities form part of
the Wuhan Central Cultural District development – the first stage of a city-wide waterway
programme connections offices, residential, to between
Wuhan’s six lakes. The Cultural District includes a programme of
cultural
buildings and shopping malls along a 2km canal-side site. To the west, The Han Show Theatre overlooks Donghu Lake, while Wuhan Movie Theme Park overlooks Shahu Lake to the east.
20 InterPark January–February 2015 provide
Han Show Theatre
The Han Show Theatre is a purpose-built facility for Franco Dragone’s ‘Han Show.’ Dragone is an internationally renowned art and design virtuoso and one of the core members behind the creation of Cirque de Soleil entertainment productions. Designed by Stufish, the façade of the building – nicknamed ‘The Red
Lantern’ – is covered in 18,000 red aluminium LED discs to resemble the ancient, symbolic bi discs from the Han Dynasty. The theatre itself is a transformable auditorium with 2,000 moveable seats and it was designed to have the world’s largest moveable LED screens. Designed for over 200 staff and 100 performers, the theatre also includes
a nearly 9m deep pool with a series of wet/dry lifts, which are covered in perforated acrobatic flooring for stunts. Scuba support staff remain underwater throughout the duration of the show to assist performers and move scenery from below.
Wanda Movie Park
The $690m Wanda Movie Park
entirely indoor theme park and the only venue of
is the world’s first its
kind with stacked dynamic attractions over multiple storeys. Nicknamed ‘The Golden Bells,’ the building features more than 10,000 geometric aluminium panels, with its design being based on the 2,000-year-old local symbol of the bronze musical bells, called Bianzhong of the Marquis Yi of Zeng. The façade of Wanda Movie Park is lit in its entirety by linear LED
channels that are fastened behind the golden aluminium panels in every 100mm gap of the 700m tall building. With a capacity of 26,000 people, the indoor theme park includes six
multi-sensory rides, featuring 3D visuals, seat movement, wind, water, smell and live performances. “The brief was to provide a building large enough to house six major
theme park attractions, immersive restaurants, fast-food outlets, guest facilities and Hollywood-themed retail opportunities,” Stufish said.
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