PROJECT REPORT: CULTURAL, CIVIC & FAITH BUILDINGS 35
The library’s rectangular form is bisected by a central courtyard, which also has a functional benefit. Yim explains: “The central slit becomes a demarcation for the east and west wings, each accommodating different functions.” The Youth Palace and cultural centre are divided by a larger central courtyard, with each half of the building curving around it. “It simulates a continuous tear through the centre and divides into two masses aligned along the north-south axis,” says Yim. “It’s designed to be formally and visually integrated, although they are separate functions.”
The performing arts centre has a more “streamlined” design approach, says Kim. It features a wave-like shape at its base, before rising up at the southern end, facing the coast. Appropriately, with it being the overall scheme’s flagship, the building form “terminates as a cliff extending upwards to summarise the whole design concept,” says Yim. He adds that the form “evolves from the architectural language of the other two buildings, subtly manifesting the fluidity and erosion of rock through the curvilinear facade,” while also perhaps providing a correlation with musical performance. “It serves as the visual and programmatic climax of the ensemble, physically and metaphorically soaring to meet the adjacent Qianhai Bay.”
Local inspiration
Connection with the local landscape formed the core of the brief. “The project envisioned the coalition of Chinese landscape and the local urban character,” explains Yim. Chinese landscaped gardens, with their use of water and rock, and their “miniature expression of natural landscape” were an inspiration for the architects.
The site is slender, sandwiched between a commercial area to the west and a natural lagoon to the east. These two contrasting locations proved an inspiration for the designers, who made the complex a “transition between urbanity and nature,” Yim says. They wanted the buildings to sit harmoniously with not only each other, but also the modern city high-rises on one side and the protected green belt on the other. As a result, “The design strives for simplicity in architectural form and unpretentiousness in scale.” The lagoon is a focal point of the cultural district as a whole. “It visually opens the city towards the waterfront,” says Yim. The buildings are aligned down the length of the site, connected via a landscaped deck. This importantly “enhances the connection between the buildings, the relationship between the site and adjacent landscape, and ensures continuity of the development.”
ADF JULY 2022
The performing arts centre has a more “streamlined” design approach, says Kim. It features a wave-like shape at its base, before rising up at the southern end, facing the coast
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