A CONCRETE BUILDING AS A LANDMARK IN THE SURROUNDING CONTEXT

Aranya Art Center in Qinhuangdao, China

Neri & Hu Design and Research Office

The Aranya Art Center is a small cultural center, which is part of a valuable tourist complex in Qinhuangdao, a summer resort in China. One of the main design intentions has been the construction of a participatory place; hence, the Aranya Art Center results to be not only an artistic venue but also a functional center for urban activities, as it hides a sort of public square. Indeed, the building has two faces: its exterior displays compactness, while its interior is an almost symbolic space. Its austere building body made up of a dense texture of cement blocks, interrupted only by large, galvanized steel windows with bronze finishing, contains a round-plan, roofless amphitheater on the underground floor, whose vertical development forms an inverted truncated cone, a wide central cavea that can be allocated for several uses: exhibition space, public venue, rainwater reservoir.

 

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