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MAD Architects' new China Philharmonic Concert Hall project nears completion in Beijing

2023-06-13T13:47:00-04:00

MAD Architects has shared an update on its nearly-complete China Philharmonic Concert Hall in Beijing.

The project encompasses almost 280,000 square feet of total building area and features an organic two-story volume sheathed in a translucent membrane-like facade the firm says is reminiscent of a piece of jade, a gemstone that has, for millennia, played a significant role in Chinese ethnography.

Photo by CreatAR

Located next to the 64-year-old Workers’ Stadium Complex, the 1,600-seat venue includes a 350-seat rehearsal space and was developed alongside world-renowned acoustics expert Yasuhisa Toyota to serve as the new home of the equally well-regarded China Philharmonic Orchestra.

Rendering courtesy MAD Architects

Nestled in its interior, a sloping “vineyard style” serried seating arrangement defines the concert space that also takes advantage of the influx of natural light provided by the structure’s unique façade system.

Photo by Zhengdong Li

Concertgoers can take in their performa...

Plans revealed for the new China Philharmonic Hall designed by MAD Architects

2016-10-18T14:03:00-04:00

The China Philharmonic Orchestra has revealed designs by MAD Architects for a new concert hall in Beijing. The 26,587 square meter concert hall will contain 1,600 seats laid out on a series of “terraces”. Developed with acclaimed acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, who also worked on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the China Philharmonic Hall will serve as the first permanent residency of the the China Philharmonic Orchestra, considered one of the world’s finest symphony orchestras.

The press release describes the designs with heavily organicist language:

"The 1,600-seat main concert hall is laid out in a vineyard style, with the seating surrounding the stage; rising up in serried rows in the manner of the sloping terraces. Its wooden lakes organically surround the stage while the white sound reflection petals on the ceiling are designed to resemble the segments of a lotus flower. The natural light coming from above will make audience members feel as if they are in the center of...