Archinect - News

OPEN Architecture's new performance venue offers us a study in acoustical petrology

2021-12-01T15:04:00-05:00

A fascinating addition to the Chinese cultural program has come online this week with the completion of OPEN Architecture’s Chapel of Sound in Chengde, Hebei Province.

Overlooking the ruins of one of China’s most important historic sites, the Ming Dynasty-era Great Wall, the concert hall is made entirely of concrete and enriched with an admixture of minerally-heavy local rocks, encasing a semi-outdoor amphitheater, viewing platform, green room, and outdoor stage. A striated envelope is formed via a series of staggered cantilevers which rise from the rocks below to create an organic-looking profile its designers say is in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape and sky above.

Inside the building, a slate of winding staircases meanders their way through the structure leading up to the rooftop which offers dynamic views of the valley and the nearby Great Wall.

The building’s form is derived principally from the outsized value the arc...

Dozens of Chinese glass bridges closed amid safety concerns

2019-10-31T16:15:00-04:00

China’s growing obsession with glass bridges may be coming to an abrupt end, after a series of accidents led one province to close down all its glass-bottomed attractions. Hebei, a scenic mountainous province in northern China, has quietly closed all 32 of its glass bridges, walkways and mountain viewing platforms over the past year for safety reasons [...].

Despite being breathtaking engineering marvels, China's fascination with glass-bottom bridges hasn't been without setbacks: in August 2016, the world's highest and longest glass-bottom bridge, the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon glass bridge, opened in central Hunan province — but had to close again for safety inspections after only 13 days in operation.

Other provinces have experienced accidents, some fatal, which led to the decision to close all 32 glass bridges and walkways in Hebei province (including the terrifying 'cracking' East Taiheng Glasswalk) for safety reasons.

Whatever happened to China's futuristic Traffic Elevated Bus?

2016-12-09T13:32:00-05:00

China's once-celebrated Traffic Elevated Bus (TEB) has been left abandoned in the middle of a Hebei city road, not having moved once in over two months. Originally touted as the futuristic solution to urban traffic jams, the "straddling bus" is currently causing them. A local reporter recently checked up on "the future of public transportation" at its testing site in Qinhuangdao, only to find it forgotten in a rusted garage, covered in dust.

"To test its invention, the company actually leased part of a city road in Qinhuangdao. Since the bus now remains exactly where it was abandoned , it continues to block three lanes of traffic, annoying residents to no end."

The 'road-straddling bus' previously in the Archinect news: Public transit boon or boondoggle? China tests out its road-straddling bus