MAD Architects has unveiled their design for the Anji Culture and Art Center near Shanghai, China. Set in a region containing a United Nations Habitat Award, the project is envisioned as a “transitional connecting space between the natural and built environments of the region,” including a city, river, and mountains.

Covering an area of 1.6 million square feet with a construction area of 1.3 million square feet, the center is composed of six venues: a Grand Theater, Conference Center, Leisure Center, Sports Center, Youth Activity Center, and Art Education Center. The venues are spread out beneath the center’s “bamboo leaves roof” and are surrounded by the region’s unique green tea fields.

MAD describes the center as a “porous meeting space that will be accessible to the public from all directions and at all times of day.” Arranged along an axis, the center’s central corridor becomes an open outdoor platform framing views of the mountains. Of the six venues, the 1,300-person-capacity Grand Theater and 2,000-person-capacity Conference Center are the most significant, with a two-to-three-story layout, while the other four venues span a first-floor and partial second-floor layout.

The center is distributed beneath a white-tiled roof with an undulating silhouette inspired by the surrounding hills and their Anji white tea fields. A series of courtyards form programmatic gaps between the venues, while on the west side of the site, a large stage is designed as an outdoor venue for performances, concerts, and exhibitions.

“The high point of Anji Culture and Art Center is a series of overlapping metal roofs resembling scattered bamboo leaves with ridges that add visual complexity to the breathtaking landscape,” MAD explains. “The gaps between them allow natural light to enter the interior, while the main facade is highly transparent to additionally invite natural light through its side elevations.”

The main façade is up to 39 feet tall, which MAD claims will be the highest self-supporting glass wall in China when it is completed. Elsewhere, the scheme incorporates green roofs, permeable pavings, recessed green spaces, and rainwater collection to optimize energy use.

The development has begun construction, with completion expected in 2025.