Another high-profile international firm is getting a chance to leave its mark on one of China’s most popular tourist destinations as Heatherwick Studio has been selected by the Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group to design a new performing arts center for the island province of Hainan.
Located in the capital city of Haikou, the center will bring together an opera house, theater, and concert hall into one sweeping canopy to form an “open-air village.”
Partner Eliot Postma says the center will be “an extension of the city [that] will contribute to life on the street throughout the day.”
Featuring a suite of educational spaces, performance, and rehearsal areas, the venue has a total capacity of 3,800 and will serve as the centerpiece of the Jiangdong urban area’s cultural quarter.
The project represents Heatherwick Studio’s first foray into opera house design after previously being chosen as the co-designers of a doomed Lincoln Center revamp in 2015. Postma says the design inspiration takes from the surrounding volcanic landscape and costuming traditions of the Hainanese opera in a way that “blends the formality of performance with the informality of island culture, making opera more accessible and offering everyone a space to meet whether you have a ticket or not.”
Construction will begin sometime before the end of the year. Archinect will share more project updates as soon as they are made available.
100,000 € Prize / Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2025
Register by Thu, Oct 30, 2025
Submit by Thu, Nov 20, 2025
MICROHOME Kingspan 2024/25
Register by Thu, Feb 13, 2025
Submit by Tue, Mar 18, 2025
Re:Form – New Life for Old Spaces
Register by Wed, Jan 22, 2025
Submit by Tue, Sep 2, 2025
250,000 € Prize / HOUSE OF THE FUTURE 2024/25
Register by Wed, Apr 30, 2025
Submit by Mon, Jun 2, 2025
2 Comments
Our inspiration came from the volcanic landscape and the costumes, colours and movement of Hainanese opera.
Why design a performing arts center that looks like a volcano?
And it does look like a volcano.
Why cover a volcano with shapes and colors that resemble the costumes?
. . . the canopy shelters a mix of different spaces that form an open-air village, of which the halls are a part.
Why suggest a village inside a volcano? Why not make the center look like a village, using genuine reference to place and culture?
The associations confound and disrupt. Once more, Heatherwick sounds the artificial, throwing stuff against a wall to see what sticks without creating a meaningful or coherent expression. I do like the colors and patterns, however.
Last question, here and elsewhere: Why doesn't China promote its own architects, Wa Shan for example, who do have sense of place and culture? For all its construction, China has added almost nothing to the architectural discussion on its own, which one would think is a worthwhile goal for a country trying to preserve its identity and establish itself in the world.
Someone stop Heatherwick...