7 Sensational Modern Theaters in China.

Recently, I found an article to be very interesting as it looks into six very good-looking contemporary opera houses in China. Hence, I would like to share the article here below:

Pure Architectural Theater: 6 Sensational Chinese Opera Houses.

As China’s presence on the global economic stage has steadily risen over the past couple decades, so too has its desire to match its outsize economic influence with equally robust cultural institutions. Despite being one of the world’s biggest economies and a producer of the vast majority of consumer goods, China has been less recognized for its cultural output including the performing arts, theater and opera than for its booming population and rapidly expanding cities. But as China continues to grow its economic stature, inhabitants and cities for the near future, it also needs to provide the cultural space for these forces to express themselves.

The opera house is one architectural intervention for a city, state or culture to manifest its values and ambitions and in doing so proclaim a degree of cultivation and artistic cachet. In Western Europe, the opera house emerged in the 17th century, often financed by noblemen and wealthy merchants looking to solidify their cultural hegemony. This began to change in the 19th century, as opera houses became more democratic spaces financed by public institutions.

While this rich history is absent in China, we can see similar impulses behind the following collection of contemporary opera houses. These spanking new facilities provide spaces not only for opera, but a number of performing arts enjoyed by the public. Furthermore, they are a physical manifestation of the powerful forces of the country’s economy, the untapped cultural potential of the public, and the architectural destination-making pioneered by Gehry’s Bilbao. These Chinese opera houses reinterpret this enduring cultural institution for a new era and are tailored to a region witnessing dramatic physical, social and material transformations.

Dalian International Conference Center by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Dalian, China

The multifaceted, scaled aluminum façade on this Northern Chinese port city’s opera house contains within it a conference space for 2,500, a smaller 1,400-person theater and flexible exhibition spaces. The billowing and sinuous forms of the building pierced by unexpected angles are typical of Coop Himmelb(l)au’s Deconstructivist approach to architecture and well-suited to this changing typology.

Guangzhou Opera House by Zaha Hadid Architects, Guangzhou, China

Zaha Hadid’s similarly dramatic Guangzhou opera house is one of the most well-known realizations of China’s drive to jumpstart its urban cultural development. Set in one of the country’s largest megacities along the Pearl River, the building features two smoothed spatial “pebbles” clad in triangular granite and glass panels supported by a webbed steel frame that leaps into intrepid forms.

Harbin Opera House by MAD, Harbin, China

Occupying a gigantic site of almost 450 acres along the Songhua River, this three-petaled opera house, cultural center and public outdoor space is composed of ascending curvilinear forms that seem to sprout from the wetland landscape and warmly envelop patrons from the elements. The white aluminum cladding of the exterior mirrors the harsh winter climate, while the seemingly hand-sculpted Manchurian ash of the auditorium provides a cozy counterpart.

Wuxi Grand Theatre by PES-Architects, Wuxi, China

A series of structural steel roof wings overhang the cubic volumes of this multipurpose opera house and feature LED-lit undersides of perforated metal. The terraced pavilions of the entrance and outdoor spaces are illuminated by decorative columns that continue into the lobby to become structural supports. The design incorporates elements of traditional temples and the crystalline forms inspired by Finnish geography.

Grand Theater Tianjin by gmp – von Gerkan, Marg, and Partners Architects, Tianjin, China

The semicircular roofline of this theater extends from a stone public plaza and opens up towards the head of the adjacent lake. The three volumes of the building are sheltered by this cantilevered form that fans out like a traditional bandshell and exposes the functional spaces towards the outdoors.

Bayuquan Theater by Shanghai Dushe Architectural Design DSD, Bayuquan, Yingkou, China

This smaller-scale opera house was designed with traditional Chinese theater in mind, and the bent thatches of the aluminum façade recall the billowing fabrics in the classic performances. The building is organized like a traditional theater, but can also be rotated and shifted according to programmatic needs.

The article above came from this original source (including the images):

http://architizer.com/blog/chinese-opera-houses/.

However, I think the author of that article must have left out the…

National Centre for the Performing Arts by Paul Andreu, Beijing, China.

It is nicknamed ‘Giant Egg’ due to its form. The centre, an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake. This is another amazing opera house in China that is deserving to be in that list too.

(Image by Vaughan Jordan)

(Image by SilverKris)

Who says abandoned containers can’t be made of good use? Those can be transformed into a house!

That’s innovation and creativity. That’s thinking out of the box. I was referring to brilliant ideas by those people making a house from abandoned shipping containers. Not only that they managed to create a habitable space inside, they also surprisingly make the space much cooler, and eventually putting the idea noticeable and compliment-able in architecture field.

It’s also a sustainable approach of using containers and also recyclable materials to complete the house. The outcome would be more industrialized-looking but once you put in some modern touch to it or whatever style you prefer, then the result would be cool and distinctive. Here are some very good-looking Container House I would like to share with you.

1. A container house in Redondo Beach, California. Well, this is one big and luxurious house. Who says containers couldn’t be turned into a double-volume habitable space? This one comes with pool too. Interesting facade treatment. And the most interesting element is that the living room’s glass wall that can be entirely opened upward to expand the space and also to provide additional shelter to the area.

2. A container house in Savannah, Georgia. You will not feel good for its exterior. But once you get inside, you will be surprised. A very huge contrast between its exterior and interior. You would never expect how modern this humble interior of the container house turned out to be.

3. A container house named Six Oax in Santa Cruz mountains, California. What’s cool of this house is the attention to details and also impressive facade treatment to make the container’s appearance looks new and fantastic.

4. A container house in San Jose Costa Rica. A small house made from only a small budget ($40 000) and the outcome is incredible and unbelievable. A very nice concept of bringing inside out and vice versa, openness, and making full advantage of natural lighting and ventilation. But the only concern here is security and safety.

Wonderful right? I believe there are plenty more interesting container houses like the ones shown above out there. But I guess not a single one in Malaysia yet. We still stick to the normal mindset; the poor targets to buy a terrace house or condominium, the middle-income group targets to buy apartment, double-storey or semi-D, while the rich goes for bungalow. Well, it should be time for innovation and creativity. The idea of container house can be enjoyed by people of all class. It’s now just a matter of daring to try or not. Hmm…now I’m imagining further whether I can have a huge container house that can be also transportable. Then, I can move my house anywhere I like.

(Information and images in this post are from the following source: http://justsomething.co/shipping-containers/#2t090a50n3s.18927.fa)

 

Galaxy Soho: Breathtaking design but does not responds to site.

Galaxy Soho is a huge complex comprising of retail, office and entertainment spaces under four domed structures, which are fused together by bridges and platforms around a series of public courtyards and a large central “canyon”. The massive 330 000 square metre complex is opened last month in Beijing, China and is designed by Zaha Hadid. She had designed many impressive masterpiece like Bergisel Ski Jump (Austria), BMW Central Building (Germany), Bridge Pavilion (Spain), Guangzhou Opera House (China), London Aquatics Centre (UK), Riverside Museum (UK), etc which cemented her position as one of the world’s most famous architects in the present.

Galaxy Soho’s design is quite fascinating. It has the futuristic look, and its fluidity is very much apparent on its form and circulation. Things are smooth and soft, which stays away from her usual fascination with sharp corners or forms. From what I can see from the images, I believe visitors would have the impression of walking into another much advanced world, which is actually only a few steps away from the Beijing’s ‘hutongs’, narrow alleyways of the densely populated surrounding traditional neighbourhoods.  ‘Hutongs’ have been typical of Beijing’s urban fabric for hundreds of years, but have been in decline as the city’s development continues to increase.

The architect claims that the buildings respond to and are respectful of China’s historic building typologies, with courtyards and “fluid movement” between spaces. “The design responds to the varied contextual relationships and dynamic conditions of Beijing,” said Hadid at the time of the opening. “We have created a variety of public spaces that directly engage with the city, reinterpreting the traditional urban fabric and contemporary living patterns into a seamless urban landscape inspired by nature.” What a fantastic description provided by Zaha Hadid.

Well, I have to agree that architect has to be very good on his or her English proficiency to describe things in a much beautiful way to impress the clients. But be reminded, what you are saying should truly conveys the clarity of design intent and the honesty of outcome, No bullshitting. And so, I would like to say sorry to Zaha Hadid that what she said are all just fantasy in her mind. The building is now criticized for lack of acknowledging the surrounding context or built environment.  It would be nice if it is placed in the modern part of the city. But now, it’s at the historical heritage areas which makes the state-of-the-art complex looks awkward.

She had the idea, quite a brilliant one. But she had been driven too much in contemporary approach until forgetting the roots, to a level that people outside of architecture profession will find it hard or even impossible to get it. This is what left people guessing now on how that massive complex relates or corresponds to the site. And yes, that is one very important aspect in design process for every architects that Zaha didn’t pull through for this building. A lesson to learn for all architects including myself. Nevertheless, Galaxy Soho is still an awesome-looking structure. 

(Information and images in this post are from the following source: http://www.dezeen.com/2012/11/15/galaxy-soho-by-zaha-hadid-architects-photographed-by-hufton-crow/)

Top 10 Best Cities for Modern Architecture

Today, I found an article entitled ‘Top 10 Best Cities for Modern Architecture’ from a website that caught my attention. The article shared out the best ten cities in modern architecture according to the author. The author is unknown for that particular article which was published last year under ‘Vacation Homes’ website. I find it quite interesting to read and so I wish to share it (the link) in my blog here too. Eventhough I am not fully agreeable to that list, but the author also did have his or her fair opinion or analysis. Here is the article : http://www.vacationhomes.net/blog/2012/05/29/top-10-best-cities-for-modern-architecture/

If I am to add three more cities into the list, I would pick Singapore, Guangzhou and Beijing (All from Asia). Notable structures in Singapore that would help to push the city into the list would be the Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, Reflections at Keppel Bay, The Pinnacle, etc. While for Guangzhou, the city had been undergoing tremendous transformation due to the impact from Asian Games 2010 with addition of impressive structures like Canton Tower, Guangzhou Opera House, Guangdong Museum, Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou International Finance Centre, etc. Similar case applied to Beijing, the capital of China (from Beijing 2008 Olympic Games) with construction of many outstanding buildings like Beijing National Stadium, CCTV Headquarters, National Performing Arts Center, etc. These cities should be having a lot of inspiring contemporary architecture to be able to get into this particular list. What’s your other pick?

My capital, Kuala Lumpur would not make it to the list, or even near to it. Expected. There are not much distinguished architecture masterpiece you can see in Malaysia. But still as a consolation prize, Kuala Lumpur had been home to several astonishing designs like Petronas Twin Towers, Troika Tower, and several others less famous. In heritage architecture categories, many historical buildings in KL had been demolished. Perhaps, most now can still be found at Penang and Malacca, but those are not really that great-looking.

Insight: Reflections at Keppel Bay

‘Reflections at Keppel Bay’ is actually the name to a residential complex in Keppel Bay, Singapore. Last year when I was in a short trip to Singapore, I had a glimpse of the project which is still under construction at the time, viewed far from an observatory tower in Sentosa Island. At the time, I already find the design to be very interesting and unique. Yesterday when I was in Popular bookstore, I saw an article from an architectural magazine highlighting this residential project, and that reminds me that I have seen it before last year, but just didn’t go and search more about it. The project was completed on December last year.

Reflections at Keppel Bay is a two-million-square-foot residential development comprised of 6 high-rise towers ranging from 24 and 41 stories and 11 low-rise villa apart­ment blocks of 6–8 floors– a total of 1,129 units. It is designed by Daniel Libeskind, a very famous international architect, while this project is his largest residential project in Asia.  The distinctive form and reflective appearance of the project caught my attention, and I believe it has now become not only an icon of Keppel Bay, but also a prominent and visually-captivating landmark to the beautiful city of Singapore. Here below is an excerpt from the brief of this project from Daniel Libeskind’s website.

The series of high-rise undulating towers is the focal point of this project. These sleek curving forms of alternating heights create graceful openings and gaps between the structures allowing all to have commanding views of the waterfront, Sentosa, the golf course and Mount Faber.

The design is composed of two distinct typologies of housing; the lower Villa blocks along the water front and the high-rise towers which over look them set just behind.  The artful composition of ever shifting building orientations, along with the differing building typologies, creates an airy, light-filled grouping of short and tall structures. These ever shifting forms create an experience where each level feels unique as it is not in alignment with either the floor above or below. No two alike residences are experienced next to one another or seen from the same perspective; the result of this design is a fundamental shift in living in a high-rise where individuality and difference is not sacrificed. 

The project was completed in December 2011 and is the  recipient of the BCA Green Mark Gold Award  from Singapore’s building and construction authority.

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The main website of this housing project: http://www.reflectionsatkeppelbay.com.sg/home.asp. There is a section in the website that shows the interview with Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind this awesome design who explained a bit on his design ideas and some of his thoughts on Singapore. (Here’s the link to that section: http://www.reflectionsatkeppelbay.com.sg/TA_IC.asp). Daniel Libeskind is one of my favourite architects, and this is really a cool contemporary design from him.

I would love to live in residential highrise buildings like this one. It’s simply amazing in terms of its marvelous design which is so catchy and appealing despite the towers are not very tall. I think it would be very expensive to buy a unit from this project. Only the rich could enjoy such lovely residences. This is by far one of my most favourite residential buildings in the world in terms of architecture. Daniel Libeskind did a great job, and he had produced another masterpiece, this time in Asia! Why not you come to Malaysia and design one also?

(Images from this post are from the forum thread of this project on skyscrapercity.com…well this website of forums is a very useful resource on looking for amazing up-to-date pictures of buildings around the world, especially skyscrapers)

Movie review: The Viral Factor (2012)

‘The Viral Factor’ (逆戰) is the first 2012 released films that I have watched. It is so coincident that for this year and last year, the first film I watched for that respective year would have Jay Chou starring in it. I remember last year’s first film I watched is The Green Hornet, an English film, while ‘The Viral Factor’ for this year is a Chinese film.

I am very sure that most of us especially the Malaysians would go for ‘The Viral Factor’ because of the Asian superstar Jay Chou’s presence in the film, and also that the film is shoot mainly in Kuala Lumpur, my home city. I go for the similar reasons. The story revolves on two main characters, a cop (Jay Chou) and a criminal (Nicholas Tse) finding themselves as brothers and gets attached together once they are both involved into a crime of mutated virus production for wealth by the baddies.

The story looks quite interesting, but the main idea of the virus production is not carried well throughout the film. It is now appears only to be a supporting idea to the whole story, not the main one as suggested from the title of the film itself. The main portion of the film is dedicated mostly to those gun-firing, explosions, punching and fighting scenes, which makes the film one of the best contemporary action-thriller film from Hong Kong. However, I find those elements are too much, way too excessive, which just gives not much excitement to us anymore after for a while.

It seems that the director, Dante Lam loved those gun-firing and explosions acts a lot, until to the point that I find it is really too much and unnecessary, that finally dragged the movie to a total length of over 2 hours! This film would be best if it tooks around 1 hour and 30 minutes or a bit more only. Luckily, the story still goes in a fast-paced development and it’s good. The performance by the main casts are generally well and acceptable, and special credit to Nicholas Tse that performed very good in the film. I like his stunts and acts from the film, which is so interesting and exciting to watch. For Jay Chou, he is obviously improving but still not really good enough. (sorry for Jay Chou’s fans…I’m just saying the truth)

Yeah, it’s nice seeing the movie that most of it took place at famous places in Kuala Lumpur that me and many others can recognize; Putrajaya, Port Klang, Pavilion KL, Golden Triangle, KLCC skyline, KLIA, KL Sentral, KTM Headquarters Building, and an old abandoned building in Pudu. It is a bit over that in one particular scene, they keep on showing the exterior of the flight showing Air Asia and Malaysia flag where Jay Chou is in the plane flying to Kuala Lumpur. However, do you actually need to show us the visual of Petronas Twin Towers so many times just to let us know that the story took place in the city?! That is too much as well. There is actually no need for that; the audiences already know the place (even non-Malaysians knew that already after the name of the city is written earlier in the film).

Luckily, the movie is not just about action-packed scenes. For that aspects, it is no doubt that ‘The Viral Factor’ is one of the best. There are some other aspects added, those that touched on emotional values; like the family relationship which started and ended the film very well. The two brothers (Jay Chou and Nicholas Tse), whom are the highlight of the film had their own moments and stunts, which are distributed quite evenly too. The family story further strengthened the actions by the two brothers. It is just that the virus aspect of the film needs more depth by further elaborating on the potential of the newly-produced virus and its consequences. That can be quite an interesting approach, but the director definitely put it aside and just brings his guns and bombs out for massive explosive moments only. And the sound effect is edited to be very much exaggerated in many parts, especially from those explosive and fighting scenes, until to the point that I find it irritating to my ears in some moments.

So, overall, the film is brilliant in contemporary action-thriller aspect, but too heavy emphasis on that would neglect some other aspects, especially the virus element that brought up the title of the film. So, it’s good in one side, but not really that well on the other side. There are many languages spoken in the film too (Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay, English), since the casts are not all from a single country, promoting international participation to the film with support from Malaysian authority. But overall, this movie is definitely worth-watching, exciting with ample of explosive scenes with a beautiful backdrop of KL streets and skylines. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Viral Factor’ a total of 7.5. Another long movie review from me.

(This post is written days earlier and would/is be posted during Chinese New Year week to deal with the emptiness of update over my blog for this whole week long when I was not around, enjoying my trip over at India)

Best Cities in Modern and Contemporary Architecture

I found a topic from ArchDaily, world most visited architectural website entitled ‘Best Cities for Design and Modern Architecture’ which is pretty similar to what I am going to discuss about in this post. There are seven cities listed from the website (http://www.archdaily.com/62542/best-cities-for-design-and-modern-architecture/) and I can’t argue about that, but I wish to add three more cities on the list to make up for a top 10 list.

The seven cities listed from ArchDaily is:

1. Chicago, United States of America

2. Berlin, Germany

3. Sydney, Australia

4. New York, United States of America

5. Barcelona, Spain

6. Copenhagen, Denmark

7. Toronto, Canada

Three more cities added to the list based on my opinion:

8. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

9. Beijing, China

10. Singapore

Hmm…I think some cities deserved to be mentioned too…like London and Tokyo, both cities are filled with many interesting modern architecture too, but just not as appealing as those mentioned above. My home city, Kuala Lumpur definitely don’t deserve a spot here. There is almost like no interesting architecture here at all….I would surely love to go to these cities listed above and get overwhelmed and inspired by the contemporary architecture there.

(The pictures from the post are not mine and are obtained from the internet)