The Anji Culture and Art Center was designed by MAD Architects and directed by Ma Yansong. Anji, located in Zhejiang Province in southeast China, near Shanghai, is the only county to get the “United Nations Habitat Award” and has been dubbed China’s “bamboo” and “white tea” town. The project is intended to serve as a transitional linking area between the region’s natural and developed habitats, with the city on the east side and the river and mountains in the distance on the west.
The Anji Culture and Art Center is around 149,000 square meters in size, with a total building area of approximately 120,000 square meters. Six venues are stretched out beneath the “bamboo leaves” canopy that surrounds Anji’s green tea farms, including the Grand Theater, Conference Center, Leisure Center, Sports Center, Youth Activity Center, and Art Education Center.
The idea is a permeable meeting area that will be open to the public at all times and in all directions. It is situated on both sides of the visual corridor’s axis to allow the central corridor to be transformed into an open outdoor platform where guests may enjoy framed views of the mountains and sky above.
The building’s volume divides evenly beneath the white tiled roof, whose undulating appearance recalls the form of the neighbouring hill planted with Anji white tea. Throughout the site, multiple courtyards serve as programmatic gaps that blur the lines between interior and outdoor space. A big stage on the project’s west side can be used as an outdoor venue for plays, concerts, and exhibitions.
Anji Culture and Art Center’s crowning achievement is a series of overlapping metal roofs resembling scattered bamboo leaves with ridges that lend aesthetic depth to the stunning scenery. The gaps between them allow natural light to penetrate the inside, and the main facade is very translucent, inviting natural light via its side elevations as well. When completed, the main façade will be China’s tallest self-supporting glass wall at 17 meters.
The Grand Theater and Conference Center have a two-to-three-story interior layout, whereas the other four venues have a first-floor plus a partial second-floor configuration. The Grand Theater’s auditorium can seat 1,300 people, and the Conference Center’s main hall can house 2,000 people for events and gatherings. The project employs roof greening, permeable pavement, recessed green space, and rainwater resource utilization to reduce energy consumption.
The Anji Culture and Art Center is under construction and will open in 2025.
Project Info
Project name: Anji Culture and Art Center
Location: Anji, China
Year: 2023-2025
Site Area: 149,000 sqm
Building Area: 120,000 sqm
Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partners in Charge: Kin Li, Liu Huiying
Design Team: Sun Shouquan, Dong Xue, Li Guangchong, Zhang Xiaomei, Wang Xianbo, Xi Kaiyu, Chen Bohan, Zhao Lilu, Deng Wei, Lin Yijun, Liu Yiqing, Qiao Xuantong, Hao Yue, Zou Dengyu, Jose Maria Urbiola, Wang Zhuyun, Shang Li, Wu Aoqian, Song Chi, Zeng Tianxing
Client: Anji Construction Holding Group
EPC: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Corp., Ltd.
Façade Consultant: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.
Landscape Design (Tea Field + Courtyard): Earthasia (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Young-High Landscape Design Consulting Co., Ltd.
Landscape Design (Site): Wildscape Design Inc.
Acoustic Consultant: ECADI_Acoustic & Theater Specail Design & Research Studio
Interior Design: MAD Architects, Jianfeng Construction Group Co., Ltd.
Theater Technical Consultant, Stage Technology and Conference System Design: Poly (Beijing) Theater Construction Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.
Lighting Consultant (Overall + Theater): Ning Field Lighting Design Corp., Ltd.
Lighting Consultant (Conference + Podium): Shanghai Ruiyi Environmental Design Co., Ltd.
Signage Design: NDC CHINA, Inc., City Code (Shanghai) Architecture Design Co., LTD
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