Architecture

Signature curves define Zaha Hadid-designed arts center

Signature curves define Zaha Hadid-designed arts center
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings that are arranged around pedestrian routes that crisscross the site
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings that are arranged around pedestrian routes that crisscross the site
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre was first conceived back in 2011
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre was first conceived back in 2011
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is located in Changsha, China
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is located in Changsha, China
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's design is informed by pedestrian routes that crisscross the site
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's design is informed by pedestrian routes that crisscross the site
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre contains a contemporary art museum, a large theater, and a smaller multipurpose theater
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre contains a contemporary art museum, a large theater, and a smaller multipurpose theater
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's design brings to mind the ZHA's Aliyev Center
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's design brings to mind the ZHA's Aliyev Center
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre overlooks a large lake
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre overlooks a large lake
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings that are arranged around pedestrian routes that crisscross the site
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings that are arranged around pedestrian routes that crisscross the site
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is finished in glass fiber-reinforced concrete
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is finished in glass fiber-reinforced concrete
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's art museum measures 10,000 sq m (roughly 107,600 sq ft) and consists of eight galleries centered around a large skylit atrium
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's art museum measures 10,000 sq m (roughly 107,600 sq ft) and consists of eight galleries centered around a large skylit atrium
View of the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's atrium skylight
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View of the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's atrium skylight
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's interior features similar fluid
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's interior is as fluid as its exterior
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's Grand Theatre seats 1,800 and features a stunning wooden interior
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's Grand Theatre seats 1,800 and features a stunning wooden interior
View of the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's wooden interior
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View of the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's wooden interior
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre comprises three separate buildings
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The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre comprises three separate buildings
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Those familiar with Zaha Hadid Architects' body of work should have no trouble recognizing its late founder's signature style in the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre. First conceived back in 2011, the project is now finally complete and hosting its first exhibit.

The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre is split into three separate buildings that are arranged around pedestrian routes that crisscross the site. With its fluid white glass fiber-reinforced concrete facade contrasting with expansive glazing, the design brings to mind Hadid's brilliant (and controversial) Aliyev Center.

The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's art museum measures 10,000 sq m (roughly 107,600 sq ft) and consists of eight galleries centered around a large skylit atrium
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's art museum measures 10,000 sq m (roughly 107,600 sq ft) and consists of eight galleries centered around a large skylit atrium

The center's three buildings contain a contemporary art museum, a large theater, and a small theater, respectively. The art museum includes eight galleries which are centered around an impressive skylit atrium that can be used to host major installations and events. Elsewhere in the art museum lie community workshops, a lecture theater, a cafe and a store. Its first exhibition is currently ongoing and is by MOTSE, a collective of 40 scientists and artists from Shenzhen.

The large theater, which seats 1,800, has a stunning wooden interior. There are also lobbies, bars, and hospitality suites, as well as the rehearsal studios and other backstage facilities required to run a theater. The smaller secondary theater is a more modest 500-seat multipurpose hall that can be used to host fashion shows and music performances, for example.

The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's Grand Theatre seats 1,800 and features a stunning wooden interior
The Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre's Grand Theatre seats 1,800 and features a stunning wooden interior

2019 has been a big year for Zaha Hadid Architects in China, and in addition to the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre, the firm has completed Beijing's Daxing International Airport and Leeza Soho, plus a new luxury hotel in its Nanjing International Youth Cultural Centre.

Source: Zaha Hadid Architects

View gallery - 15 images
5 comments
5 comments
buzzclick
At first look of the images, I assumed the exterior was poured concrete, like the abominable creations of Brazil's Oscar Neimeyer, where the concrete finish looks terrible in direct sun. But this reinforced concrete is in panels and looks more pleasing. Still, the word restraint doesn't seem to exist in Hadid's vocabulary. There are definitely interesting aspects to this design, but as usual she often goes over the top with superfluous elements. "Form follows function" doesn't readily come to mind. Makes me wonder how this looks up close and personal.
Koolski
That top picture looks like his inspiration was a shark!
spgray
Regarding one of the first two comments... Zaha Hadid is a woman, not a man.

Regarding the other, elegant, refined restraint is written all over Hadid's work. Every curve terminates at just the right point. Every sweeping form arcing to the sky sweeps back down to the ground at just the right instant that it needs to be grounded. I hate to be sexist, (I am a man), but I believe only a woman can create fluid, restrained architecture like this. Frank Gehry has tried, but most of his attempts to do so look like trash heaps Her buildings invite you in and comfort you. They define huge civic volumes that suggest power and strength but provide an intimacy that a box just can't give.

The world is a better place for her presence. Every time I look at one of her buildings, I get a shiver inside and a big smile for having done so. Her work is alive with energy. How I wish she could have lived to finish this remarkable career.
Raghu Venkatesan
Sp gray, no it has nothing to do with being a woman, a man is just as likely to make architecture like this, no need to be sexist
Raghu Venkatesan
Wonderful architecture. I belive all individuals, men and women, have the ability to create architecture like this. Hopefully the younger generation can be inspired by this work and create something even better.