Music to a Design Geek's Ears: The Eyepopping Design of Beijing's Forthcoming China Philharmonic Hall
Anyone that's said classical music is stiff, stuffy and inaccessible, has not seen the design for Beijing's China Philharmonic Hall.
The newly announced forthcoming venue, conceived by Beijing architectural firm MAD, will sit nearby to Workers' Stadium and be covered in a nearly transparent rippling facade resembling jade but also has the added benefit of allowing natural glowing light to flow in. Its main concert hall will house pedal-shaped acoustic panels and wooden seating pods encircling and rising up around the stage, the latter feature apparently inspired by a vineyard.
Construction is slated to start by the end of 2016, with an end goal of 2019. The venue will be 26,587-square-meters and its concert hall will be able to seat 1,600 attendees on the first floor, while a 400 seat rehearsal hall will be on the second floor.
On October 18, MAD founder Ma Yansong told Dezeen "We wanted to create a pure and sacred oasis in the midst of the bustling city ... From the moment you enter the building, you will be taken to another time and space."
This is by no means MAD's first foray into fine arts; the architectural firm also designed an Opera House in Harbin last year, a group of skyscrapers modeled after storied Chinese paintings in Beijing's Chaoyang Park, a Parisian housing block with curvy floors, and a museum of Star Wars director George Lucas' memorabilia in Chicago.
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What's more, Forbes recently reported that Ma hoped to "reinvent" Los Angeles housing with his first US project: a 4,463-square-meter, 18-meter-high 8600 Wilshire that sports a central courtyard, trees and plants, all inspired by Beijing's high end hutong homes. Ma told Forbes that "The courtyard is a space for community, and we have other open spaces like the kitchen, dining and living room facing each other so residents can say hello to their neighbors from their balconies. Here, privacy is so important, but I think in Beverly Hills especially, people need to talk to one another.”
Thankfully, Ma not only has his innovative eye trained on foreign skylines, but also on Beijing's. Judging by the photos, and Ma's enthusiastic comments, the China Philharmonic Hall will also pop along the horizon as much as his prior heralded structures.
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