This project serves to establish a landmark international presence in Xifeng Town, Tieling City in Lioaning Province. The three buildings, including a Theater, Natatorium and International Tennis Hall are seamlessly woven together into the landscape along the river’s edge. At the core of the proposal is an integrated network of paths that anchor the buildings both to the ground and to each other. The sculptural formal language serves to simultaneously reflect the mountains beyond and the gracefulness of the flowing river.
The design has equal presence both on the river (north) and street (south) side. While visitors arrive and enter the buildings on the south street side, the river’s edge is seen as an equally desirable landscaped park which extends all the down the river tying the project to the neighboring residential housing. Programmatically, the theater contains a large auditorium for Opera and assembly meetings as well as smaller theaters for watching movies. All theaters are accessed from a large open lobby which is connected to an open public plaza on the streetscape. The back-of-house functions are located to the east which allows for the small campus of buildings to be tied together. The theater building flows into the Natatorium which formally embraces a courtyard on the river side and allows for natural sunlight to penetrate the swimming pool on the top floor. The International Tennis Hall sits at the end of the site and is formally tied to the complex of buildings through the pedestrian walkways both on the north and south and rises up with a gesture of motion and athleticism.
Principals: Michael Fox and Juintow Lin
Design Team: Lang Lor, Emmanuel Gonzalez
Design: 2012
Location: Xifeng Town, Tieling City, China
Status: Schematic Design Complete
