Tianjin Grand Theater in China (gmp FOCUS) - Tapa dura

The architects behind the new cultural park, Tianjin Grand Theater, offer an insight into their design process. A new culture park has been created in recent years in the Chinese harbour city of Tianjin. The Tianjin Grand Theater occupies a key position on this site, entering into a dialogue with its architectural surroundings. The circular form of the roof construction relates to that of the Natural History Museum there in such a way that it creates a connection between the earthbound museum and the seemingly floating theatre building. In this volume, the architects responsible illuminate the Grand Theater by means of texts and images, and show how syntheses can be created between western and eastern traditions in a highly modern building. The architecture critic Jurgen Tietz discusses the building in a detailed critique. Text in English and German.

The Tianjin Grand Theater occupies a key position in the new Tianjin Culture Park. The circular form of the roof construction corresponds to that of the existing Natural History Museum, creating an architectural dialog between the earthbound museum and the seemingly floating roof construction. The qualities of the elements Earth (Natural History Museum) and Air (Grand Theater) reflect a fundamental theme in Chinese philosophy. The three event venues in the theater are conceived as freestanding volumes on a stone platform. Outside staircases lead from the waterside to the raised entrance level, forming a stage for urban life from which one can look out over the lake and the Culture Park.