The new building is designed to complete the complex of the "cultural area" of this city. Around a small lake are grouped the city museum (the only one already completed), an art gallery (KSP workshop), a library (Riken Yamamoto's bureau) and a natural science museum; and a new theater will be added to them in autumn 2012.
The structure consists of three volumes, erected on a platform and completed by a common overlap. Each of the volumes contains one of the auditoriums: a concert hall (1200 seats), a multifunctional one (400 seats) and an opera hall (1600 seats). In addition to this, the open platform of the building and its main staircase leading down to the water can also serve as a venue for performances; this space may in the future become the center of the cultural life of Tianjin.
The plan of the Bolshoi Theater has a rounded outline: thus, it echoes the city museum located on the opposite shore of the lake (designed by the architect Shin Takamatsu), which is shaped like a crescent moon (or a swan spreading its wings, as its creators believe).
