If in Shenzhen, founded only in 1980 as the "socialist" twin of the then British Hong Kong, now there are more than 12 million people, in one of its Longgang area - almost two million. A new cultural center with a total area of almost 100 thousand m2 is intended for them.
As conceived by the architects Mecanoo, who won the competition for its design back in 2011, this 400-meter low (25 m) and relatively narrow (50 m) structure is located on a ribbon-like section between the park and the business center. The zoning rules defined its unusual shape, but instead of being a barrier between the two parts of the city, the building provides their connection. Four volumes (each with its own function) are separated by passages that circulate not only pedestrians (they are arranged along the line of existing streets), but also air currents, form areas protected from the sun and rain, which is important in a subtropical climate. Streamlined curvilinear volumes frame spectacular views of the city, and the same solution of the facades allowed them to be made "main".
Concrete walls are open to the interior "inside out", so visitors are as if inside a cast concrete sculpture, the authors say.
The program includes a center for popular science for children and youth (10,000 m2), a youth center for communication, sports, concerts (8,000 m2), an art museum (13,500 m2), where an urban development center is opened on the ground floor and in the basement … The largest volume with additional "gates" in the middle is occupied by a book trade center with cafes and restaurants (35,000 m2). The complex also includes 7,000 m2 of other shops and 21,500 m2 of underground garage. With an area of 3.8 hectares, a significant part of it is occupied by public space.
