stufish's han show theater in wuhan conceived as a red paper lantern

stufish’s han show theater in wuhan is conceived as a red paper lantern
all images courtesy of stufish entertainment architects

london-based practice stufish entertainment architects has completed a performance-specific theater in the chinese city of wuhan. built to house italian director franco dragone‘s ‘the han show’, the venue’s design is based on the traditional chinese lantern, lending the building a distinctive red façade. consequently, the traditional bamboo superstructure of a paper lantern is reinterpreted, with eight intersecting tubular steel rings suspended in orbit around the theater’s fly tower.

located on donghu lake, the scheme is the western anchor of the ‘wuhan central cultural district’

the glowing effect is enabled by a circular array of red LEDs that illuminate the dimpled, concave surface. the light across each disk is split into four zones that are each individually addressable. the resultant system can also host a video image of approximately 600 x 120 pixels across its surface. the profile of the podium below is generated by offsetting the bottom edge of the lantern’s intersecting ring geometry, evoking the curving profile of traditional chinese roof forms.

the venue’s design is based on the traditional chinese lantern, lending the building a distinctive red façade

the interior features 2,000 movable auditorium seats that allow the theater to change shape and configuration during the show. though the audience begins in the traditional setup, eventually the lower 1,000 seats swing open to the left and right, and the top 1,000 seats descend to the main level, revealing a 10 meter deep performance pool.

the profile of the podium is generated by offsetting the edge of the lantern’s intersecting ring geometry

located on donghu lake, the scheme is the western anchor of the ‘wuhan central cultural district’ – a city-wide program designed to provide waterway connections between wuhan’s six lakes. the region includes offices, residential facilities, cultural buildings and a host of shopping malls along a two kilometer site.

stairs and escalators connect the projects interior

glazed roof canopy

2,000 movable auditorium seats allow the theater to change shape and configuration

the region includes offices, residential facilities, cultural buildings and a host of shopping malls

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project info:

architects: stufish entertainment architects
theatre consultant: theatre projects consultants
acoustics consultant: jaffe holden acoustics
local design institute: guangzhou pearl river foreign investment architectural designing institute co. ltd.