mecanoo completes linear cultural center in shenzhen with curved edges and tilting façades

mecanoo has completed a linear red building in shenzhen that measures 400 meters in length (1,312 feet). the ‘longgang cultural centre’, which broke ground in 2014, is the dutch firm’s first completed project in mainland china. sitting on a long and narrow site with strict height restrictions, the building connects the surrounding areas by subdividing the program into separate volumes. the passages between these structures, which align with the adjacent roads, provide access from the new business district on the west side of the building to the park on the east.

all images © zhang chao

mecanoo has designed the volumes with curved edges and tilting façades, which frame views, shelter public squares, and naturally guide pedestrian flows. the fluid forms also channel air currents and provide protection against the sun and rain in shenzhen’s subtropical climate. ‘by sharing the same formal language, height and material, the volumes form a visually cohesive whole without an apparent front or back façade,’ explain the architects.

offering a varied cultural program, the project contains four main programmatic elements: an art museum, a youth centre, a science centre, and a book mall. the science centre focuses on popular science for children and young adults, while next to it, the youth centre offers a place for meeting and extracurricular activities such as music and sport. the art museum combines public arts on the upper floors with an urban planning centre on the ground floor and in the basement. the largest of the four volumes contains a mall exclusively for books and related events such as signing sessions, launches, and exhibitions.

internally, the in-situ concrete structure has been designed to become part of the visitor experience. the structural façade of each volume integrates beams, columns, and massive concrete cores, resulting in a building where everything is revealed. the full-height tilted interior spaces at the edges of the volumes become architectural highlights where the visitor can experience the scale of the construction elements. see designboom previous coverage of the ‘longgang cultural centre’ here, and find out about other projects in shenzhen on our dedicated page.

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project info:

architect: mecanoo
local architect: CCDI, shenzhen, china
client: longgang government, vanke, and SPDG, shenzhen, china
program: cultural complex of 95,000 m2 with art museum (13,500 m2), science center (10,000 m2), youth center (8,000 m2), retail (7,000 m2) and a book mall including cafés and restaurants (35,000 m2) and 21,500 m2 of underground parking and a new public square totaling 3.8 hectares
building: 400m long, 50m wide, 25m high
design: 2012-2016
realization: 2015-2019