Harbin Opera House by MAD Architects, was designed in response to the location’s natural elements of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate
When it comes to build something visually striking and unique for the architectural community to observe as well as for the public audience, then we find MAD architects, along with very few others, comes on the top of the list ! The Chines based firm designs always keep their usual fluid movement language intact, by creating dynamic forms and
incorporating sleek lines and soft curves to showcase a beautiful flowing appearance. Here, the case is Harbin Opera House, where the enchantingly fluid curves span the interior of the building and resemble a breathtaking structure that has been formed by the natural forces of Harbin Cultural Island.
The opera house was designed in response to the location’s natural elements of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate, “We envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural center of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature,” said Ma Yansong, founding principal, MAD Architects.
Beijing studio MAD has completed an opera house in the Chinese city of Harbin, featuring an undulating form that wraps two concert halls and a huge public plaza.
The Harbin Opera House is the first and largest building that MAD has designed as part of Harbin Cultural Island, a major new arts complex among the wetlands of the Songhua River.
The 79,000-square-metre building features a three-petalled plan. One houses a grand theatre with space for up to 1,600 visitors, while the other is a more intimate performance space for an audience of 400.
The exterior curvilinear façade is composed of smooth white aluminum panels, as a mirror of the sinuous curves of the marsh landscape. The smooth exterior sculptural quality continues with the interiors cladding, where a large entrance lobby features a combination of glass and timber and a latticed ceiling that is located beneath the sculptural glass roof.
These contrast with the rooftops, where a textured surface of ice-inspired glass pyramids allows light in from above.
According to MAD, the building is designed "in response to the force and spirit of the northern city's untamed wilderness and frigid climate".
MAD has designed several cultural buildings, Curved surfaces are a recurring theme through them all, picking up Ma's ambition for a new style of architecture, referencing the landscapes of traditional Chinese paintings. "We envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural center of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature," said studio founder Ma Yansong.
The smooth surfaces of the opera house's exterior continue inside, where a large entrance lobby features arched windows and a latticed ceiling that is located beneath the sculptural glass roof.
At one end, a large block of Manchurian Ash wood encloses the grand theatre, with balconies and staircases wrapping around the outside. MAD describes is as "emulating a wooden block that has been gently eroded away".
The second theatre offers more of a connection to the exterior, as its backdrop is a soundproof glass wall. Its walls look more like a pair of weatherbeaten stone cliffs.
Harbin Opera House graphic files
The huge public plaza forms the third petal of the plan, and can be used as a venue for outdoor activities and performances.
Harbin Opera House Ground floor plan:
Harbin Opera House First floor plan:
Harbin Opera House Roof plan:
Harbin Opera House Long section one :
Harbin Opera House Long section tow :
Harbin Opera House Gross section :
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