Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District got a new addition to it’s waterfront. Kowloon is very well known for it’s abundant supply in culture and entertainment, a hub for arts and culture. Therefore the appropriate neighbourhood for an opera house.
The Xiqu Centre was designed by the Canadian studio Revery Architecture in collaboration with the local firm Ronald Lu & Partners. The architects state in their official project description that they built a prestigious new home for traditional Chinese opera, if that wasn’t enough, the seven-storey building also creates a landmark entrance at the gateway to the West Kowloon Cultural District.
It’s facade is covered in slats of untreated aluminium, each cut by a computer numerically controlled machine and arranged in a wavy pattern. The metal panels play around the building like a theatre curtain, giving it a dynamic look as well as the resemblance of surfaces designed for better acoustics. To support the image of a curtain, the patterns are drawn apart to reveal the open and doorless entrances.
Going through one of those entrances, you will step into a circular, stark white, multi-height atrium. It’s design is determined by the impressive ceiling and the circulation paths connecting the levels which enable a free-flow of people around of the space. The shape decorating the ceiling isn’t only there for creative purpose, but it also shows the outlines of the the elevated theatre above. As a contrast to the white interior of the atrium and the rest of the building, the theatre itself is a dark and dimly lit space.
Just like every other modern opera house, every design element has it’s technical purpose as well. Through lifting the theatre 27 metres off the ground, it is isolated from the urban movement and the ambient noise of the surrounding area.
The Xiqu Centre was created to preserve and promote the rich heritage of the eponymously Xiqu-Chinese opera, the primary genre of indigenous Chinese theatre. Next to the elevated theatre for 1.073 guests, the complex includes another 200-seat theatre, as well as studios, rehearsal spaces, educational and administrative areas, lecture rooms, retail spaces and a restaurant.
To respectfully embrace the Chinese culture, Revery Architecture oriented themselves to four guiding principles. Qi, being the first of those principles, means the energy flow and movement. It is represented by the curvilinear paths and forms throughout. Secondly, nature plays an important role. Since outdoor performances are a common feature in Chinese operas, two rooftop gardens were created. To represent the traditional marketplace heritage and thus the third principle, Xiqu Centre houses a public plaza as a gathering space for the visitors. And lastly the complex acts as a gateway or hub. This concept is supported by the doorless design, making the building open and inviting.
For more than a decade, the West Kowloon Cultural District has been in development and it will continue, since the next project is about to be realised with the forthcoming M+ museum.
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Credit: Laura Fantacuzzi / AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA
Visitors had to wade through a sea of biodegradable foam on the upper floor of the former royal waiting room to find their way to the exhibits. This represented the fun and “pleasure” component.
Credit: Laura Fantacuzzi / AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA
Credit: Laura Fantacuzzi / AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA
The ground floor, on the other hand, was turned into a treasure chamber – the “treasure” component of the exhibition. The design highlights were showcased in a darkened hall, positioned on a black pedestal littered with pieces of chocolate gold. That the coins might go missing had already been taken into account by the organizers as visitors were permitted to take coins away as a souvenir.
Credit: Laura Fantacuzzi / AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA
Credit: Laura Fantacuzzi / AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA
The exhibition showcased top-class design products from across Austria – from home accessories to office furniture, and from tableware to lighting. The exhibits themselves were selected by a jury of experts based on criteria such as the degree of innovation, craftsmanship as well as formal, aesthetic and functional qualities. Among the curated exhibits were works by established design greats as well as by up-and-comers. The NEU/ZEUG label, for example, was showcased in Milan for the first time. The label operates at the interface between manufactured and digital porcelain production and was presenting its PEARLS lamp series. The design creations of Lisa Wolf were also presented to the specialist audience in Milan for the first time. Her clay works Ha & Ba is somewhere between art and product design and combines function with sculpture.
Renowned product designer Thomas Feichtner presented the Octagon Chair, which forms a figure of eight made from a total of twelve looped wires that overlap only in the seating surface. The steeped in tradition silverware workshop Wiener Silber Manufactur was founded in 1882 and played an important historical role as partner to some of the most prominent figures of the Wiener Werkstätte. This year it presented the tableware series Landscape, inspired by the decorative arrangements used in the ‘table landscape’ trend of the baroque era.
Lobmeyr designs can be found in large design collections such as the MoMA in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the MAK in Vienna. Marco Dessí and Lobmeyr have developed a new lighting concept with Ritter/The Knight. Starting from a sine curve, Dessí has developed a shape for a single lighting element that can be arranged and re-arranged to create ever new forms and shapes. The Alva shelving system by industrial designer Rainer Mutsch impresses not only with its airy, almost transparent appearance, but also thanks to its outstanding stability.
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