The Wuxi Taihu Theater is designed by the London-based Steve Chilton Architects to resemble a bamboo forest. This structure is situated adjacent to the Lake Taihu in the Jiangsu Province of China. The design of this 2000-seat-theater is inspired by the largest bamboo forest in China, the Bamboo park in Yixing.
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The structure has three primary building elements: its slender white columns, the shade canopy, and the glazed building structure. The tall and slender white columns circulate the perimeter of the building, making visitors feel like they are walking in a bamboo grove. They also form a porous screen between the building and the landscape that surrounds it. The clearings between those ‘bamboo columns’ additionally function as the openings into the building.
The canopy of the theater wraps around the building envelope at the roof level. Keeping with the concept of the bamboo forest, the roof is representative of the intermingled leaves of the forest. Rows of gold-anodized aluminum leaves are arranged in triangular bays. To bring an organic quality to the canopy, the bays are oriented randomly. Furthermore, they are placed at different angles, to increase the sense of variation created when viewed from different places. The light and shade patterns created by the roof, also contribute to the effect. This shaded canopy, along with the columns, reduces the cooling load of the theater.
The building envelope is made of curtain wall glazing as well as rendered and painted blockwork. The glazing covers the full height of the theater, in the entrance lobby, allowing beautiful views into and out of the public space. It has white and gold stripes, spanning the full height of the building. Those stripes add to the effect of the white columns and the leaf canopy, making the structure seem more like the outer edge of a bamboo forest.
At night, the building envelope is lit from below, giving it an ethereal glow. The light bouncing off the white columns and the golden leaves also accentuates this glow and turns the venue into a cultural beacon.
The Wuxi Taihu Theater will open in December 2019 and be home to “House of Dancing Water”, the permanent water show of Belgian theater director, Franco Dragone.
All images courtesy of Steven Chilton Architects.
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