13 Dec 2019
Snøhetta's Xingtai Grand Theater provides a cultural cornerstone in Hebei Province
BY Stu Robarts
Snøhetta have won a competition to create the Xingtai Grand Theater in China with a design that provides indoors and outdoors performance spaces, unites nearby cultural programmes and anchors a new masterplan for the region.
The fast-growing city of Xingtai is one of a number in Hebei Province that is struggling to meet the demands of its development.
The Grand Theater has been conceived as the cultural cornerstone of a new masterplan for the central and southern parts of the province, with the aim of helping to carry them forward, while being grounded in the city's history.
Its aesthetic highlight is a sweeping ceramic façade that pays tribute to Xingtai’s porcelain manufacturing history and fans around a central volume in which a grand circular auditorium is housed.
But the most significant aspect of the design, which extends beyond the prescribed site boundary, is the Grand Circle Promenade ‒ an expansive outdoor plaza that connects the theatre with the nearby science and technology museum and eco-park.
The promenade also provides space for outdoor performances, activities and events and its design, with a reflective pool at its centre, references the city’s historical advancement in well technology.
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