Located in Tongzhou on the banks of the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Beijing Performing Arts Centre embodies its site’s storied history and its bright future in a subtle poetic expression. Designed to cultivate community while promoting health and well-being, the complex includes three world-class venues, an opera house, a performance theater, and a concert hall, as well as black box and outdoor stages.
The buildings recall Tongzhou’s importance as a commercial shipping and storage hub by referencing the rooflines of the storehouses that formerly lined the canal’s banks and the sails of traditional canal boats. The forms simultaneously evoke a theater curtain parting at the beginning of a performance. A broad plinth, accessed from all directions by splayed steps and ramps, unifies the complex. This elevated platform extends the buildings’ lobbies into the surrounding forested park, setting up the relationship between the interiors, the landscape, and the Grand Canal.
