The World Architecture Festival (WAF) announced the annual candidate list for 2017. The World Architecture Festival Award is the world's largest Architecture Award, known as the "Oscar" in the building design industry. This year, 924 projects from 51 countries competed for the best architecture award. Recently, the organizing committee selected 10 of the most eye-catching buildings in the world from these entries, including the Zhuhai Grand Theater designed by Professor Chen Keshi, which was favored by the judges and attracted extensive attention and recognition.


 
Inside and outside the venue of the World Architecture Festival Award evaluation meeting, judges, experts and architects all over the world have a strong interest in Zhuhai Grand Theater. Professor Chen Keshi, the chief designer of the original architectural scheme of Zhuhai Grand Theater, introduced in detail the design highlights, inspiration sources, the echo of the building to the environment, LED technology and other aspects of the Zhuhai Grand Theater project. There are many technical highlights in the design of Zhuhai Grand Theater. Combined with modern sound, photoelectric and other new technologies, it makes the building beautiful, creates the incomparable artistic charm of the grand theater building, and creates a unique bright "city card" of Zhuhai.
 


Project background

The winning scheme of Zhuhai Grand Theater international competition - "Moon Scallop " lasted eight years and was put into use in early 2017. The project is located in the artificial reclamation area of Yeli Island, Zhuhai. The whole island covers an area of about 420000 square meters. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides and looks at Hong Kong Lantau in the East. The landscape conditions are very superior. The building area of the Grand Theater is about 60000 square meters, with a total investment of about 1.7 billion yuan.

In 2008, Zhuhai held an international bidding, which attracted bids from 33 internationally renowned architects and firms from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland and other countries, including Paul Andrew, who designed the National Grand Theater in Beijing, and Herzog, who designed the famous bird's nest in the capital. Finally, after expert review and public vote, the " Moon Scallop " architectural scheme designed by the China Reconstruct Institute of Architectural & Urban Design, China urban design and research center of Peking University and Shenzhen Branch of Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute has become the bid winning scheme of Zhuhai Grand Theater.

The first famous opera house designed by Chinese Architects

The structure of opera houses is very complex, so it is notoriously difficult to design, and most of China's existing opera houses are designed by foreign architects. So far, Chen Keshi is the first Chinese architect to win the bid in the International opera house Architectural Design Competition. However, it can be predicted that due to the rise of Chinese local architects, Zhuhai Grand Theater will become a rare original classic architecture in contemporary China.

As the chief designer of China Reconstruct Institute of Architectural & Urban Design, Professor Chen Keshi and the design team have completed the planning and design of more than 50 large-scale engineering projects in the past 15 years, including Shuimo town in Wenchuan and Lulang international tourism town in Nyingchi, Tibet. Professor Chen is also the director and doctoral supervisor of China Urban Design Research Center of Peking University.

Aesthetic and romantic scheme conception

"Moon Scallop" scheme stands out from so many excellent architectural firms. The most important factor is the novelty of its scheme creativity. As an emerging city, Zhuhai is usually recognized as a beautiful coastal city in the eyes of tourists, and its cultural attribute is in a long-term fuzzy state. In the context of the long-term lack of urban label, how to highlight the spiritual connotation of the city through a building, how to properly express the regional culture of the city, and create a common building that can stimulate people's inner resonance has become the focus of this design.

In the famous Italian painter Botticelli's masterpiece the birth of Venus, according to ancient Greek mythology and legend, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, stood on the shell and rose from the sea, so the designer thought of the "Moon Scallop" produced at the mouth of the Pearl River. Inspired by the famous painting the birth of Venus, Zhuhai Grand Theater created the image of a pair of giant shells rising from the sea.

"Moon Scallop" perfectly interprets the whole process of design conception. After several rounds of expert review and publicity, "riyuebei" finally stood out, won the first prize and became the bid winning scheme. The letter of acceptance described the scheme as a combination of "regionality, originality and artistry". The jury believes that the scheme "perfectly expresses the cultural characteristics and romantic feelings of this coastal city with an unimaginable design".

Eight years of hard work, just to present the best works

From the initial architectural design scheme bidding to the final project completion, this is a long and bumpy road, spanning eight years. In the process of design and construction, Zhuhai Grand Theater has experienced various difficulties and challenges, such as repeated budget overruns, change of management team, change of construction team, bad weather such as typhoon and rainstorm, humid and salty working environment at the seaside, etc. Finally, the project team overcame many difficulties. Now the finished creation is finally in front of us. What Professor Chen feels is a kind of relief and happiness.

It took 8 years from the initial design proposal of Zhuhai Grand Theater to the construction and decoration, and finally completed. According to the requirements of Zhuhai Municipal People's government and the project developer, in order to ensure the final construction effect of Zhuhai Grand Theater, Professor Chen Keshi, as the original designer of the architectural scheme of the Grand Theater, is responsible for the artistic effect of the Grand Theater and ensure that the final artistic effect of the Grand Theater reaches the expected goal of the scheme. The scheme deepening and construction drawing design are in the charge of Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute.