The China Philharmonic Concert Hall designed by MAD Architects is about to begin construction by the end of the year, aiming to be completed in 2019. Following Eastern philosophy, the building wants to reformulate the concert hall design and introduce a space within the busy city that enhances interaction of people, nature, and music.
The China Philharmonic Orchestra has revealed the MAD Architects’ design for the new China Philharmonic Concert Hall. This project has been designed in collaboration with Yasuhi Toyota - renowned acoustic expert - and it will be the orchestra’s first permanent residency. The philharmonic orchestra’s goal is to create a state-of-the-art concert hall that will serve as a cultural exchange and China’s new locus for classical music.

The orchestra’s current president is Li Nan, and its artistic director/chief conductor is Yu Long. The project was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television of the People’s Republic of China considers it a high-priority national project. Located at the south side of the Workers Stadium East Gate in Beijing’s Central Business District, the concert hall covers a site of 11,600 sqm, and has a total floor area of 26,587 sqm.

Ma Yansong envisions the concert hall as a hidden gem and a peaceful cultural escape from the city. “We wanted to create a pure and sacred oasis in the midst of the bustling city,” says Ma Yansong, founder & principal partner of MAD Architects. “From the moment you enter the building, you will be taken to another time and space.” To ensure the design also meets the highest standards for classical music performances, the acoustic design was developed by Yasuhisa Toyota, whom has designed world-class concert venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Philharmonie de Paris, and the Suntory Hall in Japan.

The building is surrounded by a lotus pond and lush greenery. The translucent façade gently emerges from the landscape like a piece of jade. While walking past the building, people will be attracted to its soft glow. Once inside the lobby, audience members will feel like they are entering an installation of light and space. Daylight is diffused through the translucent white curtain wall into the lucid space.
 
“Audiences will experience a transition from an urban setting to one of music and nature, preparing them for a journey of self-discovery,” says Ma Yansong.

The 1,600-seat main concert hall is laid out in a vineyard style, with the seating surrounding the stage; rising up in serried rows in the manner of the sloping terraces. Its wooden lakes organically surround the stage while the white sound reflection petals on the ceiling are designed to resemble the segments of a lotus flower. The natural light coming from above will make audience members feel as if they are in the center of a blooming flower. Lighting and visualizations can be projected onto the white petals and choreographed to match the musical performances. MAD has created an abstracted space that allows the audiences to escape from the city and retreat into various sceneries.

Adjacent to the lotus pond on the south side of the building is a 400-seat rehearsal and chamber music hall. The interior is made of curved wooden walls designed for an optimal musical experience. The adjustable sound reflection panel behind the stage can be raised to bring natural light and views of the landscape into the space.

The building also includes a professional recording studio, a library, a collection gallery, offices, rehearsal rooms, and other auxiliary function spaces.
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Architects
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MAD Architects. Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
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Design Team
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Kin Li, Liu Huiying, Fu Xiaoyi, Brecht Van Acker, Zeng Hao, Li Guangchong, Jacob Hu, Xiao Ying, Dora Lam, Zhao Wei, Shen Chen, Dmitry Seregin, Zhu Jinglu, Yukan Yanagawa, Wang Deyuan, Hiroki Fujino, Zheng Fang, Sear Nee.
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Client
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China Philharmonic Orchestra
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Interior Design
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MAD Architects
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Collaborators
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Acoustic.- Nagata Acoustics // Construction engineering.- Radio Film & Television Design & Research Institute (DRFT) // Interior technical architect.- Beijing Honggao Interior Design Co., Ltd.
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Consulting
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Structures consulting.- China Construction International (Shenzhen) Design Consultant Co., Ltd.
Facade consulting.- RFR Asia
Illumination consulting.- SIGN Lighting
Landscaping.- Palm Design Co., Ltd.
Traffic installations planning.- Beijing Homedale Institute of Urban Planning & Architectural Design
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Height
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24 m
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Surface
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11,600 sqm
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Year
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2019
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MAD Office, Beijing, China. MAD is a Beijing-based architecture design office dedicated to creating innovative projects. The firm combines a sophisticated design philosophy with advanced technology in addressing and furthering issues in contemporary architecture and urbanity.

The firm has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2006 Architectural League of New York's Young Architects Forum Award.

MAD's ongoing projects include the international competition-winning Absolute Tower in Toronto, Canada; The Tianjin Sinosteel International Plaza, a 320M tall tower in Tianjin, China; the Mongolian Museum in Inner Mongolia, China, and a private villa in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The firm has also won numerous international design competitions, including the 2006 Absolute Tower Competition in Toronto; the 2005 Solar Plaza Competition in Guangzhou, China, and the 2004 Shanghai National Software Outsourcing Base.

MAD's work has been published worldwide, and the office has also presented its designs in a series of exhibitions. In 2006, MAD was shown at the ‘MAD in China' exhibition in Venice during the Architecture Biennial, and the ‘MAD Under Construction' exhibition at the Tokyo Gallery in Beijing. In March of 2007, MAD will be shown at ‘MAD.exe' an exhibition at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano and Qun Dand.

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Beijing-born architect Ma Yansong is recognized as an important voice in a new generation of architects. Since the founding of MAD in 2004, his works in architecture and art have been widely published and exhibited. He graduated from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture. Ma attended Yale University after receiving the American Institute of Architects Scholarship for Advanced Architecture Research in 2001 and holds a masters degree in Architecture from Yale. He has since taught architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Ma Yansong was awarded the 2006 Architecture League Young Architects Award. In 2008 he was selected as one of the twenty most influential Young Architects today by ICON magazine and Fast Company named him one of the ten most creative people in architecture in 2009. In 2010 he became the first architect from China to receive a RIBA fellowship.

“I work with emotion and with the context. When I design a building, I close my eyes and feel as if I saw a virtual world which lays half way between the city, the nature and the land. It goes from large scale to small scale. Many things travel in front of my eyes; I feel them and try to find the way to express my feelings. The language I use is the least important of it all. It does not matter whether they are straight lines, curves... I only intend for people to feel the same or to find something unexpected” says Ma Yansong. “MAD is an attitude, a posture towards architecture, towards society. Through our work we want people to be inspired by a place through local nature, time and space”, he states.

Photo © Daniel J.Allen

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Published on: November 4, 2016
Cite: "The China Philharmonic Orchestra by MAD Architects, a translucent design" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/china-philharmonic-orchestra-mad-architects-a-translucent-design> ISSN 1139-6415
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