Location: Xi’an, China.

Architect: HALLUCINATE DESIGN OFFICE.

Hallucinate Design Office was chosen through an international bid to design Maike Group’s first bulk commodity trading center in West China. The Midwest Inland Port Financial Town is located in Xi’an International Trade & Logistics Park and covers an area of 326,200 square meters. The design features a combination of a luminous roof and large-gridded digital walls that blur the boundaries between reality and imagination, modern technology and architecture. The interior walls are covered with grids formed by tailor-made extruded aluminum sections of special dimensions melded with LED P60 electronic display units and sealed with a translucent resin coating to soften the brightness of the information display on the grids. The grids with information display have formed a new structure and interior façade. The linear sections are complex enough to hide the display units from our sight and greatly reduce the excessive sound reflection in the lobby, impressing visitors with a vision of the future technology. The DuPont Corian solid surface materials are used for the core structure, seamlessly integrating the whole structure like a single-piece product to offer an exquisite and magnificent impression. In the lecture hall, the ceiling comes in the shape of folded paper to reduce sound reflections and avoid excessive light onto the presentation screen. The seats arranged in a tilted and asymmetrical way echo the irregular shapes of the ceiling and enable a convenient entry and exit for the users. The completed design features a perfect combination of the luminous roof and the large-gridded digital walls that blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination, modern technology and the architecture itself, creating a surreal ambience for visitors to visualize future possibilities and technological advancements.