Location: Xianyang, China.

Architect: Original Design Studio.

The Civic Culture Center of Xianyang is a large complex located in Xi’an Province, designed to provide exhibitions and activities for the local people. The design starts with three crucial points. The first point is to go back to a planning based on human scale instead of a grand measurement representing imperial order. To avoid the alienation caused by the improper huge scale, the entire place is cut into three groups, with the Grand Theater occupying the center and the other two groups placed in North-East and South-West respectively. The public space is articulated following the composition of the three groups, avoiding a central axis that usually happens in imperial architecture. The proper volumes of the nine buildings are studied according to their functions, with an equal height of 24 meters and the length ranging from 36-76 meters. The second point is to generate multivalent space by juxtaposition instead of a subordinated space caused by axial order. The axial order is broken by forming three building groups placed from northeast to southwest, with the buildings lined parallel while linked by a shared public area. The articulation of this public area becomes crucial, which includes a Cultural Corridor and a Cultural Inner Street. The Cultural Corridor is lifted to the height of 12.8 meters, linked to the circular platform, while the Cultural Inner Street is descended to minus 6 meters, connected to the underground film theater and other commercial service. The two meet in the central Grand Theater, creating a public area that goes through the interior and the exterior, the roof and the underground. The third point is to achieve simple multiplicity through an interrelated path network instead of the form of a single building. The Cultural Corridor builds up connections and sharing space for the buildings, formulating multi-layered space such as squares, corridors, and entry halls, as well as providing walking space at the roof terrace. The Cultural Inner Street is a coupling system to the Cultural Corridor, creating rich spatial layers in the interior. The Cultural Inner Street is divided into two parts: above and underground. The former circulates the Grand Theater, extends through the gaps between buildings, and connects the Cultural Corridor. The latter goes to the first floor underground, showing the elevations of the eight buildings in the north and the south. Together, they form a path network.

Photo credit: Zhang Yong and Yao Li.