Nanhai, a district well known for its rich culture, history, and an air of reform, demarcates the heart of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the geographic centre of the Pearl River Integration. In a thriving pocket of Foshan City, Guangdong, a parametric wave is set to emerge, surprisingly, not on, but by the lake. Beijing-based MAD Architects unveils the design for the Nanhai Art Centre in Foshan City, sweeping a total site area of 59,445 square metres. Encapsulating three major functions, the Grand Theatre, the Museum, and the Sports Centre, the project aspires to offer a new public getaway to the citizens of Guangzhou and Foshan—reimagining the waterfront and interweaving social, creative, and natural attributes.

Positioned in the Nanhai Cultural District, the new development will partake in the fabric of a crucial urban site that links the cities of Guangzhou and Foshan in China. Speaking about the culture and collective identity of the district, Ma Yansong, founding partner of MAD, mentions in the official release, "The traditional culture of Nanhai, is in the drum beat and boat drift during the dragon festival boat race and in the kung-fu in the lion dance. Watching them, you can feel the dynamic, vibrant and innovative spirit from ancient times till today. We want to bring it back to modern living here.”

Founded by Chinese architect Yansong in 2004, MAD Architects is known for its experimental, often futuristic architecture projects. Through an oeuvre that encapsulates urban planning, municipal buildings, museums, theatres, concert halls, housing, as well as art and design, the practice reiterates a commitment to technologically advanced designs. The studio’s vision for the city of the future takes into due consideration the spiritual and emotional needs of people—striking a balance between the city, the environment and humans. The Eastern propensity to nature and its contemporary interpretation, characteristic of many of MAD’s ventures, is evident in their newly unveiled concept for Nanhai Art Centre as well. The organic shell of the mixed-use architecture, rather avant-garde at first glance, is almost an artificial emulation of the ripples that dance on the surface of the adjacent lake.

The undulating chassis of the Nanhai Art Centre is evocative of a continuous wave of water—three main buildings perched underneath the floating canopy. The semi-outdoor seamlessly blends the central landscape of the lake with the programs—ushering the local communities to engage and immerse themselves in the waterfront landscape. "The local culture of Southern Guangdong is always about the gathering of people. To keep the same lifestyle, it has to be contributed by contemporary cultural venues,” Yansong explains. “The design of the Nanhai Art Centre wants to provide the maximum grey space for such activities. It is also inspired by the large eaves of the traditional architecture of Lingnan (ancient broader Guangdong area)," he adds.

With a coherent visual axis leading to the lake, the organic architecture intends to build a spiritual field; an array of programs, interspersed strategically, flanks the central axis. The total floor area of the Grand Theater and the Museum is about 89,269 square metres on one side of the central axis. The Grand Theater encompasses a 1,500-seat amphitheatre and a 600-seat multi-purpose hall catering to diverse performances and conferences; the museum design, on the other hand, aims to be at par with national-level museums upon completion. On the other side of the site, the Sports Centre spans a gross floor area of about 32,006 square metres, including swimming pools, basketball courts, badminton courts, and other types of sports spaces and facilities.

The permeable facades of the sinuous building envelope invite nature to flow through the site and back to the city. The two-story landscape platform protrudes outward and links the central lake, riverfront park and urban space—pursuing harmony between nature and architecture. Commercial spaces are dotted along the lake while cultural spaces are interspersed on the site. The second-floor viewing platforms and outdoor patios bridge the three primary functions together; the commercial architecture and F&B spaces below complete the visitor experiences and circulation. The top of the platform functions as a pedestrian space approaching the cultural spaces entrances.

Notwithstanding the design language the art centre conforms to, sustainability and green carbon reduction are duly considered in the design concept—integrated into the fabric in a way that it guides the narrative of building technology and innovation. Under the ETFE membrane structure roof, the Nanhai Arts Centre employs energy-saving and environmentally conscious technologies, including photovoltaic power generation, rainwater collection, and vertical greening systems.

Emerging on the lakefront as a giant, continuous ripple, almost as if mimicking the shimmering water surface, the Nanhai Arts Centre is an initiative striving to foster interaction—between nature, architecture and people, and amongst the people. Actuating, yet again, a vision of architecture that defies conventions, MAD Architects put humans and the environment in the centre of design—imagining a city, with its public spaces, immersed in culture. Construction of the Nanhai Arts Centre is scheduled to begin in 2024 and to be completed in 2029.

Project Details

Name: Nanhai Art Center
Location: Foshan, China
Site Area: Approx. 59,455 sqm
Building Area: Approx. 121,275 sqm
Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partners in Charge: Kin Li, Liu Huiying
Design Team: Li Cunhao, Zhang Ying, Yoshio Fukumori, Rozita Kashirtseva, Hao Ming, Orion Campos, Zhang Lipei, Gao Chang, Zeng Tianxing, Li Yuchen, Ma Ran, Hemant Jindal, Jiang Yunyao, Zhou Rui, Ma Yiran, Zhang Tong, Peng Wanjing
Client: Foshan Nanhai Youwei Baiyue Culture Co.
Executive Architects: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.
Landscape Consultant: Earthasia (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Lighting Consultant: Ning Field Lighting Design Corp., Ltd.
Stage Craft Consultant: China Institute of Arts Science & Technology