NATIONAL GRAND THEATRE, BEIJING
Paul Andreu, France
Already nicknamed the duck egg , Beijing s new glass and titanium National Grand Theatre, designed by Paul Andreu, is due for completion later this year. Located next to Tiananmen Square, it comprises a 2 416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall, a 1,040-capacity theatre and its own moat.
GE PLASTICS SHOWROOM, SHANGHAI
Marc& Chantal Design, Hong Kong
General Electric Plastic s 4,000sq-ft Shanghai showroom is nothing short of fluid. In the silicon gallery, the designers have created a wall that has the substance oozing out from it, just like sealant squeezed from a tube.
GOLD FIELD INTERNATIONAL CLUB, BEIJING
PAL Design Consultants, Hong Kong
The trendy clubhouse at Goldfield International Gardens, a large luxury residential development beside Beijing s China World Trade Centre, picked up an honourable mention at last year s Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards for its smooth, sweeping curves and modern/retro style.
THE RED CAPITAL CLUB, BEIJING
Lawrence Brahm, PRC
Housed in a hutong or courtyard home, the Red Capital Club has been painstakingly renovated and restored by American lawyer Laurence Brahm. The restaurant building dates from the 18th Century Qianlong period and Brahm has sought to keep as close to the original as possible; furnishings, however, hark back to the time of Mao.
FULL MOON TOWER, TIANJIN
TIR Systems, Canada
At 52 meters, the Full Moon Tower is a beacon at the heart of Galaxy Park Civic Centre, designed to light up as part of Tianjin s series of improvements for the forthcoming Olympic Games. Clad in clear glass fins , the tower s internal, spiraling stairs are cantilevered off the central tower core, providing great views from the ground to the top.
OLYMPIC STADIUM, BEIJING
Herzog and de Meuron, Switzerland
The bird s-nest like Olympic Stadium is already one of the enduring icons of the 2008 Games. Designed by Herzog and de Meuron, who were also responsible for London s Tate Modern Museum, it stands at a height of 67 m and holds around 80,000 people. The structural elements in iron and steel converge into a supportive grid just like the interwoven twigs of a bird s nest.
BEIJING NATIONAL SWIMMING CENTRE, BEIJING
PTW, Australia
Beijing s 2008 Olympic Games has helped spur some truly revolutionary designs, notably the National Swimming Centre. Nicknamed the watercube , it s made from a lightweight Teflon, designed to mirror the appearance of thousands of rising bubbles, so spectators will feel like they re in the eater as well.
COMMUNE BY THE GREAT WALL, BEIJING
Soho China, PRC
In 2001, husband and wife developer team Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi commissioned 12 Asian architects (including Hong Kong s Gary Chang of Edge Design Institute) to create Commune by the Great Wall. The avant garde outcome, a collection of individual holiday homes, has set the standard for residential design in the capital.
TIANLUN INTERNATIONAL HOTEL GUANGZHOU
AB Concept, Hong Kong
Receiving the highest accolade at the Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards, Tianlun International Hotel is totally at home in one of the fastest growing cities in China. Diverse materials used on fixtures, (everything from copper columns to back-lit aluminium panels), interact harmoniously but at the same time grab attention.
SOHO SHANGDU, BEIJING
Lab Architecture, Australia
Soho Shang Du is a 1.8 million sq-ft mixed-use development, located in downtown Beijing. Comprising some 450 shops and 270 offices, it will also include two 30-storey buildings and a five-storey vertical shopping street when completed in 2007. The three towers, with faceted surfaces, make for a distinctive urban marker, mirroring the parametric geometry found on traditional Chinese screens.
GOLDEN OSCAR JINJUE VILLA SHANGHAIPoint Architects, Hong Kong
In designing this dramatic minimalist showflat, Point experimented with space by creating distinct but interlocking areas, linked through either colour or materials. Making best use of a double volume space at the central living area, Point kept it open-plan to dissolve boundaries.
SHOW HOME, SHANGHAI
DWP/CL3 Architects, Hong Kong
A modern interpretation of the traditional courtyard house, this show home is all about balancing yin and yang. The exterior is a match for the interior and each furnishing symbolizes a different aspect of nature (water, wood, clouds) to create a feeling of harmony.
GRAND HYATT, JIN MAO TOWER, SHANGHAI
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, USA
Touted as the highest hotel in the world, The Grand Hyatt, Shanghai offers more than just stunning 360 views from Cloud9, its uber-chic bar on the 87th floor, Turn your gaze inwards and marvel at the dizzying, spiraling void which rises up over 33 floors.
BEIJING INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT S TERMINAL THREE
Foster and Partners, UK
Another Olympic driven project, coming in at US$2 billion, Beijing Capital International Airport s Terminal Three is designed to reflect the poetry of flight, as well as being evocative of traditional Chinese colours and symbols.
M ON THE BUND, SHANGHAI
Hackworth and little, Hong Kong
Five on the Bund is of course home to one of Shanghai s premier restaurants and celebrity haut, M on the Bund. Serving up the same sophisticated ambience as sister restaurant M on the Fringe, Hong Kong, with a glorious river view terrace, it attracts the likes of Richard Branson, Gong Li, Darryl Hannah and Ralph Fiennes.
VIDAL SASSOON ACADEMY, SHANGHAI
KPlusK, Hong Kong
Located in the heart of Xintiandi (the old French concession) in a restored 1930s gate house, is the Vidal Sassoon Hair Academy. Designers KPlusK s stunningly futuristic interior is made up of mouded, movable walls and flooded with light from sky-lit barrel vaults.
THREE ON THE BUND, SHANGHAI
Michael Graves, UK
Three on the Bund is an integrated project comprising four unique restaurants, including Jean Georges, plus two fashion stores, an Evian Spa, the Shanghai Gallery of Art and a music lounge, Transformed by one of the world s most celebrated architects, Michael Graves, the interiors are art deco in style, with a modern twist.
HOMAGE HILL SHENZHEN
1+Partnership, Hong Kong
This show home impressed the UK s Andrew martin Award judges, gaining Hong Kong s 1+Partnership a place on its list of the world s 52 leading designers. The four bedroom apartment layers and repeats traditional Chinese motifs for hi-octane visual impact.
CCTV HEADQUARTERS, BEIJING
Rem Koolhaas, Holland
Designed by Pritzker Prize winner Rem Koolhaas, the new CCTV headquarters will be among the first of 300towers to be constructed in Beijing s new central business district.
Comprising what looks like two inverted L-shaped towers, the building is actually made up of a continuous loop of horizontal and vertical sections that establishes it as an urban complex not just sculpture.
MONSTIC HOUSEM, ZHAOQING
AO1 Design, Hong Kong
A lesson in monastic minimalism, this two-bedroom apartment sits on the side of Seven Star Lake, Zhaoqing. Concrete floors and furnishings have a high gloss sheen mirroring the shimmering waters.
ASHANTI DOME AND BOCA, SHANGHAI
Two of Shanghai s most celebrated restaurants, Boca and Ashanti Dome, both occupy the beautifully restored Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas. The restaurant interiors take full advantage of the original (1920s) architectural details.
YICHUANG CITY CENTRE, BEIJING
Botschi Vargas Architects, UK/Tsinghua Architectural Design and Research Institute, PRC
In this environmentally friendly urban development, the buildings work with the environment. Water run-off is channeled to produce calming indoor streams and cooling is achieved naturally, by wind flowing through the specially designed towers.
MAGLEV TRAIN, SHANGHAI
Transrapid Consortium consisting of German and PRC Governments/Thyssenkrupp, Germany/Siemens, Germany
Using electro-magnetic technology to levitate the train 10 mm above the rails and propel it down the track, the Maglev is capable of speeds of up to 430 km per hour. Taking just eight minutes to cover the 30 km between Pudong International Airport and Shanghai s city centre, the train was the first of its kind anywhere the world it has already set a number of speed records since it came into operation last year.
VILLAGE HOME ZHONGSHAN
San Interiors Hong Kong
The village home of PK Ho and his wife Ming appeared in our July issue: contemporary and edgy, it shocked the neighbours when it was built last year. The ground floor is almost entirely open plan and features a 20 m swimming pool flowing from the garden right into the house. San Interiors incorporate over 300 pieces of custom-made furniture to give the whitewashed, glass pannelled space a voice .
WORLD FINANCIAL CENTRE, SHANGHAI
John Pederson Fox Associates, UK, US/East China Architecture and Design Institute, PRC
Located in Pudong, Shanghai s 95-storey World Financial Centre will stand at a staggering 492 meters high when completed in 2007 making it the tallest building in the world. Dominating the Oriental Peal Tower nearby, the eye of the Financial Centre rotates to capture the Oriental Pearl Tower s orb in its sights.
