Render © Zaha Hadid Architects
Earlier this year, Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House opened to the public. Shaped to resemble two pebbles on the bank of the Pearl River, the building boasts a 1,800-seat theatre plus 400-seat multifunctional hall, rehearsal rooms and an entrance hall, with claims of “an ambition and optimism that will create [Guangzhou's] future.” Zaha recently visited China herself, not only to promote the Opera House, but also to deliver her first lecture in Beijing, which aptly took place in the showroom of her next venture in China – Galaxy SOHO.
Based in Chaoyangmen (central Beijing), Galaxy SOHO will become a 330,000m² office, retail and entertainment complex. Its architecture is “a composition of five continuous, flowing volumes that are set apart, fused or linked by stretched bridges. These volumes adapt to each other in all directions, generating a panoramic architecture without corners or abrupt transitions that break the fluidity of its formal composition.” Zaha Hadid Architects hope that the complex will become an integral part of the living city, but only time will tell if this can be achieved.
