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Harbin

Home in High Latitude / hyperSity architects

00:00 - 13 February, 2018
Home in High Latitude / hyperSity architects, © Han Ma
© Han Ma

© Han Ma © Han Ma © Han Ma © Han Ma + 41

  • Architects

    hyperSity architects

  • Location

    Haerbin, China

  • Lead Architects

    Yang Shi, Shaojun Li

  • Design Team

    Shiyao Li, Dijin Li, Yinuo Wang, Jiaqi Kang

  • Other Participants

    Han Family, SMG Group

  • Area

    28.77 m2

  • Project Year

    2017

  • Photographs

    Han Ma

Ice Sports Center of the 13th China National Winter Games / Architectural Design and Research Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology

02:00 - 20 September, 2017
Ice Sports Center of the 13th China National Winter Games / Architectural Design and Research Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology, © Wei Shuxiang
© Wei Shuxiang

© Wei Shuxiang © Wei Shuxiang © Wei Shuxiang © Wei Shuxiang + 29

#donotsettle Visits MAD’s "Out-of-this-World" Harbin Opera House

08:30 - 25 August, 2017

Welcome to the latest installment of #donotsettle extra, the series in which Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost accompany some of their #donotsettle videos with in-depth textual analysis of the buildings they visit.

After last month’s visit to OMA’s first building in Shanghai, we stayed in China and headed north—far north. We are happy to take you to a building that has been high on our “to-do list.” Harbin, a provincial capital city in the north-east of China, has previously only been known for the large-scale ice sculptures that appear during the winter months. In the past two years, this has changed, at least for the architecture geeks spread around the world.

Ma Yansong and his team at MAD Architects designed and built the Harbin Opera House in a new part of the city. First announced in 2013, the building was completed at the end of 2015. Since then, an endless stream of breathtaking photos has been shared on the internet. We had to see this project with our own eyes! We ventured out to Harbin and spent a day at the Opera.

© Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost + 13

E Baking & RenYiHan Café / SAME FINE DESIGN

20:00 - 5 July, 2017
E Baking & RenYiHan Café / SAME FINE DESIGN, © Qiyong Zhang
© Qiyong Zhang

© Qiyong Zhang © Qiyong Zhang © Qiyong Zhang © Qiyong Zhang + 20

  • Design Firm

    SAME FINE DESIGN

  • Location

    B4-43, Wanda Store, Haxi District, Harbin, China

  • Lead Architect

    Qiyong Zhang

  • Project Team

    Le Guan, Jia Liu, Huaiwen Zhang

  • Area

    440.0 m2

  • Project Year

    2017

The Exhibition Hall of Crime Evidences in Harbin / Architectural Design & Research Institute of SCUT

20:00 - 15 June, 2017
The Exhibition Hall of Crime Evidences in Harbin / Architectural Design & Research Institute of SCUT, Building entrance. Image © Yao li
Building entrance. Image © Yao li

Sunken courtyard. Image © Yao li Birdview. Image © Yao li Meditation atrium. Image © Yao li View from railway. Image © Yao li + 31

  • Architects

    Architectural Design & Research Institute of SCUT

  • Location

    Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

  • Principal Architect

    He Jingtang

  • Project Year

    2015

Iwan Baan's Photographs of the Harbin Opera House in Winter

14:00 - 28 April, 2016
Iwan Baan's Photographs of the Harbin Opera House in Winter , © Iwan Baan
© Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan has unveiled a new series of images depicting a snow-covered Harbin Opera House by MAD Architects and its surrounding landscapes. The northern Chinese city of Harbin is known for its brutal winters where temperatures can reach -22°F (-30°C). In the photographs, the Opera House's sinuous white aluminum cladding echoes the ice formed in the adjacent river. “Harbin is very cold for the most of the year,” says MAD principal and founder Ma Yansong. “I envisioned a building that would blend into the winter landscape as a white snow dune arising from the wetlands.”

© Iwan Baan © Iwan Baan © Iwan Baan © Iwan Baan + 25

Frozen Architecture: From Glistening Snow Shows to Multi-Colored Ice Festivals

09:30 - 21 January, 2016
Frozen Architecture: From Glistening Snow Shows to Multi-Colored Ice Festivals, Oblong Voidspace - Jene Highstein & Steven Holl. The Snow Show, Lapland, 2003 and 2004. Image Courtesy of Fung Collaboratives, Photo Credit: Kostamoinen
Oblong Voidspace - Jene Highstein & Steven Holl. The Snow Show, Lapland, 2003 and 2004. Image Courtesy of Fung Collaboratives, Photo Credit: Kostamoinen

Winter is the perfect time to build structures with ice, a time and a technique that together offer the possibility of a pure white architecture. With a cloudy sky the condition culminates into an impressive whiteout: white architecture, the landscape and the sky dissolve into a diffuse unity without a visible horizon. If clear skies emerge a subtle contrast of warm and cool white appears with yellowish sunrays against the blue sky. However, the ice itself has striking effects as well: The surface appearance ranges from crystal clear glass to soft opaque impressions. And, for the long nights, illumination achieves an additional magical glow and extends the short daylight time.

Worldwide, snow shows, ice hotels and festivals have attracted numerous visitors with glistening snows and stunning lighting solutions. Futhermore, this frozen water strategy presents a sustainable solution par excellence, where the manufacturing and even disposal causes no harm to the environment. Read on to explore the coolest projects and events featuring architects and artists from Finland to China.

Art Suite 2016. Under the Arctic Skin by Rob Harding & Timsam Harding. Image © Icehotel, Asaf Kliger. www.icehotel.com Icehotel 25 by Anja Kilian, Sebastian Andreas Scheller, Wolfgang-A. Lüchow. Image © Icehotel, Paulina Holmgren. www.icehotel.com Oblong Voidspace - Jene Highstein & Steven Holl. The Snow Show, Lapland, 2003 and 2004. Image Courtesy of Fung Collaboratives, Photo Credit: Menne Stenros Ice Time Tunnel - Tatsuo Miyajima & Tadao Ando. The Snow Show, Lapland, 2003 and 2004. Image Courtesy of Fung Collaboratives, Photo Credit: Jeff DeBany + 7

Harbin Opera House / MAD Architects

11:45 - 16 December, 2015
Harbin Opera House / MAD Architects, © Hufton+Crow
© Hufton+Crow

© Adam Mørk © Adam Mørk © Hufton+Crow © Adam Mørk + 34

  • Architects

    MAD Architects

  • Location

    Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

  • Directors

    Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano

  • Area

    850000.0 ft2

  • Project Year

    2015

  • Photographs

    Hufton+Crow, Adam Mørk

Harbin Twin Towers Proposal / spatial practice

01:00 - 2 September, 2013
Harbin Twin Towers Proposal / spatial practice, Courtesy of spatial practice
Courtesy of spatial practice

Designed by spatial practice, their proposal for the Harbin High Speed Railway (HSR) west train station Twin Towers. is an iconic project set to include office spaces, residential apartments, retail spaces and a hyper link to a new underground infra-structural hub. With China having the world’s longest High Speed Rail (HSR) network that connects the entire country from north to south and from east to west, the new West Train Station in Harbin will become the northern China gateway connecting to China’s major cities with daily high-speed links to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou. More images and architects' description after the break.

HAD Office / Had Architects

01:00 - 30 April, 2013
© Tang Jiajun
© Tang Jiajun

  • Architects

    Had Architects

  • Location

    Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

  • Design Team

    Tang Jiajun, Wang Conglong

  • Area

    515.0 sqm

  • Project Year

    2013

  • Photographs

    Tang Jiajun

© Tang Jiajun © Tang Jiajun © Tang Jiajun © Tang Jiajun + 17

China Wood Sculpture Museum / MAD Architects

01:00 - 11 April, 2013
China Wood Sculpture Museum / MAD Architects, © Xiazhi
© Xiazhi

© Iwan Baan © Iwan Baan © Iwan Baan © Xiazhi + 18

  • Architects

    MAD Architects

  • Location

    Harbin, China

  • Director in Charge

    Ma Yansong, Dang Qun

  • Design Team

    Yu Kui, Daniel Gillen, Bas van Wylick, Diego Perez, Jordan Kanter, Huang Wei, Julian Sattler, Liu Weiwei, Tang Liu, Mao Peihong, Maria Alejandra Obregon, Nickolas Urano, Gus Chan, Shin Park, Alejandro Gonzalez

  • Area

    12959.0 sqm

  • Project Year

    2013

  • Photographs

    Xiazhi, Iwan Baan

Haxi New District Office Building / ZNA

00:00 - 15 February, 2012
Haxi New District Office Building / ZNA, © Gao Han
© Gao Han

© Gao Han © Gao Han © Gao Han © Gao Han + 12

  • Architects

    ZNA / Zeybekoglu Nayman Associates

  • Location

    Harbin, China

  • Client

    Haxi Traditional Manufacture District Redevelopment LTD.

  • Site Area

    18.100 m2

  • Area

    23109.0 m2

  • Project Year

    2009

  • Photographs

    Gao Han

SuperStadium / Alan Lu

12:00 - 18 July, 2011
aerial
aerial

A proposal for an Olympic complex for Harbin’s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, SuperStadium, designed by Alan Lu, seeks to integrate the multitude of Olympic arenas and villages into one continuous entity. Consequently, this design allows for a seamless transition between programs and events. More images and project description after the break.