Constructed with bronze-coloured steel pipes which move as music is played, the Bund Finance Centre celebrates the partnership of architectural design and musical performance.
Designed by Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio, the building is designed as a space for international cultural exchange and transforms Shanghai's waterfront with its colourful character.
The 420,000 square metre site connects the new financial district with the old town and is a bold architectural statement celebrating the traditional Chinese creative arts. “The opportunity to make something new in this prominent location that formerly been the river gateway to Shanghai’s Old Town was extraordinary,” says Thomas Heatherwick, Founder of Heatherwick Studio.
“With a project that would create 420,000 square metres of space, we felt a great duty to look for fresh ways to connect with China’s amazing built heritage and make a meaningful public place for thousands of people to work and come together.”
The facade of the building has three moving layers of vertical steel pipes.
The pipes hang from the third floor of the construction and move along tracks powered by electric motors. For several hours each day the pipes move around the building to music. Throughout the architecture — both inside and out — the building is hand-crafted with richly textured stone and granite, tinted with bronze-coloured detail.
“The cultural centre is an optimum blend of craft and technology,” explains Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio and Senior Executive Partner, Foster + Partners. “It is inspired by traditional Chinese weaving while incorporating the latest cutting-edge technology that helps withstand earthquakes, typhoons and severe weather. Its unique form provides a memorable and extraordinary experience for visitors, while the illuminated stage and the motion of the moving veil creates a unique backdrop to the theatre of city life.”
To view more about the project, visit Foster + Partners' website.
