Previous a fishing village protected by the surrounding hills, the Dragon Bay is the essence of Northeast-Chinese coastal idyll. Yet still scattered with fishing boats and nets, now it is facing the city’s upcoming development: situated on the west coast of Bohai Sea rim, with only 3 hours of traffic from Beijing, the site offers a natural resource that is so rare across the north of china – “the beach”, which attracts tens of millions of people from Beijing and Northeast-China to spend their summer here. As the first building on the beach, META-Project’s Exhibit Center will re-establish the relationship between the cultural activities and it’s natural environment. 

Public Stage:

The Exhibit Center is about creating a common base that not only absorb the reserved visitors’, but also attract the public attention and generate more topics. In this currently deserted land, we choose to located the building next to the public beach activity zone – 100 meters from the waveline, so as to set the building as a “Public Stage”. Thus, the center containing multiple cultural programs, offers all sorts of activities for the visitors of the bay. While elevating their expectations, it also activates the cultural life of the entire city.

Simplified Dynamics:

META-Project’s design is rather a clear deduction process, than a generalized solution. Experiencing the sea horizon from multiple levels is of prime importance for the building – such concept is deducted to a key section: to float the front 2/3 of the building, creating a cantilevered floor for the “stage” to catch more public attention, at the same time offering a covered space for outdoor event; and additionally, a roof-top viewing deck opening to the entire surroundings. 

Spatial Complexity:

The main volume of the building is a floating box of 35m x  35m, perpendicular to the seashore. The cast-in-place concrete stair-cube bluntly penetrates the floating box with a 25-degree inclination, which links the three levels of circulation, also functions as the structural support for the cantilever. Other program includes the double-height exhibition space, ground-floor reception bar, meeting-room box, linear gallery and sky-bridge - each program forms a clear defined volume that collides with one another in an almost “unresolved” manner. Such “collision” leads to a rough but vital tension, through which a space of unexpected complexity emerges.

Through this speculation, META-Project tries to demonstrate how to catalyze spatial complexity based upon a simplified dynamics, and how to address concerns for the public.