Celebrating Chinese New Year: 8 impressive structures Architecture 10.02.2022 China is a country of experiments. This conclusion can be drawn if you look at the impressive architectural projects. On Chinese New Year, we remember eight bright buildings of 2021. Photo: Shao Feng Botanical garden at the site of a coal mine in Taiyuan The Austrian firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects has built a botanical garden on the site of an old coal mine. Instead of an industrial structure, there is now a public space with an artificial landscape: hills, lakes, pedestrian paths and even waterfalls. View the project Photo: CreatAr Photo: CreatAr New Infinitus China headquarters designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza is the new headquarters of Infinitus China. It is located in the business district, which appeared on the site of the decommissioned Baiyun Airport. The block connected the Guangzhou city center with Feixiang Park and new residential settlements. The structures are made in the same style — in the form of a series of rings, which, according to the architects, will improve the interaction between different departments. View the project Photo: Liang Xue Photo: Liang Xue The «Moon» chapel in Shandong province Chinese architects from the bureau SYN Architects built an unusual chapel on a mountain in Shandong Province, which from afar resembles a full moon in the night sky. Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the complex structure includes a water tank mounted on stilts and hovering over rocky ledges, and a pavilion in the shape of a quarter of a ball, illuminated from the inside. The glass facade of the pavilion, which the architects placed at the far end of the pool, is reflected in the water surface, forming a perfect circle. View the project Art Museum designed by Alvaro Siza and Carlos Castanera in Ningbo The Humao Museum of Art and Education does not look realistic at all, as if it is a render, not a photograph. All thanks to the black metal facade, which completely hides the interior space. To see the museum from the inside, you will have to look through a small window on the first level or find an inconspicuous main entrance. He’s the only one in the museum, so we’ll have to try. View the project Submerged bookstore in Chengdu This seemingly inconspicuous bookstore on the shore of the lake overshadowed the most bizarre projects: its reading room is half submerged. And this creates an absolutely extraordinary mood of silence and peace. View the project Photo: Chuan He Photo: Chuan He Bright showroom in Hangzhou The two-story showroom, paneled in stainless steel, looks like a rock. There is an exclamation mark on its front door, hinting at the «feeling of surprise” that can be experienced inside. Already in the lobby, a three-dimensional arch, a staircase of non-standard shape, a podium made up of blocks of different geometric shapes, as well as a bar counter formed by cylinders lined up in a row, catch your eye. View the project Photo: Feng Shao Photo: Feng Shao Termite mound restaurant in Yunnan Province A 50%Cloud restaurant has opened in a small town in Yunnan Province.Artists Lounge, located in an unusual red brick building. It was designed by architects from the Hong Kong studio Cheng Chung Design according to the idea of local artist Luo Shu. As the main material, he chose a brick made of red clay, which is typical for these places, and made a spectacular building with many elongated domes look like a huge termite mound. View projects Cultural Center designed by Christian de Portzampark in Suzhou The winner of the Pritzker Architectural Prize, Christian de Portzampark, harmoniously integrated the structure into the intersection point of the pedestrian axis and the embankment of the big lake. He divided the building into two parts: one housed music and concert halls, the other — museums and educational institutions. The architect connected these two wings with a continuous metal ribbon that «wraps» the facades of both buildings and forms a loop arch in the center. The ribbon also repeats the shape of the figure of eight, but, according to the author, symbolizes duality and the movement of yin and yang energy. View the project Photo: Shao Feng Photo: Shao Feng