A Radical Vision by OPEN: Reinventing Cultural Architecture

The Chinese mainland is becoming home to some of the world’s foremost public architecture, and OPEN Architecture, founded in New York in 2003 by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing and established in Beijing in 2008, is one of the vanguards. Known most recently for its spectacular and award-winning Chapel of Sound (see page 186), the studio has built a portfolio of public works that are both functionally considered and visually stunning.

A Radical Vision presents a selection of six of these projects that respond and contribute to China’s changing cultural landscape, demonstrating how Li and Huang attend to site and context as well as the needs of users. Projects are illuminated with concept sketches and images of 3D models, as well as plans, elevations and striking photography. With an introduction by Aric Chen, the book’s perspective makes for a valuable addition to any library on contemporary cultural architecture and place making.