A 2,000-seat performance venue proposed for Guangzhou. The building originates in the Chinese puzzle ball, translating concentric layers, geometric surface and crafted complexity into architectural form.
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Reference
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The puzzle ball provides both surface and spatial logic.
Chinese puzzle balls are carved from one block of material into concentric spheres, each rotating freely inside the next. Their craft lies in making complexity from a single origin. The reference was precise for a theatre rooted in local Yue culture. It offered a surface logic of rhombus and triangular patterning, and a spatial logic of nested layers revealed through circular openings.
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System
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Structure, cladding and entrance share one geometry.
The building uses a twin-layered dome of tubular steel members connected to machined spherical nodes. The cladding follows the same geodesic grid, with rhombus and trapezoidal GRC panels arranged in hierarchical generations. Porosity changes by need: denser at height to limit heat gain, more open near the ground for daylight, views and arrival. At the main entrance, offset spherical surfaces create concentric openings that draw visitors through the layers of the building.
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Resolution
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Complexity held by one origin.
From distance, the theatre reads as a single sphere. At mid range, it becomes a geometric field. At the entrance, the nested layers of the puzzle ball become a spatial experience. The project does not copy the object. It translates the object’s craft logic into structure, surface and movement.
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