Boundless Theater of Egret Bay | Wulian County, China

Boundless Theater is a new public centre for the village community in the central park at the bottom of a valley. The original cherry blossom forest of the site is well retained, and a new public theater was gently placed into it based on the design philosophy expressing the endless time and space. The architect uses mono-material steel to create an open art space connecting people’s activity and nature, representing the artistic conception of “A Tale of the Peach Blossom Garden” written by Tao Yuanming, a Chinese writer in the ancient Jin Dynasty.

The design itself was meant to break the boundary of the traditional stage, to invite nature and people to come in, allowing all performances to interact with the audience freely. The stage was wide open. Without design drawings, the architect acts as a constructor on-site, collaborating with the local workers to track the complex site info to protect the cherry tree by weaving this building by hand.

Boundless Theater conveys three cores:

  1. Respecting the Art through space and craft;
  2. Shaping a space deeply integrating architecture and nature;
  3. Creating a theater not only a place for performance but also a medium for communication.

Boundless Theater of Egret Bay

Location: Wulian County, Rizhao, Shandong, China

Design Firms: Beijing Guanzhu Landscape Planning and Design Institute & Kong Xiangwei Studio
Client: Shandong Bailu Bay Art Museum Town
Photo credit: ZhiYi Architectural photography

About Damian Holmes 3386 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/