As urban development accelerates and cultural demands rise, modern grand theaters have evolved beyond exclusive venues for art enthusiasts and tourists. They now aim to integrate with the public, bringing art into daily life and fulfilling the mission of creating “cities for the people.” The design of the Yangzhou Grand Canal Theater reflects this vision, studying the interplay between site, architecture, and city. It explores a cultural architectural model that is open to the public and harmoniously blends architecture with natural scenery, making the theater a vibrant symbol of Yangzhou, the “park city.”
Project Overview: Yangzhou, known as the city of bright moon, canals, and gardens, has a rich cultural heritage that inspires this project. Located on the banks of Mingyue Lake, the Grand Canal Theater is a cultural complex that integrates viewing, exhibitions, commerce, leisure, and landscaping. Covering a total area of 144,700 square meters, it features a 1,600-seat opera hall, an 800-seat drama hall, a 500-seat folk art theater, and a 300-seat multifunctional small theater.
The Tongji University Architectural Design and Research Institute (Group) Co., Ltd. won the international design competition and led the overall design contract. The project was completed, accepted, and officially opened in July 2021.
The Shuiyue Poetry Garden and Art Cloud Bridge connect the Yangzhou Canal Grand Theater to both the city and Mingyue Lake. To enhance this connection, the design replaces physical boundaries with virtual ones, centering around an open courtyard. This courtyard evokes traditional Chinese cultural themes, blending gardens, art, and life in harmony with nature, symbolizing the unity of heaven and humanity. Shaped like a bright moon, the courtyard creates a striking spatial outline that recalls the garden aesthetic of “mountains and waters in an acre, heaven and earth in a pot.”
Aligned with the city’s north-south axis and inspired by the Twenty Four Bridges of Slender West Lake, the site features a magnificent 50-meter-span cloud bridge on the south side. This bridge links cultural venues on the east and west wings, forming an open cultural gateway that connects the north and south.
Cultural Giant Curtain: Between Bamboo and Stone
The building’s simple volumes combined with mottled stone evoke Yangzhou’s deep cultural and historical heritage. At night, floodlights hidden among the stones transform the theater into a luminous cultural landmark, narrating the story of Yangzhou.
The transparent, soft glass curtain walls in the inner courtyard contrast with the solid exterior, enhancing the flow between indoor and outdoor spaces. Terraces, steps, and ramps create a three-dimensional walking and viewing path around the courtyard, allowing visitors to stroll through a graceful, dynamic “sea of bamboo,” where space and music resonate.
The interior of the Jiuqu River and Four Seasons Poetry Garden Grand Theater draws inspiration from the charm of the Grand Canal. An open corridor runs north to south, connecting performance halls and serving as a space for exhibitions, visits, and social interaction.
Four performance halls are designed with professionalism, flexibility, and interaction in mind, each themed after a season—spring flowers, summer bamboo, autumn leaves, and winter snow. This creates an artistic environment that reflects both the regional culture of Yangzhou and modern technological advances, offering a unique performance experience.
1,600-Seat Opera Hall: The main hall is inspired by the theme “Spring River Flower Moon Night.” Featuring a horseshoe-shaped floor plan and a three-tiered terrace, the seating resembles blooming flowers. A bright moon motif hangs from the ceiling, symbolizing the moon shining through open clouds. The advanced lighting design enables diverse and flexible scenes, enriching the artistic atmosphere.
800-Seat Theater: This theater also features a horseshoe-shaped layout with a flat and framed stage. The seating is arranged on two levels, inspired by the theme of summer bamboo. The interior integrates wall and ceiling designs with bamboo joint textures, accented by LED light strips that emphasize the slender elegance of bamboo. Movable ear stands flank the stage entrances, expanding the stage area and fostering a closer connection between performers and the audience.
Multifunctional Hall: Inspired by the beauty of autumn ginkgo trees in Yangzhou, the walls feature sound-absorbing panels of varying depths that resemble falling ginkgo leaves, outlining the silhouette of the ancient city. The hall operates as a black box theater equipped with movable seating, stages, and lighting systems to support diverse performances.
Quyi Theater: The white Quyi Hall resembles a classical courtyard after the first snow, featuring traditional Chinese theater seating on the ground floor and surrounding pavilions on the second. The stage includes a movable grille that can extend forward, retract, or open vertically, blending classical stagecraft with modern technology. This flexible design allows for versatile scene setups.
Sky Living Room: The east and west buildings are linked by an aerial corridor on the fifth floor, creating an open city living room for residents. This space offers panoramic views of Mingyue Lake and the city’s scenic beauty. The ceiling features a diamond-shaped frame aligned with the roof’s steel structure, complemented by continuous curved light strips and metal pendants that form a three-dimensional wave pattern, symbolizing the cultural theme of “light water waves.”
The structural and curtain wall designs harmonize indoor spaces with the building’s exterior, enhancing both visual continuity and spatial experience. The steel structure of the entrance hall was digitally designed to ensure precise alignment with the facade’s form. The hyperbolic-shaped curtain wall was refined through detailed modeling and analysis, optimizing structural columns, glass panels, and decorative elements into planar components, significantly reducing costs and construction challenges.
Green Grand Theater: The design introduces refreshing summer breezes through the inner courtyard and incorporates greenery suited to Yangzhou’s climate and soil, creating a pleasant outdoor environment. Sunlight analysis shows the theater enjoys ample sunlight year-round, maximizing solar photovoltaic energy generation. Horizontal stone features and vertical louvers on the facade provide effective shading and promote natural ventilation.
Project Drawings
△ Location Analysis Chart
△ Underground Floor Plan
△ First Floor Plan
△ Second Floor Plan
△ Fourth Floor Plan
△ Fifth Floor Plan
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Section Diagram
△ Section Diagram
△ Structural Analysis Diagram
△ Analysis Chart
△ Curtain Wall Analysis Diagram
Project Information
Architectural Design: Tongji University Architectural Design and Research Institute
Area: 144,700 m²
Project Year: 2021
Photographers: SFAP, Xiu Yang
Project Leaders: Wang Wensheng, Zhou Jun
Design Team: Zhang Luoxian, Wang Wensheng, Zhou Jun, Li Heng, Ma Xiyin, Ye Wen, Xi Xiuwen
Interior Design: Li Heng, licensed
Structural Design: Ding Jiemin, Zhang Tao, Ju Wei, Jin Gang, Guo Yang, Li Jiguo, Ma Dongya, Wen Chao, Zhou You, Meng Chunguang, Wang Songshuo
Water Supply and Drainage Design: Gui Tanchun, Feng Wei, Huang Beirong, Zhang Biao, Mao Defu, Chen Xiabin, Zhao Jianhui, Lu Lu
Electrical Design: Cheng Qing, Feng Mingzhe, Wang Jian, Liao Shulong, Xu Erfeng, Wu Peipei, Wu Yifan
HVAC Design: Wang Jian, Xu Huan, Zeng Gang, Zhou Peng, Li Haoxiang, Yao Sai, Ni Zichong, Dong Jinsong
Energy Saving Design: Tang Chengyu
Green Building Design: Cai Bin, Cui Shixin, Li Dongmei, Qian Zhengyi
Lighting Design: Yang Xiu, Bian Chen, Ma Yue, Gu Xinghua, Xu Xiaqing
Landscape Design: Ai Jing, Zhu Ranxi, Shen Zehao, Gao Jichao, Zhang Biao, Zhao Yanan
BIM Design: Yao Yuya, Wang Runhui, Chen Zhiyue, Gu Hailing, Ling Dongrui, Lu Anyang
VR Assisted Design: Du Ming, Wang Cheng
Cost Consulting: Zhou Zhifen, Wang Fei, Gu Jingjing
Resident Engineer: Zou Xiaojing
Curtain Wall Consultants: Shanghai Qidao Curtain Wall Engineering Co., Ltd., Wuhan Lingyun Building Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd
Theater and Acoustic Consultant: Beijing Institute of Technology Architectural Survey and Design Institute
Stage Machinery Consultant: China Radio and Television Broadcasting, Film and Television Design and Research Institute
Interior Deepening Design: Shenzhen Zhongfutai Cultural Architecture Construction Co., Ltd., Suzhou Architectural Decoration Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd
Location: Yangzhou, China
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