Sou Fujimoto Architects has released renderings of its design for the Pavilions by the Seaside development in Haikou, on the Chinese island of Hainan, which will be completed by the end of spring.
The Japanese studio's pavilion will be one of 16 created by international and Chinese architects and artists for the project in Haikou. It will be located on the coast of Haikou Bay in sight of the Wormhole Library pavilion by MAD that has just topped out.
Sou Fujimoto Architects pavilion to be one of the first to complete
The renderings from the studio show a circular, undulating pavilion with a walkable roof seemingly draped to enclose the building below.
The shape of the white pavilion mimics the rounded plot of land it will inhabit, close to the waters of the bay.
"I've been in Haikou several times and I was really fascinated by this place, the history and the nature and the beauty of the places," Fujimoto said.
"So I'm really glad to do this project, the pavilion, on this beautiful location close to the coast."
This pavilion and the Wormhole Library pavilion will be the first two Pavilions by the Seaside to complete, with all pavilions set to be built by the end of 2021. The buildings will all be open to the public and host a variety of cultural activities.
Studios taking part include BIG, MVRDV and Kengo Kuma and Associates
The other studios and architects that will design pavilions for the development are BIG, Kengo Kuma and Associates, Ong-ard Satrabhandhu, Zaha Hadid Architects, Stefano Boeri, Thomas Heatherwick, MVRDV, Liu Jiakun, MAD, and Zhu Xiaodi.
Artists taking part include Anish Kapoor and Ryuichi Sakamoto, who will work together with Kuma.
"I hope to integrate local volcanic rocks, plants and landscape into the design concept," Kuma said. "Also, I will be collaborating with my good friend, world-renowned musician Ryuichi Sakamoto."
"We will build a space where one can connect with nature and music, we hope to create a place to experience the ocean as well as the city," he added.
Project is part of a masterplan for a free port
Pavilions by the Seaside is part of a larger masterplan to transform China's Hainan Province, where Haikou is located, into a free trade port by the middle of the century.
The 16 pavilions will span 19.6 kilometres along the Haikou Bay coastline and 12.5 kilometres of the Jiangdong New Area.
"In this post-globalisation era, it is our responsibility to think about how to utilise limited resources in a more sustainable manner and reconsider our relationship with nature," said project curator Weng Ling.
"Thanks to the support of the Haikou municipal government, we are establishing an international destination for sustainable creative development, through the eyes of a group of world-renowned masters, that will shape the future of Haikou City and Hainan Free Trade Port."
As well as the recently finished Wormhole Library overlooking the South China Sea, Haikou City on the Hainan Island recently unveiled a trio of sculptural shell-shaped tunnel entrances by Penda China.