Architecture studio MAD has revealed its design for a multi-purpose cultural centre in China that was informed by clouds and space.
The Cloud Center will be located in Qinhuangdao, near the Beidaihe coastline in northeastern China, where it was created for arts and culture community Aranya. The centre was designed to resemble a "floating cloud by the sea," the studio said.
Top: glazed walls surround the interior. Above: the building adjoins a body of water
The 3,853 square-metre site was designed to house a number of functions and includes two structures housing a theatre, conference room, exhibition spaces and a cafe, surrounded by a sculpted landscape that echoes the undulating form of the centre.
The site will be surrounded by a collection of tapering walls that gradually increase in height and envelop the Cloud Center, the sculptural gardens and the ancillary cafe space. A winding path leads to the centre
The multi-purpose space will have a low-lying form with angled glazed walls that look out to the surrounding gardens.
It will be topped with an amorphous over-hanging roof, clad in white-stained glass which aims to create an ethereal, floating-like appearance.
"When viewed from a distance, the building appears as a 'cloud floating in the forest' with a polished, reflective form activated by the changing light, sky, and landscape," MAD explained.

The building will have a column-free interior that was achieved through balancing and suspending the roo...