Building Site

Sun Tower, China, by Open Architecture

- By Ellie Stathaki

On paper, Open Architecture's Sun Tower sounds like a dream commission. The scheme, based in Yantai in eastern China, combines a prime seaside plot, an ambitious client who sought to transform a former industrial neighbourhood into a cultural hub for the city's rapidly growing population, and a brief that allowed for maximum flexibility and creativity, without precisely determining what the end product should be. The city authorities were after 'something unique to enhance the city's ocean front', but nailing down the building's striking, curvaceous design was not as straightforward as it might initially seem.