Museum Complex Bohai in China by Steven Holl

New York architect Steven Holl has landed another massive project in northeastern China. In the Bohai Gulf near the thirteen-million-strong megacity of Tianjin, a 'Tianjin Museum of Ecology and Planning' is set to be built according to Holl's design. The museum is intended to be a cornerstone of an entirely new half-million population district of 'eco-city'. The complex is composed of two parts: positive (ecology) and negative (planning), creating a perfect whole according to the principle of yin & yang. Both buildings, covering a total area of 60,000 m², will be connected by an underground tunnel. The ecology museum will be divided into three thematic sections: 'Earth and Universe', 'Earth and Man', and the underground section 'Earth and Earth'. Access to the 'Planning Museum' will operate in a reversed order from bottom to top, culminating in a grass-covered roof terrace overlooking the bay. Part of the site where the museum will be located is a beach with millennia-old deposits of shells, which for Holl represent the 'power of nature' and served as inspiration for his design.