Artistic complexity with excellent properties

In May 2017 the Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts in Nanjing’s Riverside Hexi New Town was completed with its astonishing 8,555 seats, which are all upholstered in Kvadrat textiles.

The complex is developed by East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co, who chose Star; an interpretation of a classic velour upholstery fabric with a contemporary twist for the 2,200 seats in the opera house. Steelcut Trio, a hardwearing and three-dimensional woollen upholstery textile, in a selection of custom colours is used for the seating in the concert hall, drama theatre, variety theatre and international lecture hall.

Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts is a modern artistic complex with excellent acoustics. It unites four water drop-shaped structures on a lotus leaf-shaped elevated platform. The design philosophy for the complex mirrors the ‘harmony between mountain, water, city and forest’ associated with Nanjing. Reflecting this, viewed from the air, the complex resembles water drops floating on the landscape.