The City of Dalian in Northeastern China inaugurated during the Christmas Week its iconic International Convention Center, which integrates also an Opera House and an Exhibition centre.
DALIAN- The Northeastern City of Dalian got a week ago its most iconic building in the form of its Dalian International Convention Center. Designed by Austria worldknown architect team Coop Himmelblau, it came into use after four years of construction. The architecture evocates for many a seashell while for some others it evocates a flying saucer.
The surface of the convention centre is made of a million of pieces of aluminum plates with changing light reflection according to the time of the day or the weather.
The deconstructive shape of the building is unique to China.
Coop Himmelblau, a pioneer of deconstruction architecture thoughts, has already designed many world famous modern buildings such as BMW Welt in Munich and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. The city of Dalian finally chose the Austrian team design out of six world’s top architecture firms in an international tendering.
“Dalian International Convention Center is comparable to the world’s most famous modern buildings. As one of the new world landmarks, it will also create a new urban lifestyle.”, said Wolfgang Haid, the architect in charge of this project.
Dalian International Convention Center, 59 meters in height, covers an area of 4.3 hectares and a total construction area of 146,800 square meters.
The underground floor is used as a garage and logistics service space. There are also four overground floors, including a hall on the first floor, a multi-media workshop, equipment room and comprehensive service area on the second floor, a multi-functional hall with a capacity of 1,800 people and 6 large and medium meeting rooms with a capacity of 300 to 800 people on the third floor.
On the fourth floor, there are 26 small meeting rooms covering 60 to 80 square meters each, two 32-seat multi-functional VIP rooms and two multimedia meeting rooms.
The 1,650-seat grand theatre stands at the central area from the second floor to the fourth floor, which is designed for various activities like large theatrical performances. Participants, guests, media and actors all have their own space and path to get in or out.
During the same week, Hainan Airlines inaugurates the first direct link from Northeast China to the United States with a service between Dalian and Seattle.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
