Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre

With the construction of the new Strait Culture and Art Center SCAC, the capital of the eastern Chinese province of Fujian has made its mark on the map of China’s cultural locations. The Finnish firm PES Architects Pekka Salminen designed the ensemble of opera house, concert hall, multifunctional hall, museum, and multiplex cinema, which opened in 2018, in the form of a shining white jasmine blossom, the symbolic flower of the city on the Min River. Yet the architects referred to Chinese traditions not only on a symbolic level: they also used locally produced porcelain tiles and bamboo for the façades and interior fittings. The Berlin-based architectural critic Falk Jaeger describes the development of this ensemble and the working methods of the firm, which has offices in Helsinki and Shanghai. Photographs by the London architectural photographer Marc Goodwin give a picture of the cultural temple.