SHENZHEN, CHINA—November 25, 2009—The Shenzhen Union of Literature and Art has declared RTKL and Capol International & Associates Limited winner of a design competition for a 43,000-SM Literature and Arts Center in Shenzhen, China. RTKL’s scheme draws on the energy of the nearby residential, cultural, and business districts to create a multi-functional facility with space for exhibitions, galleries, libraries, visual arts, performance arts, cinematic arts, studios, and administration.
Responding to the client’s charge for a flexible and dynamic cultural epicenter, the proposed scheme addresses the unique needs of each programmatic component while fostering an architectural dialog between art and literature, people and nature, and building and city.
“Shenzhen has always had a diverse and vibrant culture,” commented Xiaoguang Liu, RTKL vice president based out of Los Angeles. “What the city needs is appropriate facilities to support and promote this diversity as well as forge deeper connections to the urban context and cultural roots.”
RTKL has teamed with Shenzhen-based Capol International & Associates Limited, who will lead the implementation of the design.
RTKL drew on its Los Angeles office to work on the competition, which began in the beginning of October and engaged five hand-picked design firms as well as two others from around the world. The competition reflects the city’s effort to position Shenzhen as an international center for literature and the arts.
RTKL has been active in China since the early 1990s and is recognized for its ability to deliver high-quality design and planning services that reflect China’s deep-rooted sense of history as well as its influential role in the global arena. In addition to an office in Shanghai, RTKL has offices in London, Madrid and Dubai and throughout the United States.
The firm joined the ARCADIS network in 2007. Based in the Netherlands, ARCADIS provides a full range of engineering and professional consulting services. Their unparalleled expertise allows them to provide public and private clients value-added services across the increasingly complex and critical areas of infrastructure, environment and buildings.