TIANJIN, CHINA
The Academy in the Park was a finalist for an international competition led by Ennead Architects. The strategy for the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (TAFA) hybridizes two fundamental landscape typologies, the campus and the park, cultivating a new landscape where the academy is also viewed as a civic expression of the city. This creates a host of new programmatic possibilities. For Tianjin residents the park is both a civic gathering space for the city, but also a tool to educate the public about the production and display of art. For the students of TAFA the strategy provides a broad canvas of possibilities that extends beyond institutional walls. On a district level the Tianjin Loop is proposed to unify the Fine Arts Academy with several cultural landmarks and create a new pedestrian bridge across the Hai River. Theodore Hoerr was Principal at Balmori while leading the design of this project. Images courtesy of Balmori & Ennead Architects.