ocal citizens have a desire for iconic city architecture and open places for public activities. After being included in the central city planning of the Zhejiang province, Yiwu has begun to take firm steps toward becoming an international metropolis and hoped to take constructing Yiwu Cultural Center as an opportunity to declare to the public its cultural confidence featuring openness to the international society and the future.

Yiwu Cultural Square is a large-scale cultural complex combining various functions of culture and entertainment, education and training, sports and fitness, etc. Its design, which is minimalist with a large building volume, differs from that of ordinary buildings in the city. Its centre is not a grand indoor hall, but a three-dimensional courtyard where a sunken square is linked with a rooftop garden through ramps and big steps. The space is organised with circulation and transforms step by step, and the landscape presented to people can be changed as they walk around this place.

Such a design technique follows the space organisation of a traditional Chinese garden and builds on it. At the main entrance, the large roof represents the clouds in the sky, and the significant grey space under the entrance is derived from the traditional public space model from Jiangnan regions, such as the stage and ancestral hall. This meets the needs of public cultural activities of Jiangnan regions. The design of combining the sunken square and the audience area is suitable for organising public cultural activities with Chinese characteristics. When people walk across the long, big steps and reach the rooftop, which is open and wide, they are able to see the beautiful views from the distance; Yiwu River, Diaoyu Rock and Lion Mountain.

The minimalist facade along the river can change into a huge screen after nightfall, and this changing screen can be even more glamorous with the gleaming reflection of Yiwu River, becoming stunning scenery of the city.