German touch in Chinese buildings

German architecture firm GMP has been involved in more than 80 projects in China, including China Maritime Museum in Shanghai.

After much discussion with the client, the design scheme managed to merge the new museum building with the old one while maintaining its own characteristics.

Both the styles of the old building and its surroundings of Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City were echoed in the new addition in a modernized way. The museum is now the largest in the world.

"It is a dialogue based on contrast," says Von Gerkan. "The old building bears the collective memories of many people. By echoing the old building, the new one shows how Chinese architecture evolves into a new era."

Dialogue with the local landscape and philosophy is also emphasized in GMP projects. The Chongqing theater resembles a floating ship to resonate with the nearby Yangtze River, while Tianjin theater is inspired by the connection between earth and the sky, a fundamental thinking in Chinese philosophy.

"GMP is very good at balancing the requirements of the client and their own design concept," says Zhao Chunshui, chief architect at Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute.

"Their strong rationality and logicality works well with Chinese clients. But dialogue is only their method. What really matters is their design philosophy: simplicity, order and diversity."

Xue Qiuli, associate professor of architecture at City University of Hong Kong, thinks the timing is right to promote these values in China.

"What GMP promotes in its works used to be very popular in Chinese architecture. But they have been confused in recent decades."

The company was founded in 1965 in Hamburg by Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg. It now has 400 employees in 10 offices in Asia, Europe, South America and Africa. More than 200 staff members are in China.