Sun Tower
A monumental conical volume, seemingly split open and turned toward the sea, stands on the shell-shaped plaza of Golden Beach Park in Yantai’s Huang-Bohai New Area. Rising 50 meters, it is formed in white fair-faced (exposed) concrete, asserting a contemporary profile while subtly alluding to ancient cosmological wisdom. The tower draws visitors closer with its enigmatic stance, inviting them to uncover the mysteries concealed within. Around its base, elliptical contour lines radiate across the plaza, recalling the sundials once used in China to measure time through shifting shadows.
➤ Photography by Iwan Baan
➤ Photography by Iwan Baan
Yantai, historically recognized as one of China’s earliest centers of sun-worship culture and later as a site for Ming-era watchtowers defending against coastal raids, provides a symbolic backdrop. Within this context, OPEN Architecture oriented the cultural tower as a contemporary solar observatory: its northern edge aligns with the midday sun at the equinoxes; the entrance tunnel faces the sunset at the winter solstice; and the outdoor theater’s axis points to the sunrise over the sea at the summer solstice. The parabolic inner shell acts as an acoustic collector, amplifying the resonance of the ocean. Beneath it, a semi-open-air amphitheatre offers stepped seating and an unobstructed horizon when no performances are taking place. Extending outward from the tower’s base, a series of asymmetrical elliptical rings suggest planetary orbits. Carved into the plaza is a water channel that traces the tower’s geometry. On the equinoxes, the shadow of the tower’s northern edge moves along this channel; at its intersections with the elliptical rings, it marks the time on the hour. Along the outer ring, a fountain sequence references the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, its heights rising and falling in rhythm with the calendar.
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
Inside, a spiraling ramp ascends between two curved concrete shells, creating a cavern-like atmosphere. This path doubles as a digital exhibition hall equipped with screens and projections, adaptable to themes ranging from contemporary art and technology to history and nature. Walls and ceilings in board-formed concrete incorporate integrated hanging points, allowing flexible suspension and reconfiguration of exhibits. At every turn of the ramp, framed glimpses of the sea offer shifting perspectives. Higher up, an inverted shell encloses a library, combining traditional and electronic reading, with floor-to-ceiling curtain-wall glazing opening toward the horizon. Above it, the semi-outdoor “Phenomena Space” frames the sea: a spherical roof pierced by an oculus admits shafts of sunlight and rain, which is collected in a bronze water basin—an elemental timepiece shaped by light and weather.
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
The synergy between the tower and its plaza embodies a new mode of dialogue between architecture and nature. Within the weight of exposed concrete, visitors remain attuned to shifting weather and seasonal rhythms—and even in summer, the interior holds a comfortably cool register—a reminder that time is not merely numerical, but embedded in the living cadence of the natural world.
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
➤ Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
