The Nanjing International Youth Culture Center is slated to open at the end of the year Another of the late Zaha Hadid?s designs will soon be completed, this time in Nanjing, China. Slated to open later this year, the Nanjing International Youth Culture Center in the eastern province of Jiangsu consists of two smooth-edged skyscrapers, one 1,030 feet and the other 837 feet connected to a broad, five-story podium set on a 5.2-hectare, or 12.9-acre, plot. Now, thanks to photographer Khoo Guo Jie of Béton Brut studio, we get a sneak peak.
The two towers are mainly clad in glass, but as the eye travels downward to their base, one can see them merging with the concrete, swooping mass below, which features square panels punctuated by a pattern of windows that seems to undulate with the facade?s curves. In effect, the grid of squares, diamonds, and rhomboidal shapes create the sense that the building is a breathing, shape-shifting organism, even as it stands firmly in place, presiding majestically over the city. Created as a mixed-use building, the impressive structure will house a hotel, a 2,100-seat conference center, 500-seat concert venue, office space, and basement parking. It?s scheme also functions to recall the "verticality" of the business district and the outward-reaching landscape of adjacent river. Take a look below, then head to Designboom for the full story.

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