This venue for cultural events is the second work that the Hamburg firm gmp – Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner – has carried out in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. Rising independently on a stone plinth are the three main volumes: the opera house seating 1,600, a concert hall for 1,200, and a multi-functional auditorium for 550. The ‘floating’ structure that unifies the complex and protects the interstitial spaces is executed through a steel-frame substructure clad with white aluminum panels. Depending on the viewpoint, the silhouette of the building changes dynamically, evoking the natural karst formations typical of the Guangxi landscape.