Palace Cinema
Shanghai
Found in Shanghai’s long-developed Puxi neighborhood, the Palace Cinema by Hong Kong firm 4N Design Architects occupies the top level of a new shopping mall from Singapore developer CapitaLand, with nine distinct theaters connected to the public areas via a sun-filled open atrium. Inspired by film directors of past and present, the design is a whirlwind adventure that takes cues from children’s flip books, the story unfolding through undulating timber-pattern metal fins arranged to create dramatic organic forms that transfix moviegoers.

Photography courtesy of James Goldman

Museum of Zhang ZhiDong
Wuhan, China
This striking museum that seemingly floats in mid-air eschews convention for an effortless, almost disruptive look by New York and Zurich firm Studio Libeskind. The design of the cultural institution, which celebrates its namesake who helped modernize the city through the Industrial Revolution, leans toward a more futuristic approach with a gravity-defying façade wrapped in steel panels and hoisted up by the surrounding plaza’s two steel and glass structures, home to the lobby, main stairs, museum store, library, and administration offices. At its peak, the sunlit glazed atrium is a conduit to the gallery spaces, while its lattice openings take in views of Wuhan’s pulsating cityscape.

Photography by Hufton+Crow