A new civic building on the west bank of the Ba River in Xi'an, China, is drawing attention for a roofline that reads unmistakably as an open book. Chang'an Academy, a 70,016-square-meter complex designed by China Northwest Architectural Design and Research Institute with interiors by HONG Designworks, sits across the water from the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center in the Chanba Ecological Area.
The building's sweeping roof unfolds along the riverbank, echoing the upward-curving silhouette of traditional Chinese architecture. It dips at its center before extending outward, softening the structure's imposing frontage. Viewed from the opposite bank, the profile resolves into the shape of a book lying open — a symbolic gesture that, according to the design team, feels earned rather than forced. The mass of the building appears to float above the landscape, dissolved by the precision of that single continuous gesture.
Xi'an, the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties and the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, is not a place where new buildings go unnoticed. The site demanded both confidence and restraint, and the result is being described as one of the most quietly commanding civic buildings to come out of China in recent memory. At a scale that could easily have turned cold, the design instead solves the problem of monumentality with empathy rather than spectacle.
Inside, the complex integrates spaces for reading, art exhibitions, educational programs, cultural activities, and public interaction. What makes the layout work, according to the designers, is how naturally those functions flow into one another. Atrium stairs invite drift. Daylight moves through the building with ease. Circulation feels less like a floor plan and more like a suggestion.
HONG Designworks, founded in 2002 by Zhiyong Fan and Ming Dang, operates with a human-centered philosophy at its core. That approach is visible in every interior decision, from the way visitors move between reading areas and exhibition spaces to the way public and educational functions overlap without friction. The collaboration between the two firms reflects how serious civic architecture gets made: structural ambition from China Northwest Architectural Design and Research Institute, spatial warmth from HONG Designworks. Neither function cancels the other out.
The building is monumental without being alienating, contemporary without severing its ties to the city's deep cultural memory. Its roofline carries a lineage that stretches back thousands of years, yet the structure opens its arms to the river and to the public in a way that feels current. The balance between civic weight and everyday ease is harder to achieve than it looks. Here, according to the design team, it looks effortless.
Chang'an Academy ultimately demonstrates that landmark architecture does not have to announce itself. A building can carry centuries of cultural inheritance in its silhouette, engage a riverfront site, and still feel like somewhere a person would want to spend an afternoon doing nothing in particular. The project joins a growing roster of Chinese civic buildings that prioritize spatial comfort and public use alongside formal ambition.
For Xi'an, the academy adds a new cultural anchor to an area already defined by the Olympic Sports Center and the ecological corridor along the Ba River. Its position across the water gives the building a dual identity: a landmark viewed from a distance and a working library and cultural venue experienced up close. That duality, the designers suggest, is the point — a civic building that performs as both symbol and shelter.