Open Architecture has designed Sun Tower, an oceanfront public cultural facility in Yantai, China.

Designed by Open Architecture, Sun Tower is an oceanfront public cultural facility in Yantai Yeda Development Zone, featuring an outdoor theatre, digital exhibition spaces, a library, cafe, bar and 'Phenomena Space'.

While bringing much-needed cultural and communal facilities to this fast-developing industrial zone, Sun Tower also captures and transforms natural phenomena into tangible and visceral experiences.

"The asymmetrical-cone-shaped building seems to have been 'sliced open by beams of sunlight', revealing its internals to the majestic sea," said Open Architecture.

As a result, this project is a new architectural typology that fuses ancient worship of nature with contemporary urban cultural life.

This project has been longlisted in the cultural project category of Dezeen Awards 2025.

Studio: Open Architecture
Project: Sun Tower