Phoenix Center, Beijing, Media centre in Maizidian Subdistrict, Beijing, China

Phoenix Center is a media building at the southwestern corner of Chaoyang Park in Beijing, designed by Shao Weiping of the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design. A torus-like glass facade of 3,800 panels, supported by an exposed steel structure, wraps two conventionally built towers, one for offices and one for broadcasting studios. Sky bridges link the towers and create public spaces inside the loop.

Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong-based network, proposed the media centre in 2007. The Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, with executive chief architect Shao Weiping, designed it, and the building was completed in 2013. It was notable as an experimental landmark designed by a domestic Chinese firm at a time when most comparable buildings in China were designed by foreign architects.

The center functions as a media hub for Phoenix Satellite Television, hosting public exhibitions and community gatherings where visitors can encounter contemporary media projects and local creative initiatives.

The interior is easy to navigate because the cone-shaped ventilation spaces serve as visual landmarks that help visitors find their way through the building. The open layout allows free access to many public areas where exhibitions and events take place.

The facade's steel diagrid doubles as a network of miniature canals that carry raindrops into reflective pools around the building. The shell is closed with 3,800 glass panels, and the whole form was shaped with parametric 3D modelling software, including Frank Gehry's Digital Project tools.