Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar

Urumqi, China

Xinjiang Grand Bazaar accommodates a multiplicity of spaces and functions within its 90'000-square-metre spread. Besides its 3'000 trading stalls and public squares and promenades, it has a 1'000-seat theatre, a supermarket, a variety of restaurants and five commercial buildings as well as a mosque. The structures - of reinforced concrete and brick - create a 'new Islamic architecture' inspired by a 'vigorous' welding of modern construction techniques and a traditional approach emphasising the texture of materials and the interplay of light and shade.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture