Library designed by Daniel Wu nominated for British architecture 'Oscar'

A library building designed by Chinese-American actor Daniel Wu has earned a nomination in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)'s International Prize 2018 –the equivalent of the British "Oscars" in the architecture industry.

Wu is better-known as a successful actor, producer and martial artist, who has been featured in more than 60 films since his film debut in 1998. And now, his hidden talent of designing has been found.

Mulan Weichang Visitor Center designed by actor Daniel Wu.

The library, dubbed Mulan Weichang Visitor Center, is located in Mulan Paddock, Chengde City in north China's Hebei Province. It is one of the four projects that Wu designed in the show, which was featured in an episode aired on Dec 24, 2017.

Given a budget of 800,000 yuan (about 123,200 US dollars), the 43-year-old California-born actor worked closely with another chief architect Zhang Hai'ao. In a collaboration with Shanghai architecture firm HDD, Wu led the team to build the public library from scratch in an effort to make it as a gift for local children and pastoralists.

Mulan Weichang Visitor Center designed by actor Daniel Wu

The enormous library, inspired by the traditional Mongolian yurt, has adopted the design of skylight, allowing abundant sunlight during the daytime as well as star-gazing at night.

Cheered by the good news of receiving the RIBA nomination, Wu shared his excitement in an Instagram post on Friday, saying that it has been a great year for him to "get back to his design roots." He even quipped that he has been thinking to go back to being a designer.

Screenshot of Daniel Wu's Instagram post.

Wu graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1997, according to the Oriental Sunday. The library isn't the only artwork that Wu has unveiled to his fans. He also designed a car called "Tanto," which ended up being in the top ten at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) car show held in November of last year.

Actor Daniel Wu at work

This year's RIBA International Prize has announced a 62-strong contenders from 29 countries. In total, five other projects from China are also in the running for one of the world's most prestigious architecture awards in December of this year.

(CGTN)