Marija Bojovic’s Jan. 17, 2014 article for evolo.us offers the preceding image and more in an article* where she describes the building (Note: Links have been removed),

The layout of the curved building follows the classical inner courtyard typology and its form makes reference to the interplay of three ellipses. The largest ellipse defines the external size of the building, the smallest, the inner courtyard and the middle, the roof edge. At the lowest point, the pronounced slope of the annular allows a second access across the inner courtyard and opens the building to the forecourt opposite and the city. At the same time, the building rises from this point and terminates in the glass facade, which extends over the full height of the building and faces toward the water-scape.

The Showroom for Nanotechnology is part of a larger complex called Nanopollis, which in turn is part of an industrial park, in the city of Suzhou, China. The Nanopolis complex is expected to be opened in 2015. Here’s more about the project according to the agency which is responsible for it (from the Suzhou Nanotechnology webpage on the the Nanopolis website),

Founded in September 2010 as a state-owned company of Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou Nanotech focuses on nanotech industry promotion and service to establish an ecosystem for nanotech innovation and commercialization. The company actively works on recruitment and cooperation with industry and innovation resources, R&D facilities and platforms set-up and operation, investment and incubation, marketing and supporting services as well as the construction of “Nanopolis Suzhou”. Nowadays we have two wholly-owned subsidiaries named as Suzhou Nano Venture Capital Co.,Ltd. and SIP Nanotechnology Industry Institute Co., Ltd.

…

6 main Functions

• Nanopolis construction and operation
• Industry & innovation introduction and cooperation
• Nanotech industry cluster development
• Public platform construction and operation
• Investment and incubation
• Industry promotion & brand establishment

I did find two slides (PDF) describing the project in more detail on the Netherlands Enterprise Agency website,

The SIP [Singapore jointly developed Suzhou Industrial Park] has committed 10 billion RMB (about 1.5 BUSD) for the next five years to further develop Suzhou high-tech industries including nanotech enabled industries. Today the SIP is housed with 20000 national and multinational companies including 3M, Samsung, Siemens, Johnson & Johnson, Phillips, AMD, Bosch, Eli Lily and others within 288 square kilometers. Suzhou was ranked top 3 in “2010 China’s Most Innovative Cities” by Forbes.

… Suzhou intends to attract over 200 nanotech companies from all over the world and 10,000 nanotech experts within the next 5 years to make Suzhou the most global and innovative nanotech hub in China by 2015.

I look forward to hearing more about Nanopolis when it opens. In the meantime, here’s what the architects have to say about their approach to the project (from the HENN Nanopolis webpage),

Suzhou has set itself the target of closing the gap on the world’s leaders as a research and development location. Alongside the Biobay biotechnology park in the west of the city, Nanotech City marks another key element in that strategy. The program includes a total of 1.3 million square metres of floor area.

…

The creative leitmotif of the design is the relationship of scale between the molecular world, man and urban space. All elements of urban, architectural and landscape design range in density, size and height from the very large to the very small. The fractal logic of the division into units of diminishing size continues from the urban scale down to the facades, where elements of local architecture are reflected in aspects such as colour and structure.

As for HENN, here’s a little more about the company from the company’s About Us webpage,

HENN is an international architectural consultancy with 65 years of expertise in the design and realisation of buildings, masterplans and interior spaces in the fields of culture, administration, teaching and research, development and production as well as urban design.

The office is led by Gunter Henn and eleven partners with offices in Munich, Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai. 350 employees from 25 countries are able to draw upon a wealth of knowledge collected over three generations of building experience in addition to a worldwide network of partners and experts in a variety of disciplines.

* ‘arti6cle’ corrected to ‘article’ on Sept. 25, 2014.

*’showroon’ corrected to ‘showroom’ on Feb. 1, 2016.