Radiant City Shenzhen, lee+mundwiler Chinese Design, Architect, Image, Central Park China Project

Radiant City Shenzhen Building

Contemporary Chinese Architecture Competition winner – lee+mundwiler architects / Cao/Perrot Studio

4 Jun 2008

Radiant City, Shenzhen

Winning design proposal for The Central Park of the Radiant City in Shenzhen, China by lee + mundwiler architects, in April 2008.

The proposal was a collaboration between two firms, lee+mundwiler architects and landscape firm Cao/Perrot Studio.

Radiant City Shenzhen images © lee+mundwiler architects

The Central Park of Guangming (The Radiant City) covering 2.37 km2 ( 680 acres) and the Radiant City (Itself subject of an international design competition in 2007) will be built around this Central Park.

The Park’s main architectural element is the Cultural Complex, which includes an outdoor Amphitheatre Pavilion, Art Museum, Aqueduct, and Follies. These Cultural buildings will integrate the Radiant City within the international art scene and set the stage for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Urban Planning and Architecture Biennale.

DESIGN CONCEPT:
Through the use of the local natural resources and cultural elements, we responded to our question of how an artificial environment can co-exist in harmony with nature as well as create a visual and emotional link between built environment and its users.
Our design proposal includes the necessary requirements of a traditional public park, while bringing new interpretations to familiar elements, applying ‘ qi’ (energy) principles to highlight the dynamic and transformative properties of nature.

DESIGN METHOD:
We proposed intensive programs within and around the newly formed lake so the two hills are spared from heavy human use and to eventually rejuvenate wilderness.
A lake is created as the focal point of the Park by combining several existing waterways. An aqueduct rising from the water, transforms into a water fall, creating “liquid” walls, a long floating pier, a transparent swimming pool giving the illusion of floating on air for swimmers are the features within the lake.

The site surface is transformed into a patchwork of wildflower meadows, where follies are scattered around as marking devices for orientation within the park and intimate spaces for various activities.

An outdoor Amphitheatre is embedded into the landscape and emerges out of the lake water as a performing stage. The undulated earth-like roof punctuated with delicate mosaic opening, inspired by the local tile work found in vernacular buildings in Shenzhen. Its openings provide intricate light as well as natural ventilation. The Art Museum provides space for exhibitions, as well as restaurants, and public service. With its breathing façade, the art Museums’ slow rhythmic movement is an intriguing aesthetic element that also functions as a sustainable feature that collect solar energy.

The Follies are inspired by human nature and form. They are multi functional structures that are strategically located around the Park. Each structure is a satellite member of the cultural and interactive art and land installation. Their interior can be utilized as functional space for creative activities. Our intention is to create a space that cultivates the exchange of ideas and embodies the very nature of human learning.

Throughout the course of the Central Park design, distinctive Chinese cultural elements were translated and elevated into a higher level of abstraction with contemporary architectural language harmonizing with nature. We put a conscious effort to retain the Park its own “sense of place and identity”, especially in the midst of the wave of orphaned architecture in Shenzhen, China.

Radiant City Shenzhen Central Park of Guangming images / information from lee + mundwiler architects

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