Mecanoo’s Master Plan for Shenzhen
Dutch architects Mecanoo recently revealed their vision for transforming Longgang, a district of Shenzhen, China, into a thriving economic center. Their master plan calls for the growing city to be redesigned to include 8,000 residences and over 4.3 million square feet for commercial functions.
Project description and more images after the break.
In the past twenty years, Longgang dramatically changed from a small fishing village to one of the richest cities in all of China. Mecanoo saw the opportunity to push Longgang even closer to becoming a top world city by introducing the idea of a center filled with commercial activities which could be utilized any time of the day.
The complex would feature the customary retail centers and small business areas, as well as a multitude of larger office spaces and residential apartments. This vast urban setting would welcome a variety of users and thus ignite economic growth. The site is situated between two parallel boulevards, with one side facing the city park and the other, the vivid city streets. One of the entrances to the complex is marked with a huge horizontal building which stands on four legs. This building houses malls, hotels and even an ice skating rink. The building creates a dynamic entrance and also helps filter users deeper into the complex.
The larger buildings of the complex are linked by a series of squares and promenades. Mecanoo’s vision for such areas is to provide a tropical atmosphere, complete with palm trees and water. These areas provide a unique feel to a seemingly regular cityscape while also providing areas for the citizens to feel freed from the chaotic Longgang atmosphere.
As seen on Dezeen.
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18 comments »
the skyscrapers look a copy of koolhaas’s projects for rome i believe as for the low rise volume looks like a copy of their own project in spain which was it self a copy of a van eyck building in amesterdam.
Look interesting and energetic, even with the limited visual information we have.
that is all.
looks like Europe or the US..its sad….
It remains me the Buenavista Project from Juan Carral, the mexican architect.
coooooooooool I like the futuristic theme for the design
What an embarassing OMA copy!
Yes you are wright scofield – its even a very bad copy of julianaplein in the hague. I wonder from where the idea for the volume really comes from if not from OMA…
The buildings below the towers are rather ugly. There also doesn’t seem to be any human scale to this project at all. Have the designers ever been to china and walked the streets of Shanghai or Hong Kong or any of the other cities? They have completely missed the mark on designing with local context as an influence.
Looks terrible reak chinse made in Dutch
Poor copy of KJ Plein project(OMA)…
Shame on mecanoo! A tippically dutch masterplan in XXL with a big copy part. Rem should turn himself if he should see it.
Groundlab had done a much nicer design for that area in its masterplan for the entire city.
http://www.groundlab.org/
I know Shenzhen intimately, and I hate to say that the entire city plan is a broken machine.
Frankly, I don’t care if the entire project is a direct copy of someone else as long as it’s an appropriate copy for the city. The last thing Shenzhen needs is another uni-body Mega-Thing.
I long for something like MVRDV’s Liusha Peninsula project instead.
i live in shenzhen
orz….i feel so sad…
the design just a joke?
Hey Belly. I live there too (at least part time) what district?
My reaction? Read about it by someone who knows.
I am an american designer living long term in china. I wrote a book, The Tragic Kingdom, or Prisoner in a Chinese Theme park. which can be found on the normal book supplier website such as amazon.com etc.
Learn the truth about the master planners of Shenzhen and other projects in China. Read, Broc Smith’s “The Tragic Kingdom, or; “Prisoner in a Chinese Theme Park”, (found on all bookstore websites such as amazon.com, borders, etc). It is a behind-the-scenes look into the field of design and build in China. The book is a profile of the personalities, culture, and psychology of the world’s most massive looming superpower as seen through the eyes of an ex-pat American.
I have witnessed a formidable decade in which China has commanded a modern presence on the world stage and have participated in the planning, designing, and building of mega-theme parks in Beijing, world-class aquariums in Shanghai, gigantic malls in the Pearl Delta, resorts in Tibet, and panda relocation projects in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The stories and themes found in The Tragic Kingdom spring from one man’s journey. At the same time I believe they disclose truths about a globalization that eventually will impact every economy, lifestyle, and person on the planet.
This traditional perspective fails to take into account that in many countries, youth are very much active players, con- tributing to the public good, and having a voice in their communities. ,