image courtesy Aedas, ltd
Architects: Andy Wen – Aedas
Location: Suzhou, PRC, China
Project team: Andy Wen’s Team
Client: Suzhou Industrial Park Education Development & Investment Company
Civil Engineer: Suzhou Architecture Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Design year: 2008
Rendering: Silkroad Digital Technology Co., Ltd
Architect: Chiasmus Partners
Location: Beijing, China
Principal Architect: James Wei Ke, Hyunho Lee
Project Team: Oscar Ko, Gu Yun Duan, Feng Bo
Client: Beijing Modern Dance Company
Program: Performance Hall, Practice Hall, Saloon
Project years: 2008-2009
Photographer: Chiasmus, Jenny Hung
© SOM
The Chicago and Shanghai offices of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) won the international design competition to expand the Beijing Central Business District (CBD).
Basically, their plan proposes the creation of 3 new districts anchored by parks and green boulevards as you can see on the renderings. But the an important aspects of this project is on the small scale, a network of walkable blocks to offer pedestrian (and bike) friendly scale for development. Because sustainable doesn´t have to mean just “green”, but also to offer an environment on which people can actually establish social relations on a neighborhood scale.
The plan also proposes an express commuter rail service between the Beijing Capital International Airport, the CBD, and high speed rail service at Beijing South Station. A new streetcar system is proposed to conveniently link all areas of the CBD.
Sometimes, a good transportation system and focusing on the pedestrian scale sound obvious, but they are the foundations to establish neighborhoods that can bring life to parts of the city 24/7, instead of business districts that die at night with dormitory cities with a lack of services.
More images after the break.
read more »
This villa is located in plot #86 of the ORDOS project.
Architects: JSª / Javier Sánchez
Project team: Aisha Ballesteros, Juan I. Reyes, Gerardo Fonseca, Juan Manuel Soler, Juan Pablo Victal, Laura Ivanschitz, Jair Navarrete
Location: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China
Design year: 2008
Construction year: 2009-2010
Curator: Ai Weiwei, Beijing, China
Client: Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Ltd, Inner Mongolia, China
Constructed Area: 1,000 sqm aprox
The foundation of the Nepal Pavilion was completed this week. With the theme “Tales of Kathmandu City,” the pavilion will capture important historic moments of the city. The pavilion will put on display the luster of Katmandu, the capital city of Nepal and an architectural, artistic and cultural center that has developed over 2,000 years.
The theme touches upon the soul of a city by exploring its past and future. Another highlight of the pavilion will be Nepal’s efforts in environmental protection and developing renewable energies. The pavilion is in the form of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kathmandu, surrounded by traditional Nepalese houses.
A car or motorcycle rally will run from Lumbini to the Expo site. The rally will bring the “eternal flame of peace” to Shanghai from Nepal. More images after the break. read more »
This villa is located in plot #97 of the ORDOS project.
Architects: Taller Territorial de Mexico
Location: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China
Design year: 2008
Construction year: 2009-2010
Curator: Ai Weiwei, Beijing, China
Client: Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Ltd, Inner Mongolia, China
Constructed Area: 1,000 sqm aprox
Construction has already began on the Venezuela Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo site. The 3,000-square-meter Venezuela Pavilion will look like a figure 8 – a symbolic number in both China and Venezuela – and depict many traditional aspects of the country’s history and culture with the theme “A Better Life, Better City.”
The Yanomami tribe that has thrived in the rainforests of South America for thousands of years will perform in the pavilion. Another highlight of the pavilion will be a Venezuelan children’s orchestra, which will perform in a 286-seat theater on July 5, Venezuela’s National Day, said Temir Ponceleon, the country’s commissioner general of the Expo.
The pavilion will be in the geometric shape of a “Mobius strip,” or an inverted cylinder. The exhibition area will feature two-way audiovisual transmissions via satellite between Shanghai and Venezuela. More images and a video after the break. read more »
Architects：DnA
Location：Songzhuang town，Tongzhou distant，Beijing, China
Program：Museum
Project year：2005-2006
Photographs：Savoye/Ruogu Zhou
Chinese jade culture through its 8,000-year history will take center stage at the Taiwan-based Aurora Group’s Expo 2010 Pavilion. Jade symbolizes the national character such as gentleness, perseverance and the pursuit of peace, and the Expo will provide a platform to help promote such hopes, Tan Baijuan, deputy director of the pavilion, said yesterday while unveiling the design.
The pavilion will feature rare exhibits such as a piece of 2.5-ton jade and Beijing Olympic medals made of fine jade from the Kunlun Mountains in Northwest China’s Qinghai Province.
The theatre inside the pavilion will show Chinese myths and about 30 rare jade relics from the Aurora Museum will also be exhibited. The biggest challenge now is to squeeze the soul of jade’s history spanning thousands of years into a short journey of 20 minutes, said Tan. More images after the break. read more »
UNStudio
After winning a limited competition, UNStudio will move forward with their design of a 38,500 m2 stadium for the Dalian Shide FC, China’s most successful club in the Chinese Super League. The new stadium will be located in the Shide’s hometown of Dalian, on the southern tip of Liaodong peninsula. Working with the idea of layering and overlapping, an aesthetic deeply rooted in ancient Chinese cuju football, Ben van Berkel has created a stadium where the articulation of the structure and its openings and overlapping moments serve as “the starting point for visitor experience”.
More about the stadium after the break. read more »
The pavilion consists of three areas — Whispering Garden, Hall of Light and Hall of Innovations. The Whispering Garden is a green orchard that greets visitors as they enter the building. Some facilities will be installed to make the trees begin to “whisper” in both English and Chinese when visitors walk close to them, Haim Z. Dotan, chief designer of the pavilion, told Shanghai Daily.
The hall of Light includes a 15-meter high screen. It will display films highlighting the country’s innovations and technological achievements.
The Hall of Innovation is the centerpiece of the Israel Pavilion. A special audio-visual show will allow visitors to talk with Israeli children, scientists, doctors and inventors via hundreds of screens. These Israelis will introduce themselves and share their hopes for a better future. Israel allocated about US$6 million for its participation at Expo 2010, which includes the cost of its pavilion and other activities. It is the first time Israel has committed to building a national pavilion at a World Expo. Images and video after the break. read more »
Architects：DnA
Location：Songzhuang town，Tongzhou distant，Beijing, China
Architect in Charge：Tiantian Xu
Program：Cultural Center
Client：Xiaopu village government
Project year：2006-2007
Site area：1,600 sqm
Building area：2,000 sqm
Photographs：Savoye/Ruogu Zhou
MAD Architects shared their recently completed design for the Taichung Convention Center with us. Conceived as “a continuous weave of architecture and landscape that blurs the boundary between architecture, public space and urban landscape, proposing a futuristic vision based on the East’s naturalistic philosophy,” the convention center is the first project in Taiwan commissioned by the Taichung city government. The project is meant to surpass the traditional metropolitan landmark to become something that pushes Taichung “into the arena of world class cultural cities…. through unique architectural concepts and proposing a new kind of architectural philosophy.”
More about the convention center and more images after the break. read more »
Architects： DnA
Location： Songzhuang town，Tongzhou distant，Beijing, China
Architect in Charge： Tiantian Xu
Program： Residence/art studios
Client： Private
Design year： 2007-2008
Construction year： 2008-2009
Site area： 1,400 sqm
Building area： 5,300 sqm
Photographs： Savoye/Ruogu Zhou, Iwan Baan
The Turkey Pavilion unveiled its design this week and its theme “The Cradle of Civilization” was inspired by one of the first known settlements in the world, said Sencar Ozsoy, commissioner general of Turkey.
The main inspiration for the exterior of the 2,000-square-meter rented pavilion was also derived from settlements called “Catalhoyuk” in Turkish, which were the center of advanced culture in the Neolithic period.
The pavilion looks like an amazing red and beige box with an animal sculpture, inviting visitors to explore a maze of dreams. The first section of the pavilion will take visitors through a journey of time to learn about Turkey’s historical firsts. A map indicating the ancient sites of Turkey, the world’s first mirror and the world’s first man-built dam will be featured here. Istanbul’s infrastructure will also be introduced.
In the middle section, a 360-degree movie will display scenes from the streets of Istanbul to reflect the pride of the city as the European Capital of Culture. Visitors will then encounter the future in the final section, which is represented by a symbolic figure of the phoenix, a mythical bird which dies in flames and is reborn from the ashes, to embody aspirations for the future. read more »
The Pakistan Pavillion will be a replica of the Lahorte Fort, an iconic symbol of the city of Lahorte. The fort dates back to the year 1025 AD and is the cultural capital of modern-day Pakistan.
The 2,000 square meter pavillion is themed “harmony in diversity”, and will show various aspects of the best of Pakistan’s cities, merged into one showcase of tradition, culture, modernity and history.
In the pavilion, visitors will be able to experience the life of a typical Pakistani citizen through detailed visual and multimedia presentations. More images, after the break. read more »
© Ruogu Zhou
Architects： DnA
Location： Ordos, Inner Mongolia
Project team： Tiantian Xu，Guillaume Aubry，Yingnan Chen
Program： Museum
Client： Ordos Jiangyuan Water Engineering Co. Ltd
Design year： 2005-2006
Construction year： 2006-2007
Site area： 420 sqm
Building area： 270 sqm
Photographs： Savoye/Ruogu Zhou, Iwan Baan
Construction for the Malaysia Pavilion for Shanghai World Expo began a couple of weeks ago. The 3,000-square-meter pavilion will be like a traditional and high Malaysian hut. The facade of the pavilion will be made from a combination of palm oil and plastic, which will be recycled for other constructions after Expo.
The country will showcase its natural landscape and the solidarity of its different ethnic groups with the theme “One Malaysia — City Harmonious Living.” Malaysia has 47 ethnic groups, who live comfortably together in urban and rural areas. The country would highlight the harmonious conditions and interactivity between cities and villages, Malaysian Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen said.
Visitors will be able to pitch and putt at an indoor golf area in the two-story pavilion. The pavilion would hold lucky draws on key days during the Expo, such as August 31, Malaysia’s national day, and May 31 when China and Malaysia set up diplomatic relationships, Ng said.
More images and a video after the break. read more »
NBBJ’s proposed design for the new Dalian Shide football stadium in China represents a new direction in sports architecture by moving away from the creation of a building based on pure form. The organic architecture of the building challenges the typical stadium typology to become more than an impressive skin wrapped around an ordinary seating bowl.
More images and full architect’s description after the break. read more »
© Jeremy San
Architects: KUU
Location: Shanghai, China
Project year: 2009
Project area: 220 sqm
Photographs: Jeremy San of stzernstudio
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