Henn Architekten shared with us their proposal for the international competition to design the new ‘Nano-Polis Masterplan’ in Suzhou, China where they won the first prize. The proposal was designed by HENN ARCHITEKTEN’s Design & Research Studio HENN StudioB who drew their inspiration from both traditional Chinese urban planning and modern science for their concept on the research and development park for Nanotech. The use of innovative technologies and environmental strategies help to make their design a more comfortable place for its users while decreasing its energy consumption. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Since nanotechnology is the primary focus of the development, the arrangement and planning of the building mass was done with consideration to scale and fractal logic. The programmatic needs of the site are divided into sizes S, M, L, and XL, which are further subdivided and arranged according to specific functions. This scalar logic integrates various scales from urban to nano and provides opportunities for the buildings to interact with the users at an intimate human scale as well as creating large iconic landmarks within the site. Like most traditional Chinese cities, Nano-Polis assumes a rectilinear shape with a clearly defined border and staggered internal connections. Also the Idea of the fractal can be found in traditional Chinese cities that are assembled in a recursive logic by blocks, areas, districts, quarters and boroughs, from S to XL respectively.
