Beijing: The Latest Architecture and News

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"A counteraction to what is happening today in China," OPEN Architecture's Garden School in Beijing seeks to reconnect its students with nature. Located in a new town that, as founding partner Li Hu says, was built "too fast," the school serves as one of the few spaces students can interact with nature. The school is designed like a garden, from its sloping "floor zero" to rooftop gardens, offering unconventional spaces for teaching and inviting public areas that encourage social interaction.

“What is problematic is that these new towns are designed too fast, without much thinking about how the spaces are going to be used, and what kind of space they are going to create. I think it is a problem for human psychology. Living in a new town with not enough good green space, good social space, we’ll become very problematic urban animals,” Hu told Spirit of Space.

Read on for a conversation with the architects. 

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Addressing the budding concept of intellectual property in China, KUAN Architects has revealed their proposal for the Intellectual Property Office Headquarters at the Beijing TBD. The project sits at the crossing of the North-South axis of the Badaling Expressway and the East-West axis of the TBD, an irregular quadrilateral footprint among several rectangular developments. Both sides of the main axis of the TBD are divided into 5 parcels - simple, concise shapes that balance the irregularity of the site and reconcile its plan with the surroundings. Using these building volumes, a plaza is created in the centre.

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Videos

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