BUILDING PARK

Building Park

This project is located in the heart of Shanghai, on a currently unused existing concrete structure facing the Huangpu River.
The abandoned structure is surrounded by a park with lush vegetation where different social dynamics have place, such as walking, leisure activities and fitness, among others.

The magnitude of the structure and its contrast with the immediate space, makes it a very significant object within the urban landscape of this part of the city. While the abandoned structure interrupts the daily uses of the park, the intangible heritage that it represents, relates to the collective memory of the surrounding inhabitants, adding great potential to be re-adapted to contemporary uses.

The engagement of this vertical park with the existing green area lies in connecting the existing metal bridge, a direct connection from the ground, to the 4th floor, the heart of the vertical park.

The insertion within the park creates a perfect loop as part of its circulation. It drives the walker to the top floors, onto a sky garden with bridges area, afterwards engaging with the downward circulation.

The nature of the structure has the possibility of transforming it into an inhabitable object, a vertical characterization of the park, where the concrete is merged with the ascending vegetation. Also new uses are proposed, as walking platforms, retail spots, restaurants and entertainment shops.

Other uses as permanence and resting areas with diverse types of furniture, where different kinds of relations are established with the park, exhibition areas and food and beverage stores complemented with a small art gallery, transforming the structure into a recognizable place for the citizens.

The materiality of the main building is reinforced concrete, without termination covering. The extensions have been done also in reinforced concrete annexing to the existing structure as well as adding new vertical structural elements.

In areas where concrete is weakened either by the absence of a major structure or damage for abandonment, steel solutions that strengthen the structure were applied allowing the new usage arrangements.

As termination details, wooden decks and washed concrete in the semi-closed interiors are used giving a contemporary character to the project.

The top feature provides a remarkably different way to experience the verdant space by proposing bridge connections through a vertical void in the upper slab.
In its whole, the building becomes a catalyzer for outdoor activities, giving a distinctive element to a multipurpose park, providing a remarkably different experience by adding elements to its circulation.

The possibility of re-use and re-cycling disused structures opens a field of urban operation where the architecture and space modeling are strongly associated with the collective memory of the inhabitants. Dynamics that are activated through the renovation of space allowing a new appropriation of its elements, and promoting the emergence of well accepted social dynamics that increase the sense of place in a given territory.

Credits

PROJECT NAME: Building Park
DESIGN: 100 Architects (Shanghai)
DESIGN TEAM: Marcial Jesús, Madalena Sales
CLIENT: Undisclosed
STATUS: Unbuilt
LOCATION: Shanghai, China
COMPLETION: 2014

A fun twist of Chinese traditional architecture in deep China.

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