© 100architects
Mă Way
Hangzhou | China
Mă Way is yet another twist in our recurring series of projects revolving around the concept of the Horse for our regular client, Dong Yuan. First came the popular HorseBox in Chengdu; soon after, the least abstract ones, HorseLand & SeaHorse, both in Chongqing; and finally, the latest, largest and most famous one, Pegasus Trail also in Chongqing.
MaWay | Official Video | 100 Channel
© 100architects
@Rex Zou
After 4 different successful projects exploring alternative ways of playing around same Dong Yuan’s IP image of the Horse, they reached out to us a 5th time for yet another fun twist. This time, for the public realm of a newly built residential development in the city of Hangzhou, our response was a bit more calligraphic: A playscape driven by the actual shape of the Chinese character Mă (马) which guess what? Yeah, it means Horse.
In order to be visible, recognizable and even readable from all the surrounding residential towers, we created a huge Chinese character in eye-catching monochromatic aquamarine green color, and then turned it into a playscape.
© 100architects
© RexZou
We realized that the character’s calligraphic stroke, when geometricized, was ideal for becoming a playful path or Way of entertaining activities filled with challenging obstacles & fun features for encouraging social interactions. Thus, its name, Mă Way. You do it your way.
Furthermore, the canvas onto which the character is calligraphed, the negative surrounding space, complement the path of playful activities with different pocket plazas for leisure, offering seating opportunities in the form of sunken plaza, and shaded areas for kids and adults alike, as well as sports areas for youngsters and teenagers or floor games for kids, converting the space in a multi-functional and multi-generational square.
© RexZou
© RexZou
Taking advantage of the independence of one of the strokes, separated from the main calligraphic body, we proposed a vertical play-wall, which when seen from above looks like a straight stroke line, and when seen from a pedestrian point of view, it becomes a challenging wall full of perforations & vertical games besides climbing and sliding opportunities.
Mă Way has been thoughtfully developed as a “Play Route” from end to end of the different character strokes, having into consideration different challenges and levels of difficulty for different age groups along the path. Calligraphy strokes on the floor set the path along which kids have fun and adults gather or have a rest, unifying them in a colorful path that gives shape and order to the Play Route.
© RexZou
© RexZou
© RexZou
© RexZou
© 100architects
© RexZou
© RexZou
© RexZou
© RexZou
Credits
PROJECT NAME: Mă Way
DESIGN: 100 Architects (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
DESIGN TEAM: Marcial Jesús, Javier González, Mónica Páez, Lara Broglio, Ponyo Zhao, Keith Gong, Cosima Jiang, Michelle Aldora & Yuntong Liu.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM: Matías Hernández, Jenny Fan & Eva Jiang.
CLIENT: Dong Yuan Dichan Properties (东原地产)
SIZE: 8,000 m2
STATUS: Built
LOCATION: Hangzhou (China)
PHOTOGRAPHY: Rex Zou
VIDEOGRAPHY: Lalo López
More images
© 100architects
What is a neighborhood intervention?
This is the medium-scale type of intervention that takes place in the public realm of a city, related to the altering of a portion of a neighborhood. A type of intervention of such magnitude and notoriety impacts not only the immediate surrounding urban environment but rather the urban dynamics of a whole neighborhood, becoming an urban landmark and a local attractor of social interactions in a given neighborhood.
The main objective of this typology is to trigger massive public interest in the place through a strong visual impact and injection of activities, encouraging the increase of high public influx and establishing an urban landmark that can cultivate important human dynamics and boost commercial activity. These phenomena are achieved through the creation of spaces for leisure, entertainment, play and collective joy, catalyzing important social interactions throughout the neighborhood.
This topology of intervention, normally is used by real state developers to bring fresh and unique ideas to the public realm of their urban developments, which contributes to stand out in the market, establishing a distinct brand identity through innovative, and user-oriented design solutions that enhance the quality of life and thus, the appeal and value in the eyes of potential buyers or tenants, increasing the marketability of the project and potentially leading to higher property values, rental rates and ultimately faster sell out. This interventions maximize the value of the entire neighborhood.
Projects
insta100
I love this truck cause you can follow it with your son and go from one game to another one.
A memorable day at this fun playground, a lot of games to play with my little son.
Wow, what a fun place to play! There is truly something for everyone.
Publications
It’s not classical landscape architecture where design focuses on elegant alignment with a space’s existing character, but “injecting identity into places that do not have one,” he says.
El arquitecto chileno que revoluciona el espacio público desde China.
The Other Nest é un sistema ludico iperstimolante e multifunzionale vocato al gioco per tutte le età realizzato da 100architects,...
Moments & Experiences
Home
Projects
Moments
Products
About
