Dawn Bridge in Zhujiajiao

by | 17 Feb 2018 | Design, Design, Outdoor

Bridge with grandstand

Dawn Bridge in Zhujiajiajiao

Site

The site of Dawn Bridge lies between the old town of Zhuji­a­jiao and new resi­den­tial deve­lo­p­ments, between the exis­ting crossings of the Fang­s­heng Bridge (a land­mark since 1571) and the Qingpu Bridge (a low-key modern road bridge). Zhuji­a­jiao is a water town on the outskirts of Shanghai, and was estab­lished about 1,700 years ago. Archaeo­lo­gical findings dating back 5,000 years have also been found. 36 stone bridges and nume­rous rivers line Zhuji­a­jiao, and many ancient buil­dings still line the river­banks today.

Lightness and elegance

Given that Dawn Bridge should estab­lish a rela­tion with the histo­rical and calm surroun­ding, the height of cons­truc­tion is kept inten­tio­nally low. The vertical alignment defines the sense of light­ness and elegance of a bridge. MVRDV aimed at provi­ding a graceful low curve above the water to blend with the land­scape. Beyond blen­ding, the aim is to provide a bridge for ever­y­body. By keeping the vertical alignment to a max and a slope of 8%, the bridge becomes acces­sible to all people whether on foot or on wheels (bicy­cles and wheel­chairs).

Architect

MVRDV bv Achterklooster 7 NL — 3011 RA Rotterdam

Client

Zhujiajiao Municipality

Team

Design MVRDV Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries
Design Team Wenchian Shi, Marta Pozo, Lorenzo Mattozzi with Wenzhao Jia, Cosimo Scotucci, Jose Sanmartin, Enrico Pintabona, Chi Zhang, Artemis Maneka, Cai Zheli, Ray Zhu, Jammy Zhu and Alice Huang
Visualization Antonio Luca Coco, Davide Calabrò, Giovanni Coni and Pavlos Ventouris

Author

MVRDV

Photograph

© MVRDV

Aerial view

Thank you, Google!

Delicate surrounding

The bridge further estab­lishes a rela­tion with the deli­cate surroun­ding by absor­bing its palette of colours and mate­rials. The grey roofs are recalled by the grey asphalt, while the white walls are expressed by the white bridge struc­ture. The reddish wood of houses and boats becomes the cover of the pede­strian deck and landings. Finally, the green of water and nature appears in form of trees on top of the deck as in the Fang­s­heng Bridge.

The bridge favours the view over the old town of Zhuji­a­jiao and maxi­mizes the space available for pede­strians. While giving prio­rity to pede­strians, the bridge also considers the driver expe­ri­ence as it winds slightly to provide ever-chan­ging perspec­tives of the surroun­ding.

Grandstand

To mini­mize the noise and air pollu­tion coming from the road bridge, the middle truss is cladded and covered by a new struc­ture: the flat deck morphs into a tridi­men­sional struc­ture and becomes a tribute. The grand­stand provides a viewing plat­form and a gathe­ring place over­loo­king the water.

To provide a passage along the river­front, the landings become stair­cases that allow pede­strians to cross on top. In addi­tion, the landings them­selves become a place for obser­ving and reaching the water. By connec­ting directly to the water, the bridge connects with the river and the network of canals that form and iden­tify Zhuji­a­jiao. The inau­gu­ra­tion of the bridge will start a virtuous process of brin­ging life and acti­vi­ties along the river banks.

Living room

The Fang­s­heng Bridge is already a land­mark and a tourist attrac­tion. The new link will be striking in its own right, without overs­ha­dowing history. It will serve the purpose of appre­cia­ting the surroun­ding: not just a link, but a new urban item.

The bridge eleva­tion is a new horizon and the tribune a new light rising from it: they will reflect the first light of every morning in Zhuji­a­jiao. The Dawn Bridge will be will a living room and an active part of the commu­nity, allo­wing people to gather, cele­brate and contem­p­late the river land­scape.

Zhangjiang Future Park

by | 28 Jan 2018 | Design, Sports Centres

Social Catalyzer

Zhangjiang Future Park in Shanghai

Location

Zhang­jiang Hi-Tech Park is located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. It was estab­lished in 1992 as a site for busi­ness enter­prises, R&D compa­nies and educa­tion insti­tu­tions who operate within the world of high-tech­no­logy and inno­va­tion. Over time many national and inter­na­tional compa­nies have chosen to settle there and today there are appro­xi­m­ately 4,000 compa­nies and over 100,000 workers in the area.

Besides being a busi­ness and indus­trial park, Zhang­jiang Hi-Tech Park is also a resi­den­tial neigh­bour­hood for the workers’ fami­lies. The Zhang­jiang commu­nity is ther­e­fore mostly consti­tuted by highly educated people who work and study in the area. The goal of Zhang­jiang Future Park is to provide the commu­nity with public faci­li­ties that are lacking in the area: a social centre where people can meet, gather, talk, learn, play and enjoy each other’s company in a high-quality and beau­tiful setting.

Architect

MVRDV bv
Achterklooster 7
NL-3011 RA Rotterdam

Zhangjiang Future Park

The MVRDV project for Zhang­jiang Future Park aims at inser­ting a new urban complex that on the one hand expresses Zhangjiang’s current character and on the other hand expresses its future ambi­tions. Zhang­jiang Future Park will be located on an island, at the cross­roads of valuable green areas and water bodies. The concept stems from a combi­na­tion of nature, culture, enter­tain­ment and sports.

A smart combi­na­tion of these aspects is at the core of the proposal. High-quality public space and leisure acti­vi­ties are inte­grated in a park setting. The proposal combines the rela­xa­tion coming from a natural setting with the intense exci­te­ment of a city centre. Zhang­jiang Future Park consists of a vertical laye­ring of the two condi­tions. Park lawns and urban plazas are set at two diffe­rent levels and have very diffe­rent and reco­gnizable charac­ters. They are strongly connected by multiple paths that allow visi­tors to easily move from one to the other. Toge­ther they form a new hybrid morpho­logy which responds flexibly to the needs of the Zhang­jiang commu­nity at any time of the week.

Team

Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries
Wenchian Shi, Marta Pozo Gil with Marco Gazzola, Lorenzo Mattozzi, Enrico Pintabona, Chiara Giro­lami, Shengjie Zhan, Cai Zheli, Cosimo Scotucci, Wenzhao Jia, Emma Rubeillon, Chi Zhang, Ray Zhu, Chi Li
Antonio Luca Coco, Paolo Mossa Idra, Costanza Cuccato, Davide Calabrò, Pavlos Ventouris, Tomaso Maschi­etti

Master plan

Integration

The buil­ding volumes gently blend into the land­scape and provide the park with acti­vi­ties. Multiple access points converge towards the main central square, provi­ding each a diffe­rent percep­tion of the site. The design proposal forms an intri­guing silhou­ette, a reco­gnizable coll­ec­tion of buil­dings that emerge from the park: a crack in the land­scape that produces urban life. People are able to walk not just around the buil­dings, but even on top of them, ther­e­fore expe­ri­en­cing radi­cally diffe­rent perspec­tives of the site. The green roofs programme is as lively and diverse as the park programme and strongly inte­grated with the buil­dings’ func­tions.

Zhang­jiang Future Park is formed by four large public buil­dings, a library, an art centre, a perfor­mance centre and a sport centre. Toge­ther they offer an outstan­ding array of cultural and enter­tai­ning services within a very short walking distance in between them.

Client

Zhangjiang Group Co. Ltd.

Author

MVRDV bv
Achterklooster 7
NL-3011 RA Rotterdam
AXONOMETRY

The sports centre

The sports centre offers two main acti­vity areas, one related to water sports and the other to ball games. A common entrance leads to both, the olym­pionic swim­ming pool and the multi­func­tional sports hall. The 10,000 m² of sport faci­li­ties will be exposed to the land­scape and the natural light, making an indoor match feel like an outdoor event.

Address

Zhangjiang District
CN-Shanghai

Aerial view

Thank you, Google!

Padel Dubai

by | 5 Dec 2017 | Design, Sports Halls

Eye-catcher

Padel Dubai

Padel

OOIIO desi­gned a new Padel Courts complex at a fanta­stic loca­tion: Kite Beach, Dubai. 

Padel is a racquet sport invented in Mexico in 1969. In the US and Canada the sport is known as Paddle. It is curr­ently most popular in Hispanic American count­ries such as Argen­tina and Mexico as well as in Spain and Andorra, although it is now begin­ning to spread rapidly across Europe and other conti­nents.

Padel is typi­cally played in doubles on an enclosed court a third the size of a tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis and the balls used are similar but with a little less pres­sure, the main diffe­rences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, string­less racquets are used. The height of the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.

However, Padel is a brand-new sport to the Emirates and the client wants to present it to the whole country as a cool new way of having fun playing with friends, working out your body and taking care of your health.

Architect

OOIIO Archi­tec­ture
Paseo de San Illán, 47. Local Derecho
28019, Madrid
Spain

Team

Joaquín Millán Villa­muelas, Gabriela Sanz Rodrí­guez, Sergio González Gómez, Isabel Sánchez Puerta, M. Soledad Antón Vicente, Cris­tina Vicario del Cojo, Sergio Velan­drino Poveda

Client

Carbon­eras Sports Agency

Author of text

OOIIO

The Kite Beach concept

OOIIO were asked to create a new and impres­sive Padel Complex in one of the best loca­tions one could imagine for a project like this: Kite Beach, on Dubai´s seafront. Kite Beach is the place where surfers and people who love sports go to relax and enjoy the wind and the great weather almost all year long.

Doubt to this nice climatic condi­tions and great stra­tegic loca­tion with a lot of sports enthu­si­a­stics all around, the archi­tects decided to create an open group of struc­tures: light enough to welcome passen­gers and allow players to enjoy the awesome views to the sea and beach. OOIIO don´t want to create this buil­ding as a generic closed container box. Not here, not if you want to show a new sport to ever­yone in this country.

This is why every Padel Court is surrounded by a big fancy shaped beam, cladded with light canes, appro­priate for a seafront loca­tion serving for several design goals:

  • Catch the passen­gers’ views thanks to its cool shape
  • The canes façade creates shadows and sun protec­tion
  • The typical “big” sports centre is split up into several smaller centres, cheaper and easier to control clima­ti­cally. No energy will be wasted as HVAC will be swit­ched on and off, depen­ding on its use
  • The beams also provide a perfect struc­ture to hung fabrics and totally close the courts during hot summer, lear­ning from local tradi­tional archi­tec­ture.

One new Padel Court concept to promote a new way of sports buil­dings, more related with sustaina­bi­lity and the natural seasons weather.

Address

Kite Beach
Dubai
UAE.

Aerial view

Thank you, Google

Size

1,496 m²

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Manta Point Skywalk

by | 27 Nov 2017 | Design, Outdoor

Watching the rays

Manta Point Skywalk at Nusa Penida

Genius loci

Nusa Penida is an island southeast of Indonesia’s island Bali. Nusa Penida covers a wide area of diving loca­tions, inclu­ding Penida Bay, Batu Meling, Batu Abah, Toya Pakeh, Malibu Point – and Manta Bay, a bay frequented by tourist boats because it is a known loca­tion for spot­ting and swim­ming with Manta Rays. The inte­rior of Nusa Penida is hilly with a maximum alti­tude of 524 metres. There is very little tourist infra­struc­ture so far. Manta Point Skywalk will change this.

At 150 metres above sea level and over­loo­king the vast Indian Ocean, Manta Point will be the ideal tourist desti­na­tion in Nusa Penida Island. It is an ecotou­rism prime spot for divers, a place to enjoy diversed marine ecosystem and encounter Manta Rays, one of the rare marine animals on earth, which nowa­days divers or marine life lovers are trying to protect from illegal fishing prac­tices.

Architects

PHL Archi­tects
Patrick Lim     Hendy Lim
Archi­tec­ture | Urban Design | Sustainable Tall Buil­ding | M.I.T
Condo­mi­nium Taman Anggrek Tower 5 / 46 A
Jln. Letjen. S. Parman Kav. 21
Jakarta 11470
Indo­nesia

Team

Hendy­anto Lim, Patrick Lim
Joseph Fredrik, Melina

Author of text

PHL Archi­tects

ORIGINAL

DESIGN

You should be free from giddiness

With a view over­loo­king the Indian Ocean, Manta Point Skywalk is a loop bridge over­han­ging on the edge of Manta Point cliff. The aim is to create an archi­tec­tural iconic form that will allow visi­tors to enjoy the beau­tiful coast and enjoy the sight of manta rays below them. The distinct design of the skywalks derived from the local organic marine animal, Manta Rays. The studies of manta rays loco­mo­tion and move­ments become the base of the design through its propor­tion. Thus, the distinc­tive charac­te­ristic of Nusa Penida is reflected through Manta Point Skywalk, allo­wing people to reco­gnize the beauty of Nusa Penida through its archi­tec­ture.

The project stresses the importance of site-specific factors to achieve a sense of place both in spatial and social terms. The complex ties that bind people to place arise through inter­ac­tion with the distinct elements of place, which combine to give a place its indi­vi­dual iden­tity. The use of local idio­syn­cratic element in Nusa Penida, the Manta Ray, as a design inspi­ra­tion brings meaningful purpose and increase the sense of attach­ment in space. Ther­e­fore, Manta Point Skywalk is an archi­tec­tural physical mani­fes­ta­tion of coun­ter­ac­ting alien­ation and homo­gen­eity in a globa­lized world through adding character to a place.

Manta Point Skywalk has been short­listed for the World Archi­tec­ture Festival 2017 under the Leisure-led Deve­lo­p­ment-Future Project Cate­gory.

Address

Manta Point Beach
Nusa Penida
Bali
Indo­nesia

Aerial view

Thank you, Google

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Opening

2018

PHOTOGRAPHS

MANTA POINT SCUBA DIVING IN NUSA PENIDA
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THE ARCHITECTS
PHL Architects, Patrick Lim and Hendy Lim

PHL Archi­tects is an award winning archi­tec­tural firm with specia­li­sa­tion in sustainable tall buil­dings, commer­cial, hospi­ta­lity, office, leisure and cultural buil­dings, inclu­ding urban design.

Since its forma­tion, PHL Archi­tects has won several awards and their works have been published and exhi­bited in nume­rous events such as in Tokyo, Hong Kong and The Nether­lands.

Xili Sports and Cultural Centre

by | 19 Oct 2017 | Design, Sports Centres

From bigness to compression

Xili Sports and Cultural Centre, Shenzhen

Situation

Located in a resi­den­tial area along the Dasha Green Corridor, which stret­ches from the Nanshan moun­tain park to the Yangtai moun­tain park, the soon-to-be realised Xili Sports and Cultural Centre, Shen­zhen is an expe­ri­ence centre for sports, well-being, leisure and culture seeking to achieve profound connec­tions between nature, sports and culture, thus serving wide-ranging age groups and inte­rests.

Shen­zhen (12,470,000 inha­bi­tants) is the fastest deve­lo­ping urban region in China, trans­forming from produc­tion to a more know­ledge-driven economy. These new sports centres fit into these deve­lo­p­ments focu­sing on a better quality of life. The city’s boom as an economic power­house has given rise to high-density usage, with stadium-sized sports arenas to match.

 

From bigness to compression through understanding

There is now a need for a more human-centred approach. The chall­enge was to go from bigness to compres­sion through under­stan­ding urba­nism.

MVRDV’s design for the densi­fi­ca­tion and deve­lo­p­ment of a sports and cultural centre responds to the growing demand for fitness sports venues, with the inten­tion of intro­du­cing a more fun, human, social and sustainable model that departs from popu­list Olympic-sized sports arenas. Exer­cise is still the main func­tion here, but inter­ac­tion within singular spaces gives way for more open zones, where diffe­rent sports and social acti­vi­ties can occur. The centre is an urban inter­face that allows for flexible use during diffe­rent time frames, crossing boun­da­ries between sports and culture, whilst streng­thening the commu­nity by encou­ra­ging locals and visi­tors to interact in these multi­func­tional spaces.

Architect

MVRDV
Achter­klooster 7
NL — 3011 RA Rotterdam
PO Box 63136
NL — 3002 JC Rotterdam
t  +31 (0)104772860
f  +31 (0)104773627 

MVRDV china 
Anken Air
4I, 4F, No. 1 Buil­ding, No. 181
Lane 465 Zhen Ning Road
CHINA — 200050 Shanghai
t +86 21 62880609  

Project team

Design team:
Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries, Wenchian Shi, Gustavo van Staveren, Tian­tian Zhang, Daehee Suk, Duong Vu Hong, Patryk Slusarski, Xiao­ting Chen, Mikel Vazquez, Bowen Zhu

Co-archi­tect:
Zhubo Archi­tec­ture Design

Client

Shen­zhen Nanshan Govern­ment

Large-scale with a social aspect

MVRDV wanted to combine a large-scale sports stadium with a social aspect connec­ting it with the commu­nity. This was achieved by arran­ging diffe­rent volumes on the site around a new diagonal (green) bridge linking the Chaguang metro station in the south, with the Tanglan moun­tains in the north, making this centre a stage for diffe­rent users — nature, sports and culture.

The 105,000m² centre consists of a

  • 20,000m² theatre-amphi­theatre,
  • 15,000m² Basket­ball-Badminton arena,
  • 10,000m² multi­func­tional arena and
  • 6,000m² swim­ming pool,

presen­ting a dynamic public space with multiple layers. During the day, on the evenings or at weekends, diffe­rent groups of people with diffe­rent needs can also serve as a guide­line for programming of the coll­ec­tive spaces. A special elevated running track is the signa­ture element of the complex as it connects, weaves in and out of all volumes. It also invites people to go for an exci­ting run around the complex, relax and socia­lise both inside and outside.

 

Realisation

MVRDV’s team worked with co-archi­tects, Zhubo Archi­tec­ture Design who are renowned for their influ­en­tial works in Shen­zhen and throug­hout China, along­side adop­ting a huma­ni­stic approach to the effect of the design and cons­truc­tion process on health, well-being and fitness.

Xili Sports and Cultural Centre will be MVRDV’s first project under cons­truc­tion in Shen­zhen, starting in 2017.

Physical address

Xili an area of Nanshan District
Shen­zhen
South China

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Inauguration

2017 +

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