Social Catalyzer

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.

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.

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.

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.