Shanghai already counts one millionaire in every 175 people, and a new plan to expand the city’s free-trade zone will boost investment and reinforce its identity as one of the biggest trade hubs in China. Thanks to…
Continue Reading…
Mirrored walls and glass ceilings transform this office interior in Shanghai into a labyrinth of reflected light and imagery (+ slideshow).
Shanghai studio AIM Architecture designed the office for Soho China, the property developers behind Zaha Hadid’s Galaxy Soho and Wangjing Soho projects, and it occupies a space in the company’s Fuxing Plaza complex.
The space functions as a showroom, so the architects wanted to show customers the raw condition of the office units available to rent.
“As Soho rents out the offices in this building in bare shell state, the main design idea is to show the customers what they are actually getting, and at the same time add a layer of inspiring luxury to it,” they said.
Ventilation ducts and other service pipes are visible through a continuous glass ceiling, while glass floors surround individual meeting rooms.
Mirrored partitions alternate with glass screens and windows, juxtaposing views between rooms with framed apertures of the Shanghai skyline.
“The glass-only approach allows a complexity that emerges from a simple choice,” added the architects.
The entrance to the office is via an all-white corridor, where strips of light are reflected to create the illusion of a never-ending grid.
Other offices filled with mirrors and glass include a Tokyo office with a hidden slide and a production studio in New York with translucent screens and glass partitions. See more office interiors »
Photography is by Jerry Yin, Chief Architect, SOHO China.
Here’s a project description from AIM Architecture:
Glass office by AIM Architecture for SOHO China
An all glass and mirror inner cladding exposes the infrastructure of SOHO’s new office building in Shanghai. The glass creates manifold reflections of the sales models and meeting rooms, while leaving the original height and structure in view. This creates a ‘double reality’ that merges with the stunning views of downtown Shanghai.
Membrane ceilings create extra attention for the models. Light and surfaces reflect throughout the space, even further diffused by half see-through mirrors. Some of the floors are islands of stone or carpet, to create static moments to offset this sea of reflectivity.
As SOHO rents out the offices in this building in bare shell state, the main design idea is to show the customers what they are actually getting, and at the same time add a layer of inspiring luxury to it.
The glass-only approach allows creating a complexity that emerges from a simple choice. That is what makes this project bold and layered at the same time.
This project by AIM Architecture is part of Fuxing Plaza, a large mixed-use complex (140.000m2) that hopefully will boost more energy and surprises for the city.
Date of realisation: September 2013
Design team: Wendy Saunders, Vincent de Graaf, German Roig, Carter Chen and Jiao Yan.
Client: SOHO China
The post Glass office for Soho China
by AIM Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.
An old brick and timber house appears to have been cut in two inside the new Shanghai flagship store for shoe brand Camper, designed by Chinese architects Neri&Hu (+ slideshow)
Intended to evoke the look and feel of one of Shanghai’s traditional narrow streets, the newly constructed building was inserted within an old industrial warehouse to turn the store into a “house within a house”.
“The Camper Showroom/Office in Shanghai recalls both the spatial qualities and the vibrant activities characteristic of life in a typical Shanghai alleyway, called a nong-tang,” explained architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu.
Constructed from reclaimed wooden frames and grey bricks, the house structure extends out from one wall of the interior. A mirror runs along one edge, creating the impression of a hinge, while the sliced edges are finished in bright red paint to match the block letters of Camper’s logo.
Offices are located within the house’s upper floors, while the lower level accommodates a traditional shop where shoes are presented on perforated bronze shelves that were custom made by the designers.
More shoes are attached to steel hooks and hang down from a series of suspended steel rods outside the house – a reference to clothes hanging out to dry.
The space below offers a gathering area, which can be used for hosting talks and presentations, and is naturally lit via a huge skylight.
Neri&Hu are the latest in a long list of well-known architects and designers to design interiors for Camper. Other recent stores include Nendo’s Camper New York, Shigeru Ban’s House of Shoes and a Lyon store by Studio Makkink & Bey with staircases that seem to go on forever.
Dezeen recently caught up with Camper founder Miguel Fluxá, who explained why the brand works with such a varied list of designers.
See more stories about Camper »
See more architecture by Neri&Hu »
Photography is by Dirk Weiblen, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s more information from Neri&Hu:
Camper Showroom/Office
Shanghai, China
Drawing inspiration from the surrounding urban condition, the Camper Showroom/Office in Shanghai recalls both the spatial qualities and the vibrant activities characteristic of life in a typical Shanghai alleyway, called a “nong-tang”.
The exterior lane extends into the showroom creating a physical sectional cut of the new house and a gathering space used for presentations and talks. A mirrored surface at the end of the lane visually lengthens the sectional cut.
Neri&Hu inserted their interpretation of a brick and reclaimed wood clad two-storey house into the shell of an existing warehouse, resulting in a layering of spaces from exterior to interior to the in-between, which showcases a unique hanging shoe display.
The house is constructed out of timber framing using locally sourced reused wood and grey bricks as infill material. The wood salvaged from demolished lane houses reveal years of patina from paint, newspaper and wallpaper still attached to the planks.
A new skylight addition above heightens the experience of being in an exterior alley by casting long linear shadows across the walls throughout the day.
Several furniture pieces were custom designed for the project; the bronze perforated shelving, the Neri&Hu Solo Chair with special edition red legs, and a ‘Lazy Susan’ table for the Press Room.
The post Camper Shanghai
by Neri&Hu appeared first on Dezeen.
News: the topping-out ceremony for the Gensler-designed Shanghai Tower, the world’s second-tallest building, takes place in Shanghai tomorrow (Saturday).
The 632 metre-high tower has now reached its full height and is second only to the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, which measures 828 metres.
The topping-out ceremony, to be held at the construction site in the Lujiazui development zone in Shanghai, will be attended by Gensler founder Art Gensler and senior figures from the Chinese government.
The twisting form of the tower is the result of wind-tunnel tests and is designed to reduce wind load by 24% during typhoons.
The 121-storey tower will be divided into nine vertical zones, with retail at the bottom and hotels, cultural facilities and observation decks at the top. The zones in between will contain offices.
Shanghai Tower is due to open in 2014. It forms the centrepiece of the emerging Lujiazui high-rise district in Pudong, which is located on a bend of the Huangpu river opposite downtown Shanghai.
The building already towers over neighbouring buildings including the 421 metre-high, pagoda-shaped Jin Mao Tower by SOM, and the 492 metre-high Shanghai World Financial Center by Kohn Pedersen Fox.
Last summer, research by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats found that nine of the twenty tallest buildings under construction in the world were in China.
Work briefly started earlier this month on what would be the tallest building on earth – the 838 metre-high Sky City in Changsha in central China, which its developers believe they can build in just seven months. However construction was abruptly postponed due to issues with safety certificates and building permits.
Here’s some text about Shanghai Tower from Gensler:
Shanghai Tower will anchor the city’s Lujiazui district, which has emerged as one of East Asia’s leading financial centers. Designed by a local team of Gensler architects to embody Shanghai’s rich culture, the 632-meter-high mixed-use building will complete the city’s super-highrise precinct. It is the most forward-looking of the three towers symbolizing Shanghai’s past, present, and future. The new tower takes inspiration from Shanghai’s tradition of parks and neighborhoods. Its curved façade and spiraling form symbolize the dynamic emergence of modern China. By incorporating sustainable best practices, Shanghai Tower is at the forefront of a new generation of super-highrise towers, achieving the highest level of performance and offering unprecedented community access.
Gensler’s vision for Shanghai Tower has taken tangible form after completion of the immense foundation. Soil conditions in Shanghai—a clay-based mixture typical of a river delta—meant supporting the tower on 831 rein- forced concrete bore piles sunk deep into the ground. For three days, a small army of workers assembled to complete the marathon, 60-hour continuous concrete pour. When the job was finished, more than 61,000 cubic meters of concrete had been used to create the six-meter-thick mat foundation.
The tower’s scale and complexity have created so many “firsts” for China’s construction industry that more than 100 expert panels have been established to analyze every aspect of the design. Workers are busy building forms for the concrete core and erecting the gigantic composite supercolumns—measuring 5 x 4 meters at the base and reinforced with steel plates that weigh 145 metric tons each—that will provide structural support for the tower. To carry the load of the trans- parent glass skin, Gensler designed an innovative curtain wall that is suspended from the mechanical floors above and stabilized by a system of hoop rings and struts. And the strategic division of the tower into nine vertical zones will supply the lifeblood of the building’s heating, cooling, water, and power throughout with less energy and at lower cost.
Gensler won the Shanghai Tower project in an invited multi-stage competition among leading international architects. What secured the win were the tower’s design and performance, and Gensler’s commitment to China. To refine the tower’s shape, Gensler’s team used a series of wind tunnel tests to simulate the region’s greatest natural force, the typhoon. Results produced a structure and shape that reduce wind loads by 24 percent—ultimately yielding a savings of $58 million in construction costs. A simple structure, public spaces within the double façade, and sky gardens based on Shanghai’s traditional open courtyards will make Shanghai Tower an unrivaled asset for the Lujiazui district.
The post World’s second-tallest building tops out in Shanghai appeared first on Dezeen.
News: construction has started on a hotel resort that will nestle into the 100 metre-high rockface of an abandoned water-filled quarry outside Shanghai.
A huge waterfall will pour down from the roof of the 19-storey hotel complex, which will have part of its body built into the cave and two of its floors submerged beneath the water.
An extreme-sports facility will be cantilevered over the quarry, offering rock climbing and bungee jumping, and there will also be an underwater restaurant facing a ten-metre deep aquarium.
The Songjiang Hotel is designed by UK architecture firm Atkins, who won the competition bid in 2006. Construction has just begun and will take up to three years, although the hotel could open in 2015.
Once complete, the hotel will offer around 400 rooms, as well as conference facilities for up to 1000 people, a banqueting hall, restaurants, a swimming pool and a water-sports centre.
The building will use geothermal technologies to generate its own electricity and lighting, while greenery will blanket a roof that extends just two storeys above the edge of the quarry.
China remains at the centre of a construction boom, as nine of the 20 tallest buildings underway in 2012 are located there. Other major projects set for construction in the country include a 838-metre skyscraper with a 90-day construction period and a car-free “satellite city” for 80,000 people. See more architecture in China.
Other radical hotel proposals to surface in recent months include a 300-metre “space hotel” for Barcelona and the world’s largest underwater hotel planned for Dubai. See more hotels on Dezeen.
Here’s a short statement from Atkins:
Atkins is providing architecture, structural and civil engineering services for this leisure resort in China which includes extreme sports facilities, visitor centre and a five-star luxury hotel with some levels of the hotel situated under water. Sustainability is integral to Atkins’ design of this unique resort, built into an abandoned, water-filled quarry.
Our design solution includes the use of green roofing and exploiting the site’s geothermal heat to generate electricity and heating. A naturally-lit internal atrium incorporates the existing rock face, with its waterfalls and green vegetation.
The post Cave hotel underway in
water-filled Chinese quarry appeared first on Dezeen.
Chinese studio Neri&Hu has unmasked the I-beams structure of the oldest steel-framed building in Shanghai to create an Italian restaurant with a raw industrial interior (+ slideshow).
Neri&Hu stripped the inside of the space, leaving exposed brickwork, peeling plaster and Victorian ceilings mouldings intact. The architects then added steel-framed partitions to create a drinks bar, a pizza bar and a series of private dining rooms.
“Stripping back the strata of finishes that have built up after years of renovations, the design concept celebrates the beauty of the bare structural elements,” say the architects.
The main dining area is loosely modelled on a traditional marketplace, which inspired the name Mercato. The two bars are located at the centre and feature industrial steel shelving and reclaimed timber canopies, while glass lamps hang over tables like street lights.
Banquette seating runs through one section of the restaurant, which the architects built using wood found onsite and tubular steel frames.
The three private dining rooms are surrounded by an amalgamation of materials that includes antique mirrors, blackboards, metal mesh, recycled wood, raw steel and textured glass.
“Constantly playing the new against the old, [our] design is a reflection of the complex identity of not only the historical Bund, but of Shanghai at large,” says the studio.
The entrance to the restaurant is a sliding metal gate with words spelled out between its horizontal bars.
Mercato is one of six restaurants at Three on the Bund, a department store along the river in central Shanghai, and it is run by French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu have worked on several renovation projects in Shanghai, including a design gallery in a former colonial police station and the reworking of a 1930s townhouse. Speaking to Dezeen last year, the pair explained that interest in conservation and small scale development is growing in China.
The studio also won World Interior of the Year in 2011 for transforming a disused Japanese army headquarters into a hotel in the same neighbourhood.
See more design by Neri&Hu »
See more architecture in Shanghai »
See more architecture in China »
Photography is by Pedro Pegenaute.
Here’s some more text from Neri&Hu
Mercato at Three on the Bund
Neri&Hu puts the “industrial” back in three Michelin star dining and refined interior at Mercato.
Situated within the prestigious Three on the Bund, Mercato is renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s newest culinary destination in Shanghai, the first of which to serve up an upscale yet rustic Italian fare. Neri&Hu’s design for the 1,000 square metre restaurant draws not only from the chef’s culinary vision but also from the rich historical context of its locale, harkening to early 1900s Shanghai, when the Bund was a bustling industrial hub.
Stripping back the strata of finishes that have built up after years of renovations, the design concept celebrates the beauty of the bare structural elements. Three on the Bund was the first building in Shanghai to be built out of steel, and the architects’ decision to reveal the original steel columns pays homage to this extraordinary feat. Against the textured backdrop of the existing brickwork, concrete, plaster and mouldings, new insertions are clearly demarcated. Constantly playing the new against the old, Neri&Hu’s design is a reflection of the complex identity of not only the historical Bund, but of Shanghai at large.
Coming off the lift, one notices immediately the Victorian plaster ceilings above, its gorgeous aged patina juxtaposed against raw steel insertions: a series of lockers along the wall, a sliding metal gate threshold, and the suspended rail from which a collection of eclectic glass bulbs hang—the opulence of old Shanghai coinciding with a grittier side.
Making reference to the restaurant’s name, the vibrant atmosphere inside the main dining space recalls a street side marketplace, featuring at its centre the Bar and the Pizza Bar, both encased in steel mesh and wire glass boxes with recycled wood canopies. Above, a network of tube steel members, inspired by old-time butcher’s rails, intertwine with the exposed ductwork and form a system for hanging both shelving and lighting. Like a deconstructed sofa, the banquettes along the edge of the dining area are made from wood salvaged on site and embedded into a metal frame.
The private dining rooms are also featured in the space as metal-framed enclosures, infilled with panels of varying materials: reclaimed wood, natural steel, antique mirror, metal mesh and chalk board. A band of textured glass along the top edge of each PDR affords some transparency, while sliding doors between each room provide maximum flexibility. This language continues into the corridor between the kitchen and dining area, where a back lit wall of textured glass panels – inspired by old warehouse windows – encourages interaction between the chef and his patrons.
Diners seated along the edges of the room experience a different sort of ambiance. To bring lightness into the space, the perimeter represents an in-between zone: between interior and exterior, between architecture and landscape, between the domestic and the urban. Clad in white travertine, the walls here act as a temporary departure from the other rich textures and palettes. The focus here is simply the breathtaking views of the Bund beyond, drawing the far reaches of the city into the dining space itself.
The post Mercato at Three on the Bund
by Neri&Hu appeared first on Dezeen.
Après son incroyable timelapse Traffic in Vietnam, le photographe Rob Whitworth nous propose de découvrir de la même façon Shanghai, ville fourmillante aux 4 000 gratte-ciels. Une superbe création réalisée en collaboration avec JT Singh et produite par A ThrillingCities à découvrir dans la suite.
News: construction has started on a mixed-use development by Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen on the former site of the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
The 50,000-square-metre Green Valley project is located next to the red Chinese pavilion and will feature shops, offices and restaurants.
Two major buildings will be located on each side of a central courtyard of greenery and water, with each featuring hanging gardens in its atrium.
“It will be a green, sustainable landmark for the city and for the entire region,” said Kristian Lars Ahlmark, partner at Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, which has offices in Shanghai as well as Aarhus and Copenhagen.
Green Valley, which is expected to be completed in 2015, is one of four projects across Shanghai designed by the same architects, all of which are redevelopments of the former industrial sites along the riverfront.
Other projects by the architects include a spiralling titanium-clad cathedral in northern Norway and the under-construction International Criminal Court in The Hague – see all architecture by Schmidt Hammer Lassen.
Many of the national pavilions at the Shangai Expo in 2010 were featured on Dezeen, include Thomas Heatherwick’s British pavilion made with 60,000 fibre optic rods and the Danish pavilion by BIG, which featured hundreds of free bikes and a swimming pool – see all coverage of the Shanghai Expo.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
On 30 May 2013, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, East China Architecture and Design Institute, and Shanghai Expo Construction Development Company celebrated the ground breaking for, and start of construction of, the new Green Valley project on the site of the former 2010 Shanghai Expo.
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects won the international competition in 2012 to design the 50,000-square-metre project located immediately next to the iconic Chinese pavilion. The Green Valley development will become a new central urban development in Shanghai, integrating new sustainable solutions in both the urban design and the individual buildings on the site.
The Shanghai World Expo in 2010 placed emphasis on the future sustainable development of the formal industrial dockyard area of the city. The Expo event itself transformed this area into a new destination for the city. What remains after the Expo event is over and most of the pavilions are torn down is a strong and well-developed infrastructure with green parks, promenades and cultural attractions. The Green Valley project will mark the heart of the new permanent development of the site.
“The new Green Valley development, with offices, shops and restaurants, will become a new destination not only for the main users of the area but for people from Shanghai in general,” explained Kristian Lars Ahlmark, partner and project responsible at Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. “It will be a green, sustainable landmark for the city and for the entire region. It is a great honour to be part of this development on such a prominent site.”
A central open space composed of greenery, water and a soft landscape runs through the middle of the site. It functions as the spine of the Green Valley. This open space splits the site equally into two, with two major buildings located on each side. The buildings have a large, connected structure, tightly choreographed to set a new scene for urban life. It will act as a guiding element in the development of the entire area.
The buildings are designed to offer modern office facilities with a high standard of finish, flexibility, consideration of environmental issues, and low operating costs. The design expresses openness and accessibility, with a strong identity. The green hanging gardens inside the open atriums will be visible from the surrounding areas, and the people working in the buildings will be offered a great view to the greenery and city beyond.
“The project is designed so that, despite the monumental scale of the site, it relates to the human scale in the public spaces, giving a diverse, vibrant and inclusive community,” said Chris Hardie, associate partner and head of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects’ Shanghai office.
The Green Valley is just one of four major projects currently being designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects in the centre of Shanghai. All the projects relate to the redevelopment of the former industrial areas along the riverfront, and build on the studio’s celebrated track record in regenerating a number of prominent waterfront sites in major cities throughout Scandinavia. In Shanghai, the studio is designing the new Xuhui Binjiang Performance Arts Centre, is working on a redevelopment of a former coal storage building which will become a new art gallery and museum for an international art dealer, and has recently been appointed to design a pavilion for the West Bund International Biennale of Art and Architecture, alongside architects Atelier Deshaus, Atelier BowWow and Pritzker prize winner Wang Shu.
The Green Valley development is expected to be completed in 2015.
Lead design architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects
Local architect: ECADI (East China Architecture and Design Institute)
Client: Shanghai EXPO Construction Development Co. Ltd.
Area: 50,000 m²
Competition: 2012, 1st prize in invited international competition
Status: Construction period 2013 – 2015
The post Schmidt Hammer Lassen breaks ground
on former Shanghai Expo site appeared first on Dezeen.
Based in Shanghai and born from a small collective of designers, filmmakers, musicians and entrepreneurs, NeochaEDGE is a multi-faceted and successful creative agency and production house. It’s a pioneering company—founded by Adam J. Schokora and Sean…
Continue Reading…
Chinese architecture studio Neri&Hu sliced away the rear wall and replaced it with glass for this renovation of a 1930s townhouse in Shanghai.
The three-storey building is located in the Tianzifang district of the Chinese city, where it originally functioned as a house for a single family. Neri&Hu‘s redesign converts the building into three divisible apartments, each with a combined living and dining room at the back and a bedroom at the front.
A bulky metal staircase replaces the old timber steps that previously connected the floors. Sandblasted glass (completed after photography) separates the stairway from the corridor of each apartment so that residents can see the outlines of neighbours passing by.
A 45-degree skylight brings daylight into the stairwell, while a shared laundry room and terrace are positioned at the top.
“The blurring of both the private and the public acts as the central concept that binds the split level together, and at the same time, bring life to the middle and darkest portion of the house,” says Neri&Hu.
The building is arranged over split levels, so the architects have also inserted a second set of stairs within two of the apartments. Unlike the main staircase, both are constructed from timber to match the flooring.
Bathrooms stretch along the southern side of each apartment and are enclosed behind another layer of sandblasted glass. Showers feature a west-facing window, offering a view down into the shared lobby below.
New windows were added to both the front and rear elevations, while the rest of the exterior has been coated in black paint. “The colour black was selected to make the building disappear,” add the architects.
Although the building was designed for three separate tenants, it is currently being used as one large house.
Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu have worked on a number of renovation projects in Shanghai, where their studio is also located. Past projects include a design gallery in a former colonial police station and a hotel in a disused army headquarters building, which was the overall winner at the inaugural Inside awards in 2011.
Dezeen interviewed the architects in November, when they told us that Chinese architects need to develop their own design manifesto to stem the tide of “half-assed” building projects in the country. See more stories about Neri&Hu on Dezeen.
See more recent architecture in China, including an asterisk-shaped restaurant and winery near Beijing.
Photography is by Pedro Pegenaute.
Here’s a project description from Neri&Hu:
Rethinking the Split House
The magical lane houses, which were once the dominant fabric that made urban Shanghai the intoxicating place that it was in the 1930s, are now slowly being demolished, taken over by high-density developments all over the city. Neri&Hu was commissioned to reconstruct a dilapidated lane house left with almost nothing except its glorious shell in the historic and artistic Tianzifang area in Shanghai, and the mission was to transform it into three separate apartment units.
Neri&Hu’s strategy was to rethink the typology of the lane house – keeping the split level formation, a typical trait to lane houses in this city, and add spatial interest through new insertions and skylights to accentuate the architectural integrity of such a typology, contemporising it for today’s lifestyle.
Historically the lane houses are separated with two distinct spaces – a longer and often rectangular space with a smaller room half a level above that creates a split section connected by a winding stairway in between. These lane houses which were often occupied by single families during the turn of the century, have changed over the course of the city’s economic history. They are now typically occupied by three or more families, sharing the public staircase and landings, so that neighbours living on different levels or rooms have a chance to interact as they move in and out of their personal units.
To keep the spirit of this typology alive, a new continuous metal stair was inserted to replace the old decaying wooden stair that was not to code. It also serves to act both as a vertical connection to the three levels and at the same time a lock for the frontal room and room half a level above to be intact in its configuration. To keep these spaces pure and rigorous, all toilets were inserted into the stair spaces. The bathrooms, conceivably the most intimate spaces of each apartment, are inserted next to the most public stairway separated only with a sandblasted glass divider. Above this stairway, a clearstory skylight was added to bring light to the darkest space and also to the frontal room, the room half a level above, and the staircase space itself. The blurring of both the private and the public acts as the central concept that binds the split level together, and at the same time, bring life to the middle and darkest portion of the lane house.
Architecturally, the decorative elements added over the last 60 years were stripped off, and large openings were created on the frontal section to improve light qualities to the public spaces of each apartment. The colour black was selected to make the building “disappear”, in hoping that one would experience the split-section connected by a public stairway that is so vital to Shanghai’s urban life in the 30s. By capturing the spirit of the historic past and making new abstract insertions to meet modern needs, Neri&Hu infused life into a lane house in a neighborhood whose original fabric is dissolving too fast, too soon.
The post Rethinking the Split House
by Neri&Hu appeared first on Dezeen.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
