«sliced Porosity Block»
The «Sliced Porosity Block» will be located just south of the
intersection of the First Ring Road and Ren Min Nan Road. Its sun
sliced geometry results from minimum daylight exposures to the
surrounding urban fabric prescribed by code. Porous and inviting from
every side, five vertical entrances cut through a layer of micro-urban
shopping before leading to the elevated public "Three Valley" plaza. A
great urban terrace on the scale of Rockefeller Center, this
multi-level plaza in the center of the complex is sculpted by stone
steps, ramps, trees, and ponds and caters to special events or to a
casual afternoon in the sun. Here the public space parallax of
overlapping geometries in strict black and white is supercharged by
color that glows from the shops positioned underneath the plaza.
The three generous ponds on the plaza are inspired by a poem by Du Fu
(713-770), in which he describes how 'Time has left stranded in Three
Valleys'. (Du Fu was one of ancient China's most important poets, who
spent a part of his life in Chengdu). These three ponds function as
skylights to the six-story shopping precinct below, and are pierced by
diagonal stray escalators that thrust upwards to three 'buildings
within buildings'. Residing on voids in the facades of the sculpted
blocks these pavilions are designed by Steven Holl (history pavilion),
Lebbeus Woods (high tech pavilion), and Ai Wei Wei (Du Fu pavilion).
The «Sliced Porosity Block» is heated and cooled geo-thermally and the
large plaza ponds harvest recycled rainwater while the natural grasses
and lily pads create a natural cooling effect. High-performance
glazing, energy-efficient equipment and the use of regional materials
are just a few of the other methods employed to reach the LEED gold
rating.
The «Sliced Porosity Block» is the third large urban development SHA
is designing in China and led by Steven Holl and Li Hu. Currently
under construction are a floating horizontal skyscraper over maximized
landscape in Shenzhen, the Vanke Center, and the Linked Hybrid
(Beijing), a group of eight towers and 660 geothermal wells linked by
public sky-bridges, which is scheduled for completion in summer 2008.
In addition to these urban projects Steven Holl Architects is
currently working on the construction of the Nanjing Museum of Art &
Architecture which will open in late 2008