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