flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Visiting Beijing's massive Chaoyang Park Plaza will be like 'moving through a urban forest'

Visiting Beijing's massive Chaoyang Park Plaza will be like 'moving through a urban forest'

The focal point of the new development will be a pair of asymmetrical towers.


By BD+C Staff | April 30, 2014
The plans for Chaoyang Park Plaza were floated two years ago, and now the design
The plans for Chaoyang Park Plaza were floated two years ago, and now the design is taking shape. Renderings courtesy MAD archit

The plans for Chaoyang Park Plaza were floated two years ago by MAD architects, and now the design is taking shape.

Located in Beijing's central business district, the massive development was designed with its surroundings in mind, meant to illustrate the relationship between architecture and the natural environment, DesignBoom reports

Chaoyang Park Plaza is one of Beijing's largest green spaces, and the plaza is locate at the edge. Containing 120,000 square meters of commercial, residential, and office buildings, the plaza is envisioned as a modern, urban forest.

Visitors will have the feeling of moving through a forest, based on the spatial organization of the plaza.

The focal point of the new development will be a pair of asymmetrical towers, covered with ridges and valleys, as a partially eroded mountain.

The ridges are actually a part of an advanced ventilation and filtration system that pulls air inside. These towers are connected by a 17-meter tall lobby. A rooftop garden will top the lobby. 

All renderings courtesy of MAD architects.

Related Stories

Sustainability | Sep 18, 2024

3 living buildings made by a living practice

Prompting humans to reexamine our relationship to the environment, architecture creates the opportunity for us to physically experience ideas of beauty, performance, and structure through the distinct lens of place.

3D Printing | Sep 17, 2024

Alquist 3D and Walmart complete one of the nation’s largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures

Walmart has completed one of the largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures in the US. Alquist 3D printed the almost 8,000-sf, 20-foot-high addition to a Walmart store in Athens, Tenn. The expansion, which will be used for online pickup and delivery, is the first time Walmart has applied 3D printing technology at this scale. 

Retail Centers | Sep 17, 2024

Thinking outside the big box (store)

For over a decade now, the talk of the mall industry has been largely focused on what developers can do to fill the voids left by a steady number of big box store closures. But what do you do when big box tenants stay put?

Government Buildings | Sep 17, 2024

OSHA’s proposed heat standard published in Federal Register

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a proposed standard addressing heat illness in outdoor and indoor settings in the Federal Register. The proposed rule would require employers to evaluate workplaces and implement controls to mitigate exposure to heat through engineering and administrative controls, training, effective communication, and other measures.

Codes and Standards | Sep 17, 2024

New California building code encourages, but does not mandate heat pumps

New California homes are more likely to have all-electric appliances starting in 2026 after the state’s energy regulators approved new state building standards. The new building code will encourage installation of heat pumps without actually banning gas heating. 

Mass Timber | Sep 17, 2024

Marina del Rey mixed-use development is L.A.’s largest mass timber project

An office-retail project in Marina del Rey is Los Angeles’ largest mass timber project to date. Encompassing about 3 acres, the 42XX campus consists of three low-rise buildings that seamlessly connect with exterior walkways and stairways. The development provides 151,000 sf of office space and 1,500 sf of retail space.

Education Facilities | Sep 16, 2024

Hot classrooms, playgrounds spur K-12 school districts to go beyond AC for cooling

With hotter weather occurring during the school year, school districts are turning to cooling strategies to complement air conditioning. Reflective playgrounds and roads, cool roofs and window films, shade structures and conversion of asphalt surfaces to a natural state are all being tried in various regions of the country. 

Office Buildings | Sep 16, 2024

Maximizing office square footage through ‘agile planning’

Lauren Elliott, RID, NCIDQ, Director of Interior Design, Design Collaborative, shares tips for a designing with a popular and flexible workspace model: Agile planning.

3D Printing | Sep 13, 2024

Swiss researchers develop robotic additive manufacturing method that uses earth-based materials—and not cement

Researchers at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, have developed a new robotic additive manufacturing method to help make the construction industry more sustainable. Unlike concrete 3D printing, the process does not require cement.

Libraries | Sep 12, 2024

How space supports programming changes at university libraries

GBBN Associate Sarah Kusuma Rubritz, AIA, uses the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library to showcase how libraries are transforming to support students’ needs.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021