Shenzhen’s new ‘urban living room’

Referring to a new project as an area’s “front porch” or “beating heart” has become a common occurrence, and the Chinese city of Shenzhen is getting in on the trend with a new sky garden designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners that is described as a new “urban living room” for the city.

The masterplaned design proposes to create a raised 1.2 kilometer sky garden within Shenzhen’s Qianhai area on a piece of reclaimed land. The garden will be elevated above roads to facilitate easy access above ground between adjacent plots. The skygarden will feature year-round cultural activities along the path before terminating in a new waterfront space dubbed Performance Park.

Performance Park Courtesy Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

Performance Park will feature an opera house and conventions center and directly link the city back to Qianhai Bay. The entirety of the park will link with public transportation hubs to create a dynamic that allows people to traverse the city and different speeds, from the fast pace of the underground, to the medium pace of the street, through to the slow pace of the sky garden.

Aerial view of Shenzhen sky garden Courtesy Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

Since early 2020, Americans have been forced to sequester themselves in their homes with outdoor activities, in most cases, being the sole respite for social distancing. And many of people are going back to the basics with a quintessential outdoor activity: biking. Bike sales absolutely skyrocketed during the pandemic, growing by 69% in 2020.

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Nelson Mandela Park green space in Rotterdam

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The Weekly Show, Apr 29, 2021: COVID-19's impact on campus planning, and bird management strategies

University Buildings | Apr 29, 2021

The Weekly Show, April 29, 2021: COVID-19's impact on campus planning, and bird management strategies

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C Senior Editor John Caulfield interviews a duo of industry experts on 1) how campus planning has changed during the pandemic and 2) managing bird infestations on construction sites and completed buildings.

Abandoned train depot in Detroit will be part of new mobility innovation district under development.

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