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
| Sep 30, 2010
Luxury hotels lead industry in green accommodations
Results from the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2010 Lodging Survey showed that luxury and upper-upscale hotels are most likely to feature green amenities and earn green certifications. Results were tallied from 8,800 respondents, for a very respectable 18% response rate. Questions focused on 14 green-related categories, including allergy-free rooms, water-saving programs, energy management systems, recycling programs, green certification, and green renovation.
| Sep 22, 2010
Michael Van Valkenburg Assoc. wins St. Louis Gateway Arch design competition
Landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh and a multidisciplinary team of experts in “urban renewal, preservation, commemoration, social connections and ecological restoration” have been picked for the planning phase of The City+The Arch+The River 2015 International Design Competition.
| Sep 22, 2010
Satellier, Potential + Semac close investment deal
Satellier, a world leader in providing CAD and Building Information Modeling (BIM) outsourced services to the architecture, engineering and construction industry, announces a strategic minority investment from India-based top engineering firm Potential + Semac, ushering in the next evolution of the global architecture support industry.
| Sep 21, 2010
New BOMA-Kingsley Report Shows Compression in Utilities and Total Operating Expenses
A new report from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and Kingsley Associates shows that property professionals are trimming building operating expenses to stay competitive in today’s challenging marketplace. The report, which analyzes data from BOMA International’s 2010 Experience Exchange Report® (EER), revealed a $0.09 (1.1 percent) decrease in total operating expenses for U.S. private-sector buildings during 2009.
| Sep 21, 2010
Forecast: Existing buildings to earn 50% of green building certifications
A new report from Pike Research forecasts that by 2020, nearly half the green building certifications will be for existing buildings—accounting for 25 billion sf. The study, “Green Building Certification Programs,” analyzed current market and regulatory conditions related to green building certification programs, and found that green building remain robust during the recession and that certifications for existing buildings are an increasing area of focus.
