the dense urban villages of shenzhen comprise of a series of historic cores, which are facing extinction as a result of the city’s unprecedented growth. ‘surrounded by the rapid expansion of the contemporary city, the dense urban fabric of these communities serves as a reminder of a past that is not so distant as it is fundamentally out of scale with the emerging forces of real estate,’ says NADAAA, who has realized a pavilion in the chinese city as part of the 2017 bi-city biennale of urbanism \ architecture (UABB).

NADAAA zhulang huagai
NADAAA teamed up with students from cooper union to realize the project
image © designboom (also main image)

 

 

to complete the project, NADAAA — the boston-based architecture firm led by nader tehrani — teamed up with students from cooper union, the new york institution of which tehrani is the dean of architecture. the result is a permanent and flexible structure that will continue to serve the neighborhood long after the bi-city biennale is over. currently used as a weekend marketplace, the pavilion takes the form of a classical portico or roofed colonnade.

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the pavilion is a permanent and flexible structure
image © designboom

 

 

‘the advent of the ‘biennale’ as a cultural event is maybe a good vehicle to draw light onto these vulnerable communities, but the curatorial constraints require economies that do not afford permanence,’ says NADAAA. ‘precisely because of this, we imagine a structure on the main plaza that is designed to become part of the urban fabric, to serve as a civic structure, and to become part of the community it serves for a longer time to come, with the flexibility of housing varied programs.’

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the structure is currently used as a weekend marketplace
image courtesy of UABB

 

 

‘the site of the plaza produces an urban edge along the village wall that is ripe for programmatic activation,’ continues the design team. ‘as a structure that adopts the wall as datum, we propose a linear stoa of sorts that has the power to respond to the length of the plaza itself. with each bay composed of a customized section, the structure is fabricated of standard steel scaffolding, and thus generic, economical and culturally standardized in nature’.

 

see here for designboom’s full coverage of the 2017 bi-city biennale of urbanism \ architecture.

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the design takes the form of a classical portico or roofed colonnade
image courtesy of jeremy son

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the scheme has been designed be as flexible as possible
image courtesy of jeremy son

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the site of the plaza produces an urban edge along the urban village
image courtesy of UABB

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the structure responds to the length of the plaza itself
image © designboom

NADAAA zhulang huagai
the pavilion illuminated at night
image © designboom

philip stevens I designboom
mar 18, 2018

    have something to add? share your thoughts in our comments section below.

    comments policy
    LOG IN
    designboom's comment policy guidelines
    generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject. we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share! our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions. we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
    the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

    what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
    let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

    - please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
    - please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
    - please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
    - please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
    - please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
    (there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
    in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
    the best 100-200 entries too.)

    a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc. (links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay). unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted. and, ... yes, spam gets banned. no, we do not post fake comments.

    forgot password

    (756 articles)

    (35 articles)

    (14 articles)

    (6 articles)

    PRODUCT LIBRARY

    a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.

    architecture news

    this school in perthes-en-gâtinais comprises multiple gabled wooden volumes this school in perthes-en-gâtinais comprises multiple gabled wooden volumes
    feb 06, 2019

    this school in perthes-en-gâtinais comprises multiple gabled wooden volumes

    #architecture

    'school la rouche' by tracks architectes is located in a green pedestrian area, in the heart of the historic town of perthes-en-gâtinais, in the south of region »

    'school la rouche' by tracks architectes is located in a green pedestrian area, in the heart of the historic town of perthes-en-gâtinais, in the south of region seine and marne, france.

    #readers#architecture

    all architecture news