The skyscraper has been exploited to its full potential in the rapid urban development of the Manhattan skyline. These forms are defined by a kind of formal dichotomy whereby interior and exterior are expressed differently. The first- external-is only concerned with the appearance of the building as a serenely poetic and sculptural object, whereas the interior is in a constant state of flux; of different themes, and different programs.
Nevertheless, an icon is not just a poetic form. It is a building that establishes a tone, announces ambitions, creates opportunities – commercial, cultural, urban. If designed to accommodate key features of communal urban life, it can create communities. This tower challenges the perception of high-rise living in Shenzhen by pioneering a vertical, mixed-use residential style.
Referencing the concept of a vertical city - most evident in the New York’s pre-war skyscrapers - our design strategy has generated a mixedused high rise where apartments of different styles and forms express different lifestyles, but exist in harmony.
The concept of the tower is not about form exclusively, but about people and how they interact in dense, urban living and working situations. Life in Shenzhen is driven by a fast paced economy. It’s competitive.
In turn, this compromises quality of experience. A sense of community not only enhances quality of life, it is integral to traditional Chinese culture – increasingly challenged by economic imperatives. This tower strategy facilitates a sense of community within this challenging modern context, and within a building typology that is associated more with icons than with traditional living by including communal green spaces rather than individual balconies.
These generate community vibrancy by providing spaces to gather – transplanting traditional community values - so important in Southern China - into its modern form. The proposed mass avoids becoming a monolithic tower by being sectioned into several regular shapes.