Heatherwick’s Shanghai design inspired by tree-topped mountains
Heatherwick Studio has designed a vast mountain-inspired mixed-use development to be located next to Shanghai’s arts district.
The British firm – led by designer Thomas Heatherwick – is creating a verdant 300,000sq m (3.2 sq ft) complex of buildings, with approximately 1,000 structural columns supporting plants and trees.
“The design has been conceived not as a building but as a piece of topography, taking the form of two tree-covered mountains,” the studio said in a statement.
The development will be located in the Moganshan district, within an existing residential area next to a public park and a series of historic buildings. It will be closely linked to the arts hub along 50 Moganshan Road, where around 100 artists operate studios open to the public.
Heatherwick Studio was approached by the unidentified developer – which owns a larger 15-hectare site in the area – after successfully designing the UK Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. Their installation – a 10m (32.8ft) high box of protruding silvery hairs called Seed Cathedral – explored the relationships between cities and nature and the significance of plants to human life.
The designers have also combined nature and the built environment with their concepts for London’s Garden Bridge, New York’s Pier55 and Abu Dhabi’s Al Fayah Park.
The Shanghai project is being showcased at an exhibition called Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, which will run until 3 January, 2016.
Further details about the development have yet to be revealed.
Thomas Heatherwick's King's Cross plaza to open by 2018
Heatherwick Studio to lead US$500m redesign of New York concert hall
Crucial beakthrough reached in London Garden Bridge funding stand-off
Heatherwick to design New York's 'Pier 55'
Thomas Heatherwick to create new Art Museum in Cape Town, South Africa
Plans revealed for Abu Dhabi sunken desert oasis by Heatherwick
FEATURE: Visitor Attractions – Spirit Maker
FEATURE: Co-create – Bombay Sapphire Distillery
UAE’s first Dior Spa debuts in Dubai at Dorchester Collection’s newest hotel, The Lana
Europe's premier Evian Spa unveiled at Hôtel Royal in France
Clinique La Prairie unveils health resort in China after two-year project
GoCo Health Innovation City in Sweden plans to lead the world in delivering wellness and new science
Four Seasons announces luxury wellness resort and residences at Amaala
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Ben Channon has written Happy by Design, a new book about how architecture affects our mental health. He explains how we can all be happier at home