Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park is located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. It was established in 1992 as a site for business enterprises, R&D companies and education institutions who operate within the world of high-technology and innovation. Over time many national and international companies have chosen to settle there and today there are approximately 4000 companies and over 100,000 workers in the area.
The goal of this project is to provide the community with public facilities that are lacking in the area: a social centre where people can meet, gather, talk, learn, play and enjoy each other’s company in a high-quality and beautiful setting. The MVRDV project for Future Park aims at inserting a new urban complex that on the one hand expresses Zhangjiang’s current character and on the other hand expresses its future ambitions. Future Park will be located on an island, at the crossroads of valuable green areas and water bodies.
The proposal combines the relaxation coming from a natural setting with the intense excitement of a city centre. The project consists of a vertical layering of the two conditions. Park lawns and urban plazas are set at two different levels and have very different and recognizable characters. They are strongly connected by multiple paths that allow visitors to easily move from one to the other. The building volumes gently blend into the landscape and provide the park with activities.
The complex is formed by four large public buildings, a library, an art centre, a performance centre and a sport centre, and a small private edifice, a retail centre. Together they offer an outstanding array of cultural and entertaining services within a very short walking distance in between them. The library will exhibit its books through the glass facades and invite users through a large atrium for a total surface of 10000sqm. On the upper terraced floors, users will be able to concentrate more as both noise and light will be attenuated by contained and smaller spaces.
The art centre will provide space for temporary exhibitions and a small collection of paintings and sculptures. The whole 5,000m2 will overlook the central space: an atrium that connects the entrance hall to all levels and rooms. The performance centre invites users through a common atrium to both theatres: the large theatre will seat 700 people and will be able to host large productions of plays and concerts, while the small theatre will seat 300 people and will be used for children shows and minor events.
A total surface of 10,000m2will offer spaces for music, lectures, dining and relaxing. The sports centre offers two main activity areas, one related to water sports and the other to ball games. A common entrance leads to both, the olympionic swimming pool and the multifunctional sports hall. The 10,000m2 of sport facilities will be exposed to the landscape and the natural light, making an indoor match feel like an outdoor event.
The project, set for completion in early 2019 has the ambition and the potential to become one of the new public social catalyzers not just for the district of Zhangjiang, but for the entire city of Shanghai. Source by MVRDV.
- Location: Zhangjiang District, Shanghai, China
- Architect: MVRDV
- Project Team: Nathalie de Vries, Wenchian Shi, Marta Pozo Gil with Marco Gazzola, Lorenzo Mattozzi, Enrico Pintabona, Cai Zheli, Chiara Girolami, Shengjie Zhan, Chi Li, Cosimo Scotucci, Wenzhao Jia, Emma Rubeillon, Chi Zhang, Jammy Zhu, Ray Zhu and Shuting Zhou
- Visualization: Antonio Luca Coco, Paolo Mossa Idra, Costanza Cuccato, Davide Calabrò, Pavlos Ventouris and Tomaso Maschietti
- Co-Architect: ISA Architecture
- Landscape Architect: Openfabric
- Designers: Francesco Garofalo, Jacopo Gennari Feslikenian and Maria Teresa Pinna
- Client: Zhangjiang Group Co. Ltd.
- Program: 5,6000m2 park combined with 10,000m2 of plazas and 3,7000m2 of buildings (a library, art centre, performance centre, sport centre and retail centre)
- Budget: undisclosed Design: MVRDV – Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries
- Year: 2017
- Images: Courtesy of MVRDV