"Isolated islands" and "sky streets" in UNIT's Shenzhen Bay Super City 3rd-prize entry

Shenzhen-based architecture firm UNIT (Urban New Idea Team) shared with us the details to their entry for the Shenzhen Bay Super City international competition. The competition sought innovative urban and architectural design plans for the growing central area of Shenzhen's Super Headquarters.

With "isolated islands", "sky streets", and open green spaces, UNIT's focus on fusing nature and futuristic cityscapes won them third prize in the competition.

Have a closer look at their project below.

Project description:

"Superposed urbanities:  Urban population is increasing at an unprecedented speed. Density’s growth is inevitable. The living space has to be extruded from the ground up to satisfy the need of dwelling area. Each skyscraper is like an isolated island. We suggest a sky street at the height of 150 meters to connect all these unjoined realities and we superposed it in order to liberate the ground floor and let place to nature."

'This new urban typology, the sky street, reproduces the qualities and infinite possibilities of the typical street. Central alley, variety of programs, human scale and freedom of plan and section planning allows to have a new layer of street which makes possible a new range of activities, impossible in the typical tower. This new urban typology is ideal for social encounters, creating a lively, non-generic situation in the high density urban condition.' UNIT partner Moyang Yang says in a statement.

"Crossing nature:  Our central park will fuse wild nature and culture into the very heart of the vibrant Shenzhen Bay district. An open green space as well as being home to a significant amount of new cultural facilities, indoor fair and trade area and commercial spaces."

"Those spaces will be designed within the surface of the park, and the distribution network will be emerging from the 6 different segment-path, which emerges from different folds and lifts."

"This creates an eventful promenade with ramps and diverse function from a part and the other.  This merger of landscape and architecture makes the tri-dimensional hybrid park a porous and vibrant place, providing shelters, open air and shadows – for a yearlong dwellable and lively space."

Project details

TYPE: COMPETITION, 3rd PRIZE
TYPOLOGY: OFFICE
CLIENT: SHENZHEN MUNICIPALITY
LOCATION: SHENZHEN, CHINA
SIZE: 2,000,000 sq.m
BUILDING HEIGHT: 680 m
STATUS: COMPLETED
YEAR: 2014

PARTNER IN CHARGE: Moyang Yang
TEAM: Luca D’Amore, Stephanie Leboeuf,Alan Leiro, Chenglei Su, Xiaoyu Hu, Peiqi Yan

Images courtesy of UNIT.

Click the thumbnails below to see diagrams.