Urban forest, is a high commercial high-rise tower by MAD architects located in Chongqing, a major city in founder Yansong Ma’s home country of China. The proposal reiterate MAD’s design approach of syncing architecture with nature.
Aesthetically evocative on the mountainous landscape of the country, is made up of curved, abstracted shaped floors which have been layered slightly off-center from one another. Each level is afforded unaltered panoramic city views by the floor-to-ceiling glass, connected by a core cylindrical structure, which additionally conceals the core structure to deep within the space, each level’s interior is protected by full length glass windows with a see-through, wrap around balcony.
Courtesy of MAD Architects
As light enters the Urban Forest, it not only illuminates the spaces, but also becomes their visual structure, which provides transparency throughout the building, and makes the floors almost seem as if they are floating on top of one another. The extended floor plates form balconies which are infused with vegetation, courtyards, pools, and trees that serve as a connecting node for the urban form and environment, but the overall design brings together nature and the urban metropolis, with the incorporation of green space and large expansive views of the city.
Diagram
Credits:
Architects: MAD Ltd
Location: Chongqing, China
Typology: Commercial, Office, Hotel
Site Area: 7,700 sqm
Building Area: 216,000 sqm
Building Height: 385 m
Structural Design: ARUP Group Ltd
