Chongqing Longfor Phase IV

Location: Chongqing, China

Completion Date: 2017

Building Area: 69,000 sqm

Design Principal: Ping Jiang, FAIA

Design Team: Michael Morgan、Sean Lu、Xiaohai Lin、Hui Wang、Weite Shi、Wei Zhang、Anais Alice Jil Meon, Andres Delpon Carrillo, Veronica Recuero Valor, Ted Tan

Client: Longfor Group

Conultants:

M&E / Structural Consultant: CMCU


Chongqing Longfor Phase IV is a mixed use development with boutique retail and grade A office. The site is located in the most vibrant commer­cial district Guan Yin Qiao in Chongqing, one of the most populous Chinese cities and the economic engine of southwest China. Fea­turing its nature terrain and rivers, Chongqing has been developed a spectacular urban landscape. It is our deliberate effort to create a unique building that reflects the attributes of the site and is specific to the character of Chongqing.

Instead of a typical tower/podium configuration for mixed-use, this design is conceived as a hybrid comprised of various programmatic elements which blurs the visual boundary of podium and tower. All programs are converted into a series of ‘rocks’ with varying sizes, the change of scale of the cascading massing re­lates to its immediate surroundings respectively: the towering shaft relates to urban scale while the aggregation of animated boxy vol­umes relates to pedestrian scale. Terraces are created by the stack­ing move, they will become vertical green space and outdoor retail activity space.

The heart of the building is an urban void functions as elevated public space, a center of gravity to activate the whole building. As the key element of retail space, void can also bring and gather people flow, increase retail visibility and value.Steps are the platform of traditional Chongqing lifestyle, they connect urban with nature. The steps becomes a dynamic urban space that integrate retail, leisure, circulation, event and landscape.

The design is grounded in the city’s history, it is not intended as tro­phy object, but as integrated entities in a permeable urban complex. It will become an identifiable landmark for Chongqing that is immediate and unique, while simultaneously remaining an integrated and representative piece of the mountain city’s rich culture, setting the standard for new mixed use develop­ment in China.