[ Kohn Pederson Fox ] Urban Market

The 2010 AIA New York winners were recently announced (we’ll share the full over view this weekend with you), and this project by Kohn Pedersen Fox received a design award in the Unbuilt category.   Just like the other winning projects, the design showcases New York talent and was chosen for its “design quality, program resolution, innovation, thoughtfulness and technique.”  The project, entitled Urban Market, is for Tianjin, China.  The urban center is a way to reinvigorate the river banks through new uses, such as cultural institutions.  The hope it that the center will grow to establish “a new identity for the city that links its culture to its historic place of commerce.”

Clad in transparent materials, the building allows the interior program to engage the surrounding streets.   The structure curves dramatically upward from the riverside and converges with the opposing six story south facade.

The building’s form engages the disconnected edges of the site and unites them within a single carapace.  Two major interior boulevards allow pedestrians to flow from the east to west side of the site, and gather at a large central plaza.  This porous circulation allows passersby to filter through the building at different entry points.   This frequent flow of people turns the building into a modern version of a “traditional bustling merchant setting.”

Location: Tianjin, China
Completion: 2014
Size: 1.6 million GSF / 153,000 GSM
Program: Retail
Awards: AIA New York City Chapter Design Award (2010), MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Award (2007)


from  archdaily