Active Naturalism, a 8,000 sqm office and business center building designed by a young Chinese designer Ling Fan, has been selected as one of the two winning proposals for a Xintiandi development area in Hangzhou, China.

Xintiandi is a large scale urban development to re-activate the industrial heritage on the outskirt of Hangzhou. The masterplan is designed by RTKL from USA. Nicholas Grimshaw Architects and Seire Architects from UK designed the major two mixed-use buildings. This project is the business center building that accommodates the developer of the whole area with programs of office, meeting, and hosting events.

The whole area initiated as the pursuit of large scale production and high efficiency during the period of Great Leap Forward, and was abandonded few years ago. The factory is regarded as the most efficient Fordist space.. When ultimate consumerism comes, the productivity created by transforming such space to commercial programs is even larger. Meanwhile, the city is expending to occupy what used to be nature. However, with the great green morality pressure, the city spend a large amount of expenses to reture the green, nature and ecology. High efficient geometrical space and organic natural space share the same spatial politics. The superimposition of the two kinds, on one hand, is our response to the existing socio-political context, while on the other, is our critique and reflection on either model.

This project is a superposition of a flexible spatial framework and an artificial landscape. The public program and office program are arranged alternately to enhance the accessibility between working, recreating, communication and other activities. The shift of different levels creates a more subtle layer change that encourage people to walk up and down and enjoy the slow working and life style. Through the interval between public space and working space, the whole building is a continuous loop. The core of the working space is an organic shape atrium, which brings wind, light and other natural elements back to the building to create a ambient working environment.

The spatial tention split the building horizontally on the second floor. The floor plate is distorted to connect the ground floor, which receives the city life into the building. The second floor is a flexible event space. It is a special space that receives all the spatial tensions from the artificial landscape. It also connects with the three floor open terrace.