Reimagining Guomao Intersection is BAM's first Urban Initiative, series of projects which address critical urban and environmental issues through design proposals where no initial client or funding exists. The proposal, which reimagined the major intersection in Beijing’s central business district, was politically disruptive and sparked public excitement, as it demonstrated the potential impact of landscape-thinking on the design of hard infrastructure in urban centers. As the Reimagining Guomao project shows, our urban centers hold great potential when we re-imagine how all of the landscape space of the city can function, not just for the cars but also for the people.

The Guomao intersection constitutes the largest area of public space within the CBD of Beijing. As Beijing races to become one of the great cities of the world, this center of its Central Business District becomes a glaring contradiction to the city’s otherwise futuristic ambitions. 

 When taking on an entirely theoretical project, such as the Guomao Intersection, the critical questions which BAM continues to grapple with is the extent to which the final proposal manifests as a utopian vision. Is the intention to be a fully practical and implementable proposal or is it simply an exercise in unfettered imagination? Are we intending to imagine what the condition could be in 5 years or are we envisioning how it would ideally function in 100 years? We believe that a middle road must be taken. 

 In response to various existing proposals for Guomao both theoretical and real, BAM believes there is a void. The theoretical proposals tend to not deal with the real condition of the site nor with a consideration for of how the city intends to develop. On the other hand the ‘real’ proposals are simply corporate architecture and planning companies fulfilling requirements as set forth by bureaus and developers, and completely lack any consideration for what would be better for the city. Regardless of whether these Guomao proposals are theoretical or ‘real’ they are entirely envisioned through architecture and exclusively by architects. 

 BAM’s proposal for Guomao intends to illustrate the true power of not just design thinking, but of landscape-oriented thinking when applied to desperate urban conditions, and work to debunk China’s architecture-oriented visions of urbanity.