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Heatherwick Studio opens ceramics-rich Xi’an CCBD development in China

2024-12-18T16:08:00-05:00

Heatherwick Studio has updated the new Xi’an Centre Culture Business District upon its first public opening after sharing details of the project with Archinect last November.

The development occupies space between the ruins of the Temple of Heaven and the famed Shaanxi TV Tower. Central to its design is the artistic heritage of ceramics in the region. A nod to the historical presence of the Terracotta Army can be seen in the exterior tiled cladding on each of its buildings’ facades.

Photo credit: Qingyan Zhu

This confers an inviting tactile impression that will further lure its users. The studio’s founder, Thomas Heatherwick, says it also results in an "unexpected three-dimensional urban landscape" equalling 155,000 square meters (or more than 1.6 million square feet).

Photo credit: Qingyan Zhu

Within its pedestrian-centric "sensory experience" comprised of a retail podium, offices, a hotel, and apartments, activity converges around a central plaza with a 187-foot high vertical park ...

Heatherwick Studio's new Xi'an shopping district features ceramic paneling as 'sensory experience'

2023-11-20T12:16:00-05:00

Heatherwick Studio has announced their design for a new shopping center in Xi’an, China, they say will evoke the heritage of ceramics and other artistic creations endemic to the area with a completion date set for 2024.

Offering users a “sensory experience to challenge the emotional and aesthetic deprivation of online shopping,” the plan for the 1.23 million-square-foot district calls for a network of social spaces and interlocking program of mixed-scale buildings scattered throughout.

Image: MIR, courtesy of Heatherwick Studio

The design is broken down into three scales, appearing first as a green space with tapering rooflines inspired by surrounding local temples when viewed from a distance. At the street level, it will utilize a series of interlinked terraces and other landscaped spaces to offer enhanced pedestrianism and vistas of the city.

Image: Devisual, courtesy of Heatherwick Studio

The promised “sensory experience” is enacted most at the final human scale, and buildings are...

Zaha Hadid Architects designs Xi’an tower with ‘gently curving silhouette’

2023-08-08T12:26:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has released images of their proposed Daxia Tower in Xi’an, China. The tower will form part of the city’s high-tech zone, which is repositioning the city from its historic Silk Road roots to become a “major hub for new technology.”

Image credit: ATCHAIN, courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

The 700-foot-tall tower will contain over 1.3 million square feet of offices, retail, and ancillary facilities. The scheme’s “gently curving silhouette” is accentuated by layers of patterned glazing and large atriums to increase natural light volumes internally. Each atrium creates a “cascade of planted interior terraces that echo mountainside waterfalls,” while also offering views of the historic city and high-tech zone.

Image credit: ATCHAIN, courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

“Optimizing natural daylighting and ventilation using high-performance low-emissivity, unitized glazing with a thermal coating and insulated for low U-values to reduce energy demand and enhance efficiencie...

West 8’s Garden of 10,000 Bridges Opens at Xi’an International Horticultural Exhibition

2011-05-23T14:49:20-04:00

The Garden of 10,000 Bridges, created by Dutch urban and landscape design firm West 8 in partnership with DYJG Beijing, has recently opened to the public at the International Horticultural Exhibition in Xi'an, China. The garden will be open until October 22, 2011.