Archinect - News

Moshe Safdie on making the iconic spaces that have defined his career

2022-09-27T09:00:00-04:00

On the heels of Safdie’s massive donation to his alma mater McGill University, the 84-year-old architect sat down with CNN in Singapore to dissect his career and discuss his new memoir If Walls Could Speak out next week from Grove Atlantic.

The creator of the iconic Marina Bay Sands (which is about to begin work on a $1.35 billion expansion he says will not include an extension of its famous skybridge) touched briefly on impressive recent designs around Asia, including the Jewel Changi Airport, Habitat Qinhuangdao, and Raffles City Chongqing before veering off into an assessment of the region’s labor markets. He then reasserted the idealism that helped define his career and lamented the contemporary faddish use of biophilia — an element critical to the philosophies that are inherent in his garden-lined residential designs.

“There's a cynicism about so many architects...

Safdie Architects opens world's longest sky bridge in China

2020-06-09T18:41:00-04:00

A new 300-meter-long sky bridge connecting four skyscraper towers at the Safdie Architects-designed Raffles City Chongqing has made its public debut.

The tube-shaped bridge is lifted 250 meters into the sky and contains a bevy of recreational and tourist-oriented programs, including a 270-degree vantage over the city. The viewing deck features an all-glass platform and is currently open with reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

View down the length of the sky bridge. Image credit: Tang An Bing 唐安冰.

View inside the sky bridge. Image courtesy of CapitaLand.

The sky bridge represents the marquee attraction at the massive 1,127,000-square-meter development, which also features a multi-story, 220,000-square-meter shopping mall at its base, 1,400 luxury housing units, a hotel, and 150,000 square meters of Grade-A office space, all spread out across eight towers.

View of the observation platform. Image courtesy of CapitaLand.

Six of the concrete towers rise 250-meters each while th...

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing now (partially) open

2019-11-18T20:06:00-05:00

At a total investment of 24 billion yuan (S$4.65 billion), the 1.12 million square metre (sq m) Raffles City Chongqing is Singapore’s largest single development in China. In addition to the 235,000 sq m retail podium, the integrated development comprises the 201 unit Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence, 380 room InterContinental Raffles City Chongqing hotel, 150,000 sq m of Grade A office space and 1,400 luxury residential apartments.

After reaching structural completion only a few months ago, the Safdie Architects-designed $3.4 billion Raffles City Chongqing megadevelopment recently celebrated its phased opening. An earlier September soft opening of the enormous five-story shopping mall reportedly attracted a whopping 900,000 people in one weekend, according to the Singapore-based developer CapitaLand.

View this post on Instagram Located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, Raffles City Chongqing is sited upon the historic Chaotianmen Gate, originally built in 314 BC. Integrated with a transportation hub, it includes a subway station, bus interchange, ferry terminal and cruise center—continuing the site’s long history as one of the busiest docks in China. #Chongqing #capitaland #rafflescitychongqing #safdiearchitects #chaotianmen #moshesafdie
A post shared by Safdie Architects (@safdiearchitects) on Jul 23, 2019 at 1:50pm PDT

A record-setting sky bridge, similar to but bigger a...

Moshe Safdie's Chongqing megadevelopment—featuring the world's highest, tower-spanning sky bridge—reaches structural completion

2019-02-25T14:37:00-05:00

It has been exactly one year since the enormous eight-tower Raffles City Chongqing development announced that it set the world record for the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers when it successfully hoisted the three middle segments of the ensemble's signature '9th horizontal skyscraper' into place.

Raffles City Chongqing - Aerial view of The Crystal sky bridge. Video via CapitaLand on YouTube.

Like a Marina Bay Sands on steroids, 'The Crystal' sky bridge—also designed by Safdie Architects—measures 300 meters in length, 32.5 meters in width, 26.5 meters in height, and links six of the eight skyscrapers 250 meters high up in the Chongqing sky.

The two 350-meter high supertall skyscrapers are now Chongqing’s tallest buildings and among the tallest towers in China. Image: CapitaLand.

"Upon Raffles City Chongqing’s structural completion, we are now focusing on the interior fit-out works, including transplanting trees to enliven The Crystal sky bridge, which will feature t...

Marina Bay Sands 2.0: Moshe Safdie sets record for tallest sky bridge with new "horizontal skyscraper" in Chongqing

2018-02-26T13:57:00-05:00

Construction of The Conservatory sky bridge has given Raffles City Chongqing the title of development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers. [...] Designed by Moshe Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing also consists of a 350-m supertall skyscraper, which currently holds two records for being China’s tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.

Image: CapitaLand

If you thought Marina Bay Sands' sky bridge in Singapore was pretty impressive, hold your breath now for its younger, bigger sibling, Raffles City Chongqing, currently growing towards the sky in Central China.

Also designed by Safdie Architects, the 1.12 million sqm megadevelopment's centerpiece are four 250-tall skyscrapers holding up an enormous 300m-long and 30m-wide curved sky bridge—taller (of course) than its Singapore inspiration and now also holding the world record as the development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers.

Image: CapitaLand

To make the project further stand out, the developers also threw in a couple of supertall 350m-tall apartment towers—one of which already topped out and took the title of China's tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.

Image: CapitaLand

"Hoisting the three middle steel segments of The Conservatory—each weighing up to 1,100 tons—to the designated height of 250 m marks a world firs...

Archinect - News

Moshe Safdie on making the iconic spaces that have defined his career

Safdie Architects opens world's longest sky bridge in China

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing​ now (partially) open

Moshe Safdie's Chongqing megadevelopment—featuring the world's highest, tower-spanning sky bridge—reaches structural completion

Marina Bay Sands 2.0: Moshe Safdie sets record for tallest sky bridge with new "horizontal skyscraper" in Chongqing

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing now (partially) open