Archinect - News

MAD Architects wins competition to design Chongqing Cuntan International Cruise Centre

2022-01-13T14:30:00-05:00

MAD Architects, in collaboration with the China Academy of Building Research (CASR), have won an international competition for the design of the Cuntan International Cruise Centre in Chongqing, China. The project will see the transformation of a cargo terminal into a cruise terminal and city complex.

The project site is currently a 66,000-square-meter cargo terminal located in Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area. With access to the Yangtze River, MAD Architects’ scheme will see the development of a 65,000-square-meter international cruise terminal and city complex, comprising a 15,000-square-meter cruise port and 50,000 square meters of commercial space.

According to MAD’s press release, the design team was inspired by the large orange gantry cranes that filled the freight terminal. ”These gantry cranes became living alien creatures that gave a sense of surrealism,” said MAD Architects Founder and Principal Partner Ma Yansong. “The new scheme is therefore not only about reflecting the ...

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...

Construction update: Zhongxun Times by 10 Design in Chongqing

2014-04-04T17:35:00-04:00

Construction has been underway for 10 Design's Zhongxun Times in recent months in the historic city of Chongqing, China. Commissioned by the ZhongXun Group, the mixed-use office and retail development is phase one of the Danzishi Central Business District, which 10 Design masterplanned.

Corporate investors NVC-Lighting Chongqing, Energy Investment Real Estate, Sinosteel Investment Group, and ZhongXun Group developed the 14-plot scheme of the Danzishi CBD seeking economic enhancement for Chongqing -- China's largest municipality.

Zhongxun Times is expected to be complete by spring 2015.

Here's more project info from 10 Design:

"This mixed use office and retail development sits centrally within the new Danzishi Central Head Quarters in Chongqing, that sits on the banks of the Yangtze River.

The brief was to create an interactive retail environment that would interact and reflect with the rich topography that Chongqing is renowned for."

"The site set many challenges with a level difference o...

Preparing for China's urban billion

2014-03-13T12:47:00-04:00

Imagine close to the entire population of the U.S. picking up and moving somewhere else. That’s the scale of China’s urbanization campaign: 250 million farmers moving to the city over the next 15 years. [...] In Southwest China, the city of Chongqing is being used as a test case for transitioning rural Chinese to change their residency status to urban residents. The government is persuading millions of farmers there to move to the city.

Winners of the SC2012 Links: Bridging Rivers Competition

2012-09-18T14:46:00-04:00

Spanish architectural magazine future arquitecturas recently announced the winners of its SC2012 Links: Bridging Rivers competition which called for innovative ideas of how to build a habitable bridge in two different sites: Chongqing (China) and Seville (Spain). Eligible for the international competition were architecture students or young architects under 35 years old.

Archinect - News

MAD Architects wins competition to design Chongqing Cuntan International Cruise Centre

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

Construction update: Zhongxun Times by 10 Design in Chongqing

Preparing for China's urban billion

Winners of the SC2012 Links: Bridging Rivers Competition

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