sparch architects: shanghai international cruise terminal
sparch architects are responsible for the master plan for shanghai’s new international cruise terminal. the 800-metre long riverfront site is located north of the historical ‘bund’ centre of shanghai and will become a new gateway into the metropolis, accommodating three 80,000-tonne cruise ships at any one time, with an expected passenger flow of over 1.5 million people per year. this project is a response to the numerous cruise companies competing to include shanghai on their south east asian routes. the shanghai authorities have had to address the urgent requirement to open up ‘breathing spaces’ and bravely set down a target to free up 30 percent of the municipality as open space for citizens to enjoy.
all ahead of the shanghai world expo 2010, whose theme is ‘better city, better life’, the cruise terminal site forms part of this vision to create a green corridor along the huangpu river, extending as far south as the expo site itself, between the lu pu and nan pu bridges.
the architectural design of the terminal considers the herculean scale of the cruise ships that will dock there. its total construction area is 260,000 sqm, but the brief required that 50 percent of this be placed underground, including the cruise terminal passenger facilities (planned by frank repas architects). part of this was to free up most of the site so it could serve as green park terracing along the water’s edge. sparch’s challenge was dealing with this ‘underworld’ and the architecture coming out of it. their solution was to create ambiguity as to where the ground plane is, by opening up a honeycomb of sunken courtyards. the concept also explores the idea of ripples in the landscape being amplified into standing crystal waves that wrap over the buildings.
this augmented over time into a second skin that protects the commercial office spaces from their due south orientation, and is populated by semi-outdoor balcony spaces overlooking the huangpu river. the riverfront faces the city, and illuminates it at night into a herring bone array of delicate curved masts that tie the pavilion buildings together. a gap appears in the middle – a glazed table top supports amorphous pods on cables. one, two and four-storey pods contain cafes, bars and restaurants, hovering over a public performance space below.
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 5:47 am and is filed under Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.