Location: Beijing, China.

Architect: MAD architects.

MAD Architects has completed the Chaoyang Park Plaza in Beijing, which includes the Armani apartment complex. The 220,000 sq m complex includes 10 buildings that unfold as a classic Shanshui painting on an urban scale. The design introduces natural forms and spaces into the city, such as mountains, brooks, creeks, rocks, valleys and forests. The asymmetrical twin tower office buildings on the north side of the site sit at the base of the park’s lake and are like two mountain peaks growing out of the water. The small-scale, low-rise commercial buildings appear as mountain rocks that have endured long-term erosion. The two multi-story Armani apartments to the southwest continue this concept of “open air living” with their staggered balconies, offering each residential unit more opportunities to be exposed to natural sunlight. The landscape that weaves itself in between the buildings incorporates pine trees, bamboo, rocks and ponds. The project has been awarded the LEED Gold Certification by the US Green Building Council. The vertical fins seen on the exterior glass façade emphasize the smoothness and verticality of the towers. They also function as the energy efficient ventilation and filtration system, drawing fresh air indoors. At the base of the towers, there is a pond that works as an air cooling system in the summer, decreasing the overall temperature of the interior. The intention is for the project to have a dialogue with the traditional and classical city of Beijing, reflecting the interdependence between man and nature, both in urban planning, and the large-scale presentation of the Shanshui garden.

Photo credit: Hufton + Crow.