3D STREET - HUA QIANG BEI ROAD

To improve flows, we have organized traffic and enhanced the pedestrian environment with a green streetscape. We propose a series of specific improvements to bus stops and intersections, providing new taxi drop-offs and underground support space for deliveries. and provided a wide variety of shade trees and seating types, with fountains and a paving pattern that will improve both air flow and pedestrian flow. Both the traffic and landscape systems extend to the surrounding roads to ease congestion and improve the district. To strengthen the identity of Hua Qiang Bei Road we have created a series of nodes of activity that project a vibrant new vision for the district’s future. These nodes take on different scales. The most visible are the five “lanterns” that define a new space of the street in the sky, providing connections and enabling a major expansion of public space. We imagine the “lanterns” to resonate with the famous entrance gates to traditional Chinese streets, creating a strong and memorable image. The lanterns are like the needles of acupuncture: used at only a few, precise points to bring energy and organize the flows around them, letting the street breathe better between. They are also bridges, connecting one side of the street to the other. This street life continues below, connecting metro stations and simultaneously creating areas for large public programs. Smaller-scaled nodes include bus stops, newsstands, and seating. We propose therefore a new kind of urban design approach: urban acupuncture, acting precisely and strategically to get through all the channels to create the maximum impact using minimal means. We use a systematic and synthetical Urban design method to combines the softness of landscape design, the precision of traffic engineering, and the power of architecture to improve flows, strengthen identity, and create new public space.