Project Description: Equipped with hybrid programming, these kiosks take on the notion of “micro-urbanism”. Through the carefully controlled formal theme and variations, the twelve kiosks as a whole compose a unique urban landscape. The art-deco inspired custom-made pattern glass panels echo the historic architecture of the neighborhood. With solar panels on the roof supplying 180 watts per hour of exterior LED lighting, the kiosks become new environmental prototypes.
Design Statement: The project is located in one of the earliest and most significant commercial strips of China’s modern history: Shanghai Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street. Nicknamed “Number One Street of China”, the street has a total length of merely one kilometer, with a history that spans over one century, and receives more than one million domestic and foreign visitors per year. Yet due to the lack of a coordinated urban design, the visual impression of the street is a combination of disorder and messiness. As a result, the Huangpu District Government launched a series of renovation plans to upgrade the spaces and buildings along the street, of which the pedestrian kiosks are a part.
A pedestrian kiosk can be seen as the smallest scaled architecture with a multiplicity of programs, all of which intimately connected to citizens and visitors alike. Some of the more publicly oriented programs include tourist information, souvenirs, lottery, telecom, mobile phone charger, bank ATM, and vending machine. There are also programs with more commercial objectives in mind, including the Madame Tussauds Wax kiosk (with space just enough for one wax mannequin and one live staff, a miniature-exhibition hall on the street!), and the Coca-cola kiosk. Embedded with the notion of hybrid programming, the design of these kiosks represents an approach towards “micro-urbanism” with the belief that architecture of Koolhaasian Bigness is not the only architecture capable of affecting cities. Through the carefully controlled formal theme and variations, the twelve kiosks—each situated 100-meter apart—as a whole creates a unique urban landscape. The composed visual order, in my view, brings out the beauty in the diversity of the street.
Through collaboration with a local glass manufacturer, we developed a custom-made, art-deco-inspired glass panel. Framed by steel sections, the glass panel forms the basic language of the kiosks exterior wall and relates to the historic buildings in the area. However, the project goes beyond echoing history. We see these kiosks as urban furniture which would glow at night with the use of clean energy. The idea did not receive much support in the beginning. Nevertheless, through increasing popularity of environmental topics, greater awareness of government policies, our relentless persuasion, and a willing sponsor, the proposal becomes a feasible one. In the final design, the solar panel on the rooftop can generate 180 watts of electricity per hour for exterior LED as urban lighting, making these kiosks the new environmental prototype.
