Magic Mountains

Once you’ve been to Chongqing, it is hard to think of the city and not at the same time picture the beautiful mountains, and the majestic Yangtze River circumfloating the densely built Yuzhong Peninsula, only to absorb the waters of Jialing River just moments later. Where the yellow and the blue waters meet is the site for Chongqing’s new “Green” Central Business District (GCBD).
The GCBD is designed from a standpoint of sustainability – nevertheless in keeping with developers’ demands and legal regulations. We propose a pioneer project in which architectural and planning solutions reduce the overall consumption of resources and energy by 22%, whereby the GCBD will gain model status throughout Chongqing - where “the pace and scale of urbanization is faster and bigger than anywhere in the world today”. (Guardian, March 15, 2006)
The urban concept for the GCBD reinstates the mountainous feeling deep into the very dense and urbanized areas of Chongqing. The new skyline consists of a composition of inhabited mountains. The mountain peaks match the high-density centres; the lower reaches of the mountains resemble areas built with low density, whereas the  valleys are green open spaces.
The mountains are a response to what Chongqing today is all about: The contemporary high-rise city is eating up the cultural and architectural heritage of Chongqing, open green spaces and traditional neighbourhoods.
The mountain skyline will become the symbol of Chongqing’s new identity as China’s green metropolis. It functions as a pioneer of the dawning change from explosive highspeedurbanism to a soft green urban revolution.

 

The project was part of the exhibition “CO-Evolution” at the Danish Pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale in 2006. COBE received the prestigious award The Golden Lion for the contribution.