DONGYING, SHADONG – NEW CITY-QUARTER

Dongying is an enthusiastic little town with 600,000 inhabitants, approximately 400 kilometres from Beijing primarily endowed with oil, a commodity that made the town wealthy. Part of the city’s ambitious plans is the development of the design area, mainly with residential functions, and spa-related sports and leisure facilities. We assessed the site’s potential in terms of its morphologic, transport and urban planning relations, and accordingly suggested a build-up which is on common grounds with the program and the research results. Our plan dedicated a central role for the river which runs across the area. We widened it into an inner lake and out of the significant underlined soil we raised a small accentuating hill which emerges from the otherwise flat landscape. To further emphasize the importance of water we also built a lagoon in the more intensive residential area. We incisively separated the areas of residential buildings with different quality and value from the other facilities, like leisure, hotel and sport. These can be reached directly from the main road, and they provide recreation for the entire town. We placed the communal functions under a large, free-contoured shell. Its variable height and open sections are in line with the functions below them. Unfortunately, the design did not win the commission.